Out Of The Woods

 

The above three lines are from the ending of Taylor Swift's Out of the Woods music video. The video is a journey of Taylor fighting and struggling in mountains, snow, oceans, and of course the woods; something of a picture of the struggles of a relationship in a rocky place. At the end of the video, she emerges onto a peaceful beach looking ragged and broken by her experiences and finds there an untouched, unblemished version of herself, and the words appear:

She lost him.
But she found herself.
And somehow that was everything.

She lost him. Their relationship never made it out of the woods. They failed. 

But she found herself. Taylor speaks to the idea of “expressive individualism", that the purpose of life is to find and express your individuality and that you “find yourself” by fighting through and emerging triumphant from all the constraints placed upon you by others.

And somehow that was everything. Why does this song/concept so resonate with us? Because, deep down, we all just want to be fully known and totally loved. And we are sold the shortcut of “knowing yourself” and “loving yourself” so we no longer have to be dependent on anyone else for our happiness.

While I agree with the longing and desire this conveys, I'd like to challenge Taylor's solution here to this problem. 

Yes, even in the Christian life there is an overarching story of discovery that makes sense of all our trials. But the difference is that it's radically God-focused, not self-focused. It is the story of how Jesus finds and rescues unworthy sinners; it's not our own attempts to find ourselves. It’s all about how God expresses Himself in amazing grace to the world through the death and resurrection of His Son, not how we express the worth we think we have in ourselves.

Jesus told us (in Matt 10:39) that "the one who finds their life will lose it, but the one who loses their life – for His sake – will find it." Sounds like it's not self-discovery, but Jesus-discovery that is key. 

The Gospel that calls us out of the woods of sin and brokenness and into the clear of Jesus' grace and redemption beautifully rewrites those lines from the music video:

She lost herself. 

But she found Him. 

And somehow that was everything.

The Shiniest Wheels

I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting

~ Taylor Swift, This Is Me Trying

How much time do we waste trying to make all our wheels the shiniest, only for the rust to inevitably come. We invest so much time and energy and elbow grease in shining up the things that, in the greater scheme of things, matter very little. 

Status, wealth, comfort, fame, popularity, instagram likes, promotions, fancy cars, pretty houses, perfect wardrobes. These might shine for a little while, but the rust will always eventually inescapably destroy. 

Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

So let us pour our lives, instead, into the treasures that will last; the treasures that no rust can touch. Advancing God's kingdom, loving people, building relationships, giving generously, making disciples. 

These are the wheels that will forever be shiny. 

Out The Doubt

The Internet is a fascinating place. So many loud voices with strong opinions screaming their contradicting views—it can be a lot. Some voices are straight up in your face: Twitter, blogs, YouTube channels. Others are more subliminal than that: news articles, Instagram captions, lyrics and Netflix shows. 

But all (intentionally or not) have a message, a "truth" that they are trying to sell. And it feels like more and more, these are messages that are straying further and further from the ultimate Truth of God. 

So what do we do with that? We want to love all people, but can we really do that while still holding to the real Truth that goes against so much of our current culture? When the world is saying "everything is true if you want it to be", how do we stand strong calling out the lies of the enemy? When the people ask where our God is in the midst of all the tragedies, pandemics, shootings, politics, hatred, racism, poverty, how do we hold on and believe that God is good, that He is enough to satisfy?

Cry to God

In January 2021, a word that sums up so much of our current state is turmoil: a state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty; great anxiety. All the way back in time, David could say to us, "I feel you, bro."

In Psalm 43, David lays out his fear, distress, and anxiety:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”

It is often a lonely and personal struggle when the mind goes to war—and that is why it is so dangerous. It has been said before that to be passive in thought is the easiest way to drown. Because doubt is a quiet whisperer and a sneaky silencer, it cannot be fought if it is not addressed.

David follows up his question with the simple resolution:

“Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

When we reach out to God, crying “I don’t understand, I need help, my faith is failing!” doubt loses its strategy of loneliness. When doubt reaches out, seeking mercy and grace, it ceases to be doubt. Instead, it becomes faith.

Seek the Truth

David faced many a struggle in his time, and his reaction to turmoil was consistently the same—to pour out his doubts and fears, and then lift his eyes and cry out for mercy from God and to find strength in His character. So many of David's psalms that started with turmoil and doubt ended with praise and proclamation of God's Truth. 

But to proclaim the Truth to ourselves, we need to know the Truth, we need to be actively absorbing it (Psalm 119:11 "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."). This is why we are encouraged to seek after truth and to search the Bible and compare it to what we are hearing (Acts 17:11 "examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true"). 

Not as the world

The world is full of thoughts, ideas and agendas, but it is definitely not full of wisdom. Many ideas of the world are designed to tug on our heartstrings, to make us feel good, to capture our attention (and our bank accounts), to promise our pleasure and comfort. 

But Jesus doesn't ever try and fit that mould. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

I think a key aspect of working through our doubts is remembering that God's Truth doesn't make sense when viewed through the lenses of our current culture. God's Truth is counter-culture, or actually we should say, culture is counter God's Truth. 

Jesus said in His prayer in John 17, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world." Jesus knew that following Him meant we would never fit in, that His perfect design could never fit the mould of the world. 

Trying to make Truth fit into our culture is a burden that we need to lay down. And as we become more comfortable with the concept of "not of the world", "not as the world", I think it will become increasingly easier to stand strong in God's Truth. Not that we won't ever doubt, but that we will be quicker to take that doubt to our God and ask for His Truth to prevail. 

