ANNOUNCEMENTS
Saturdays: On Saturdays at 10am we have our Band of Brothers weekly meeting. We play football, basketball, or ultimate frisbee and then have a Bible study. This is a great way for you son to build true camaraderie with friends and grow in their walks with God.
This Sunday 2/3/08: We are not having Sunday morning youth service. We are having a Super Bowl party from 5 pm to half time in the youth hall. We are providing food and drinks. This is going to be a lot of fun!
Title ( from Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller)
Why do we get insecure? By insecure I mean that feeling you get when you feel like the whole world thinks you’re dumb, is laughing at you, that you’re ugly. I remember my first week of high school (prior to high school I had been home schooled since 4th grade). When I first came into that atmosphere I felt like 6 billion eyes were looking at me as I was being secretly videoed and telecasted on jumbo-trons across the globe.
During my first week of school everyone was handed their locker combo. When I got my locker combo I tried the combination but was unable to open my locker. I had never used a locker before and was too insecure to ask how to use it. This would have been fine except for the fact that my school would not let us wear backpacks. As I went from class to class I received my text books. By lunch time I was carrying a stack of books that went nearly from my belly button to my chin. As I was coming back from lunch walking up the stairwell to my next class the inevitable happened. Unable to see the ground I lost control of my footing, slipping on the steps I tossed my books everywhere. A guy that was in one of my classes asked, “Man, are you alright! Why don’t you put some of those books in your locker?” In desperation I responded, “They gave me the wrong locker combo.” After this incident this guy helped me out and showed me how to use a locker combo.
Why in the world was I so insecure that I made myself go through pain just to not look dumb? The Bible explains why we get insecure. In Genesis 2:25 Moses refers to Adam and Eve feeling no shame and being naked. Why would Moses refer to man’s nakedness? This is what I believe Moses was trying to tell us. Before sin, man received all his security from God. There was infinite love flow from God. All of man’s understanding of value came from God. All of his attention was on God. Man was so consumed with God and being in his presence that he didn’t even recognize himself or the flaws of others.
Imagine going into your school and being so consumed by God that you didn’t even notice yourself. Imagine being so secure in God that you didn’t have to double check yourself in the mirror to see if you looked good. What if you did not blow up when someone disrespected you, such as made fun of you, or cut in front of you, or picked you last? What if these things never even bothered you because you felt so much love from God, your understanding of value came from God and all your security came from Him? This is what it was like for Adam and Eve before sin existed.
What was the first thing that happened to Adam and Eve after sinning? In Genesis 3:7 it says that their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked. Imagine, for the first time the infinite love flow from God stopped. Man’s sense of value no longer came from God. Man for the first time in history felt what we call insecurity. Like Donald Miller says, it would be like you loving someone then all of a sudden that person is gone. “All the insecurity rises the instant you realize you are alone—you are outside of God’s love/ His Presence. Like a lost child who suddenly realizes he is lost.” (Donald Miller).
We get insecure when we are outside of God’s presence. The Bible says in I John that God is love. When we are not aware of God we are not aware of his love. When there is no awareness of God’s love we become insecure.
What we, therefore, must do is first get rid of the sin in our lives that is separating us from God’s love. The closer we are to God, the more we will find our security from him. Secondly, we must realize why we are valuable. We are valuable because God loves us. He finds pleasure in being with us. How do you prove this? Because of the price that was paid for you. God paid the ultimate price for you by sending his one and only Son to die on the cross for you.
Finally, you must let God tell you who you are. Before man sinned man was not self aware like he is today. He was completely consumed by God, not himself. Donald Miller says the self awareness is being the furthest away from knowing who you really are. Only the One who made you has the authority of telling you who you really are. How do you find out who God says you are? His Word (the Bible).
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Tell your children what God’s Word says about who they are, who they are created to be. Constantly remind them of this. My parents would constantly encourage me this way telling me that God has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future (Jer 29:11). I remember them reading me scriptures in Jr. High such as Psalm 89:19, “Behold, I have bestowed strength on a warrior. I have exalted a young man from among the people.” They would then tell me that I was the warrior created to change this world. I remember my dad doing a weekly Bible study with me and all my friends and talking about David’s mighty men in II Samuel 23 and then telling us that we were God’s mighty men. You can help let God define who your child is or the w orld.
