Scripture reading for today: Acts 10 – 11; Psalm 110
I had a friend in treatment who was very insulted when her treatment team dared suggest that she was insane. Today is a good day to get that truth out on the table. Anytime we are not living within the confines of our God-created identity, we are crazy! Is this an extreme perspective that needs to be toned down? NO! Stop and think. God made each and every one of us. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we’re made of (and for). See Ephesians 1:11 if you doubt this view (I especially love how The Message paraphrases that passage.)
If we carry this thought to its conclusion, the implication becomes crystal clear. The absolute best “me” I can become is the identity God custom-selected for me. Lest we forget, this is the same God who custom designs snowflakes just for fun. So if God is willing to create a world that births one-of-a-kind snow crystals, what effort must He exert when he’s designing us? We would have to be nuts to try to make up our own identity! Translation: We are in a state of insanity when we live independently of our true God-created identity.
Today we’re going to read in Acts about Peter’s dilemma. One of the twelve disciples and a Jew by birth, Peter was pretty confident about how God created him. And he was cool with that creation. He wasn’t resisting the mantle of responsibility God placed upon him. He was completely sold out to God.
Then he had this vision. It was a vision he didn’t understand because the message didn’t fit with Peter’s preconceived notions about what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. His friends were confused too. But here’s the great thing about Peter. When God spoke, he stepped. He was willing to be made willing to take a different perspective. As we march through the twelve steps, we can expect to be blown away. We will discover that some of our preconceived notions are completely wrong. (If that’s not happening, something is way wrong.) It helps if we just get over huffing and puffing and accept the truth; sometimes we are in need of a sanity check.
One of the phrases I think we should all practice saying every day (because it’s true) is “I could be wrong.” To properly say this phrase, you can’t sound like this is a radical idea. You can’t roll your eyes. No snarling allowed. Just calmly say, “I could be wrong.” And mean it.
Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love. Ephesians 1:4 The Message
Can you imagine that? Long before God set the first star in the sky, he was thinking about you.
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. Ephesians 1:11-12 The Message