I don’t know what it was like for you, but in our house today there was great excitement about the new beginning that is the first day of school. I would not go so far as to say that it was a celebration, but it was certainly not a downer. One the first day of school there is the chance to start fresh. On this day there is the opportunity to reconnect with friends that you have not seen for a couple of months. On the morning of the first day of school no one has come home upset about what some kid said to them, there has not been a note sent home about being disruptive in class, and there is no homework in folders. Everything is possible. Smiles all around y’all!
A fresh start. How many of us reach part way through a day or week only to wish we could find the reset button on life? I haven’t found a magic button, or rewind on the remote of life, in fact, the only thing that I see is forward through the issue, the moment, the hardship. I am not a big advocate for the positive attitudes and will power shall free you camp. In my mind such an approach is a good start, but it is not an honest long-term solution. Press hard as we may towards the future with a positive outlook alone and we will find the voice of our detractors and critics will get louder increasing the weight on our shoulders with each passing day. How is it possible to stay standing under a constant barrage of garbage?
There must be something more than this frail attempt to look to the good in us and the situation. There has to be something else we can try to move ourselves towards our goal. I believe the key is to understand who we are in the sight of God. Strategies, communication plans, and politics aside there is truly only one thing that can assist you; know that you are loved by God.
The beauty of it is that there is not a thing we can do to improve or destroy our status before God, because God already sent his son Jesus to pay the price and nothing more is required. We are loved. That is our identity come unemployment, broken relationships, shattered lives, promotion, newly married, or birth of a child. All of it does nothing to alter our place before God. We are loved. YOU are loved!
Your day or week can be so different, in the midst of the storm, when we understand how we are viewed by the only eyes that really matter; God’s eyes. Hardships and criticism will be there, but it no longer has the power to wreck your heart, because you stand firm in the knowledge of where you really stand in life; loved.
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 