Journal-Review
December 31, 2010
By now, you’ve probably read all the predictions about 2010. You know the top news stories, the top sports stories and the top trends of 2009. All of this information is supposed to help us figure out the future.
I want you to consider another source when considering your future. I have been reading about the miracles of Jesus in the Bible. I found that each of Jesus’ miracles point to the power of God. There is something there for each of us to learn.
I have always been thrilled with miracles. I think there are more miracles right now, today, than we realize. Many times, they get buried in our technological culture. When it comes to your future, though, there is something we can learn from these miracles of Jesus.
The most important thing I have learned is each of us has something in common with all the people who were healed by Jesus. Each one of these persons who were healed had significant shame in their life. That’s true for each of us, too.
If we were to have a conversation it would not be long before we could smell the residue of shame in our lives. When I have conversations with people, when I talk with friends, shame often becomes part of our life script.
Embarrassment is another form of shame. Some people are very vocal about their shame. Especially when it comes to their bodies, people always want something to be bigger or smaller. “I’m so embarrassed, I wish I had …” And so the shame continues.
While some shame is easy to talk about, other kinds of shame is not so easy. The residue of shame has a big impact on the way we think, feel, and view the world. It changes the way we react to relationships. Many times it can paralyze us.
For me, when I think about shame in my life there are many times when I simply don’t feel good enough. I remember each rejection as if it were yesterday. I feel like I don’t measure up to others or to expectations.
Sometimes, there are times when I go into the dark and I don’t feel good enough for God. I realize such feelings are not true. I have a Master’s of Divinity degree. I’m educated way beyond my own intelligence. So I know that such thinking is not true. Yet, there are times when I do not feel worthy.
What do I have to offer? I’m not good enough. I’m teaching the Bible to 200 people this Sunday. Who am I? What can I possibly offer them?
Where does such thinking come from? Well, it certainly doesn’t come from God. Shame is the result of the scars produced by pain and rejection in our life. I realize many people can point to their home environment for the shame they experience in life.
I realize how lucky I am to be in the minority. My home life did not produce a lot of shame in my life. A lot of my shame points back to bad decisions I have made. Those decisions did not honor God. Even though I have been forgiven, I still remember them.
I am guessing if I can easily identify some shame in my life so can you. Everyone has been cut from a team or has been the last one picked. You know what I mean: “I’m out of choices; I might as well take you.” Or, maybe, when you were a kid, you would play hide-and-go-seek and your friends don’t go looking for you. So you stay hidden through dinner until it gets dark and you’re scared. Didn’t that happen to you?
For 2010, I encourage you to read the miracles of Jesus. Every person who was healed was dealing with some shame. Make Colossians 1:15 be your verse for the New Year. When we study about Jesus, we really have a snapshot into the character of God. That Jesus, the Bible says in Colossians 1, “is the visible image of the invisible God.” So when we read the miracles of Jesus, we can know what is true about God.
Jesus is powerful. But His power was not limited to 2,000 years ago. His power is available to us today. God’s power is still accessible.
The power of God made the blind see. The power of God also made the deaf hear. The power of God also raised the dead back to life. The power of God also healed a paralyzed person. The power of God went beyond the physical to the natural. It was the power of God that calmed the waves; it was the power of God that walked on water. It was the power of God that fed 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves of bread.
The power of God can overcome the shame in your life, too. When you read that God is powerful in a personal way – each of Jesus’ miracles had a personal impact. How does that make you want to respond?
Maybe for some, it means you will become more loving. It might mean you will become forgiving and responsive to the need of others. Perhaps you will become more thankful. Maybe it will give you more passion for Jesus.
May the power of God working in your life grant you a great New Year.
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