You may be that one in a – well – a lot – who actually listens to the podcast, reads the book, or goes to the place that your friends have recommended. I am going to be honest, I’m really not that person. I mean, maybe eventually I get there – or I run across it later and remember that someone I love and respect has suggested it and so I do – but I am a bit slow to take up suggestions. Yes, I realize that I am missing out on a ton of really good stuff. I’m working on it. And yes, I recommend stuff all the time and someplace deep in my heart hope that the person takes my suggestion.
Tonight was different. Today, my dear friend, Danielle, sent me the link to a Matt Chandler sermon. I cannot count the number of people who have told me to listen to Matt Chandler, nor the number of times that I have heard people talk about him and been touched by what they shared. Still, until tonight, I had not listened. It was a fantastic reminder that I am blessed to know and love smart people and that I should listen to your suggestions far more often.
I won’t recount every word that he said, because you can go and listen or watch if you are one of those people who listens to suggestions. I however, must share my reflections.
First, don’t listen to Matt Chandler unless you want to hear truth. He covers not one word in fluff and he doesn’t even pretend to make it a feel good sermon. However, if you want to hear God’s word taught just as it is written, Matt Chandler is a really good place to start.
Second, when listening to something a friend suggests for you, it is best not to guess which part they thought you needed to hear. I found myself several times convicted by his words and thinking, “Did Danielle think I needed to hear this part?” Then, I had to stop the recording and remember that she sent it because she felt like God told her too – and I need to let God tell me what I need to hear. In this case, though I was convicted, it was also that I have to believe that God loves me and I don’t have to fix anything before I come to Him for love and acceptance.
Third, I am stunned at how God uses different people to bring different truths out of His word. In January, I had the privilege of speaking to a group of women about the verses found in Revelation 2, regarding Ephesus. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t hit on anything I said. What I said touched people because it was God who told me what to say, but what he said touched people because it was God who told him what to say. Same verses, different, but powerful truths presented. This is why I keep reading my Bible – God uses it in so many ways.
Fourth, love is the point. If you read the New Testament at all, love is the focus. When we love God, love for others will flow out of us. There are boundaries in love for others, he reminds us, but love is still the point. Love God so much that you can’t help but love others well.
“Faith is necessary. Hope is a gift of God’s grace, but love is the greatest.” ~Matt Chandler on 1 Cor. 13:13
Fifth, we have to have people that we trust to whom we can tell the real condition of our hearts. Which if we are at all realistic is dark, and yucky, and broken. He mentions that most of us think we can manage it – but that we can’t. I think for me that is key – I cannot manage my broken heart and thus broken thoughts and actions – by myself. I need community. I need people to stand with me, to tell me truth, to encourage me, and to keep me from walking off the proverbial cliff. It’s not that I don’t know that, it is that I have a hard time doing that in person. I have people who willingly are these people in my life. I have people whom I love deeply, who love me enough to do life with me. I have chosen, in large part, to accept that only from the ones that I can text, or message, or if they absolutely insist, call. And that is important. Those relationships have been built over years. They are strong friendships and incredibly important. Along with that, though, I have people who are willing to play this role who live in this town. People whom I see on a weekly basis. People who have tried to walk with me. It is time that I realize what a gift that is and take them up on their offer.
There are two quotes that just will not leave me – and so I will share them as well.
“I have compulsions that lead me to such dark places and He is unmoved in His love for me.” ~Matt Chandler
“If you love Him (Jesus), you don’t have to be awesome. You get to be – what you are – broken, scared and hoping, and longing, and wandering, and unsure, and resting in the one who isn’t any of those things.” ~Matt Chandler
My hope when I write is always that some of these words will mean something to my readers, that something will bring hope, or direction, or understanding. I won’t dare suggest it though – because we know how suggestions go.
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