Nothing New Under The Sun

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." ~ Ecclesiastes 1:9

I've been reading a book called Technology vs Humanity. It's all about how technology is transforming our world with "exponential and all-encompassing technological change" and where we, as humans, fit into that. Technology is surging ahead to bring us previously unimaginable software and systems and solutions and the way we do many things will never be the same. Discoveries in this field will change the way we view some things and and change the way that we operate and go about our business, but that’s as far as it goes.

The most important part of this world (i.e. humanity) remains unchanged.

Yes, ideas and outlooks will change, business strategies and our daily routines will look different, but the person who is carrying out those actions never changes more than superficially. It never penetrates deeper than the "doing" and it neglects the core, the "being".

In order for a revolution to truly change the world it must change the very nature of the world.

To change the world, hearts must be changed.

The living, beating heart of this world, placed at the very center of the system by the Creator, is humanity and human nature. To see the world change, we need to do more than simply modify the mechanical functions of the world’s operating system by changing how we do things. 

Sure, I completely agree that there is a laundry list of things in this world that need to be done differently. Reading the news over the past year just brings horrified chills and a deep disappointment in our actions as a human race. But even if we were to somehow bring about a miraculous change in everyone's actions to be nice and kind, it wouldn't last. If only the surface level actions are changed, the relentless, deadly cycle of hatred, fear and pride would inevitably rear its ugly head yet again.  

Change needs to delve deeper—beyond a catchy slogan posted on an Instagram story, beyond a popular kindness movement, beyond a rah-rah speech that gets us motivated for a little while—into the real flesh and blood of the world’s substance: the heart. 

This is where we see the beauty and power of the gospel.

The Gospel of Jesus is the only thing that does more than change the way humanity operates, but changes humanity itself. History repeats itself because humanity hasn’t changed. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Humans are still selfish, still terrified, still angry, still hopeless, still sinful.

But when the genuinely life-changing power of God enters our space, it’s the spirit, the soul, the heart of the world that changes. And when the inner man—motives, attitude, mindset—changes, more than just the surface-level actions are transformed. 

Our world is crumbling in hopelessness and despair. There is only one thing that brings hope.

Humanity is running around like headless chickens trying to find pleasure and meaning in a wildly confusing existence. There is only one thing that will bring purpose.

One thing that goes so much deeper than the inconsequential, superficial, perishing surface stuff and brings life and true transformation to the dying, searching, desperate people.

The Gospel of Jesus is the only thing that will ever truly change this world, because it does more than just alter our daily routines or our way of thinking, but it whole-scale changes the nature of how the world operates, from the inside out.

It changes art and literature, it changes science and technology, it changes music and social media, and it changes our future because it changes the actual people behind all these things.

And as Taylor Swift said: 

"These things will change

Can you feel it now?

These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down

It's a revolution, the time will come

For us to finally win

And we'll sing hallelujah, we'll sing hallelujah"

When the Gospel changes a person, fear, selfishness, hatred and pride are no longer the driving forces behind change, but it’s the love and power of the Creator to bring His beloved Creation back to its original purpose: fellowship with the One, True God. 

Now that's some real change worth singing hallelujah for. 

Into The Unknown

Frozen II - Into The Unknown

I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you

Into the unknown

The unknown is scary. I like knowing how things work, knowing what tomorrow looks like, knowing why something happened. It's safe to say that I much prefer knowing.

All too often, God calls us into spaces where knowing isn't an option. Where we can't see more than a step ahead. Where our only choice is faith. He calls us into the unknown. And that's a risk for us, because what we don't know, we can't control. And what we can't control tends to make us afraid.

But as one of my favourite quotes says, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Known in the sense he is intimately involved in my life and loves me more than I could ever know. And more than that, that he is all-knowing and in absolute control of everything. I can know him, and leave the knowing of everything else to him.

Will we risk it all for the One who gave his all for us and follow him into the unknown?

100%

Psalm 130:7 

"With the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption."

I so love that idea of FULL redemption. Unlike Dettol that kills only 99.9% of bacteria, God leaves literally nothing to us, because even if we just had to pay only 0.01% of the debt, we'd still come up short. But thanks be to God, in him there is 100% redemption! 

This means it's not at all about me. Not about my (in)ability, not about my (lack of) strength, not about my (un)righteousness. It's all Jesus. He is able, he is strong, he is perfectly righteous. 

Unfailing love and 100% full redemption. What a joy!

Far From The Shallow

Psalm 130:1

"Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;"

The word 'depths' brings two things to mind:

 1. Deep water can be scary and overwhelming and risky and life-threatening and uncomfortable. 

How am I at calling out to God when I find myself in places like this? Do I try and swim out in my own strength? Or do I just try and tread water until I can't keep my head above the waves?

Out of the depths of this overwhelming and uncomfortable life, I want God to be my number one speed dial—the first one I call always, but especially when I'm off the deep end (...watch as I dive in 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮). 

 2. This is not a shallow, half-hearted, out of obligation cry. This is guttural and real and desperate. 

Am I being real with God? Or am I pretending I don't need him, trying to convince him (but more myself, let's be real) that I'm doing just fine in the deep water? He's not fooled by my pretences, just like he's not put off by my desperation. He already knows, he is just longing to hear me cry out to him.

And as the Psalm goes on to say, when we cry out to him, he is right there with all his forgiveness, unfailing love, and full redemption.