(this happened in 2020 but still applies today)

I recently watched the Apostello conference through Stairway Church in Victoria, Australia.

(Highly recommend to check it out for yourself btw.)
it was like a banquet of richness and hope…but one speaker uttered one line and it kapowed me.

Banning Liebscher – second session.

One line. One situation. Daily choice.

He was about to preach and was nervous. “I hope I don’t suck,” he uttered to God.

He felt Father speaking in response.
“You can either be a preacher or a son.
As a preacher you will have good messages and other times you won’t be that good.
But if you choose to be son, you’ll be great all the time, because you are a fantastic son.”

This line got me….it made me want to cry….the beauty of it’s truth.

3 specific stories came my way that highlighted this message. All of which seemed to be saying the same thing, but varying responses.

1. I had lived this very thing. Having unknowingly, chosen teacher over daughter.

There was a time where I chose to put my identity in what I was able to do.
I chose to place my trust in shifting sands.
I chose to put my sense of worth in my own ability to do in my job as a primary school teacher. My affirmation, validation and sense of worth came from my occupation.

And I suffered greatly when it was taken from me.
I grieved when I couldn’t do what I once had been able to do.

2. I began to note the influx of Christian friends who were communicating their sense of loss in this season. Some were losing their sense of direction and grieving greatly.

I could almost hear their cries:

I believe that God loves and knows me.

I’ve been a good person, why is this happening to me?

Where is He?

But when tough comes – Where do they turn? What do they place their trust in? Where was their trust placed in the past? How do they come to peace when bad things happen to good people?

I don’t say this in judgement, I’ve been in this exact space at different times in life.

3. Yesterday I went to an appointment where a medical practitioner relayed to me, “A lot of my mates are struggling in this season, because their ability to provide for their families has been taken away.”

Having known this practitioner for many years, he and possibly his mates don’t know or believe in God…(but might in the future, who knows)

So if, they don’t acknowledge there is a God who loves and cares for them. What happens when the wheels come off in life? Where do they turn? Who do they go to?

It’s a challenging thought……it made me wonder…..

Do I still place my hopes, dreams, validation in what I do?

Am I like these everyday Aussie fellas, falling apart, when trouble hits?

As I listened to the practitioner speak. I saw and heard how he and his mates are in turmoil, because:

They didn’t know who they were without their work.

Who they were without their ability to earn money.
Who they were when they were forced to stay at home and be present with their families.

Some choose to take up the challenge and run with it.
I would argue that it is far easier to run ahead in challenge, as life changes – when our identity is as a daughter and not a teacher.

Not as a preacher, but as a son.

As a child instead of a …………(fill in the blanks)
When our sense of worth comes from the Creator, not the created.
When our peace comes from knowing whose we are, not what we can do.

Be encouraged precious one…..
Covid, Job loss, breakdown, break ups, relational discord.
Whatever your greatest challenge might be in this moment right now.

Remember always, first and foremost.

You a treasured daughter/son, of the King of Kings.

You are a fantastic daughter/son. Nothing more, nothing less.

Your worth is not found in anything here on earth, but in who God says you are. These are lasting elements. Things of great worth, that don’t move as circumstances change.

As you choose to place your trust in Him who made you, He will not disappoint. He is trustworthy.

Step into healthy identity.
Leap into the name He gives you.
Continue to believe that there is more to this season, than merely surviving it!

God bless you ever so BIG.
With eyes that see how treasured you are.
How much hope there is in whatever you walk through, tough or easy.
And a tangible experience of the love God has for you personally.
Amen.xxxxx