You arrive at no choice of your own, and before you figure out what’s going on,
you find you have feelings and attractions that don’t add up to anything that Jesus says He loves and approves. You begin to feel as though you are a disappointment.
And before you can figure out the truth, Satan is already pitching lies at you “You don’t matter!” “You don’t belong!” “You’re a freak!”
The world even begins to confirm this in its treatment of you. You’re bullied, embarrassed, teased and harassed. You can’t figure out the meaning of life.
Few parents make a proper introduction to Jesus anymore. They live in a routine that fell to them by tradition. Church and sermons are the agonies before a feast and social gathering that happens to be on a Saturday.
Meanwhile, you’re flooding your pillow with tears each night, trying to figure out where you fit in. How do I know? Because I’ve experienced social rejection in my life. The only difference is I had Godly parents who put Jesus right in the center of our home. It would take decades before I would figure out the tug of war over my handicaps. Satan preys upon the weak. And Jesus patiently waits for us to discover Him. If He forced Himself on us, He would be fulfilling the unsubstantiated accusation of Satan.
We need Jesus from our very first breath. We need Him in the womb. We all need to have benefited from Godly parents. But Jesus doesn’t give up on us because of a traumatic beginning or event that seeks to anger us against God. It’s sobering how He always gets the blame. Jeremiah 1:5 tells of how He knows us before we are born and has great desires for us.
People may let us down. And because of that, we have difficulty developing trust. But Jesus isn’t human. He doesn’t mirror the inadequacies of sinful human nature. He is trustworthy indeed! He is the Father of fathers! He is perfect. And He is continually, wrongfully accused. He only wants good for you.
There are great pain and aches that so many of us have carried with us, asking God why He doesn’t like us. One friend asked me; “Why does God hate gays?” If only we would study creation, the war in Heaven, and what consequences of Lucifer’s fall would do to the earth and all its inhabitants. If only we would stop blaming God and recognize the evil of Satan and its effects on us. If only we would fall in love with Jesus, recognizing the depth of His love for us.
Today, many equal rights campaigns push the line; “Just be you!” “Be who you are!” As though our identity is made up of our “feelings,” rather than who we can be in Jesus, our precious Savior. Sure, that will sound corny to someone who isn’t seeking Jesus. And you and I can’t, nor should force Jesus on anyone. But that’s where the power of prayer is soooo important — enabling the Holy Spirit to touch hearts that would otherwise be hardened. Your prayers do count. They do matter. And they will be heard and answered.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14.
Recognizing the battle between Satan and Jesus to have control over our lives, is sooo important. When we consider Satan’s jealousy and anger toward God, it becomes much clearer that Satan has no regard for us, except to turn us against God. Satan was the first to campaign for equal rights, stemming from His jealousy. But not just “equal.” He wanted to be higher than God.
Today Satan’s crafty maneuvering is turning people against the One who loves them more than any could imagine. How is it that he is so successful with his counterfeits? Why would we want something less than what God desires for us? How is it that we have allowed ourselves to become so mesmerized? Why do we insist on identifying by our “feelings” and emotions instead of discovering our true identity in Jesus Christ? Why aren’t we rescuing those deceived? Even on our university campuses? Isn’t our identity in Christ, the very reason we would seek a Christian education?
“There are some who seem to be always seeking for the heavenly pearl. But they do not make an entire surrender of their wrong habits. They do not die to self that Christ may live in them. Therefore they do not find the precious pearl. They have not overcome unholy ambition and their love for worldly attractions… Almost Christians, yet not fully Christians, they seem near the kingdom of Heaven, but they cannot enter there. Almost but not wholly saved, meant to not almost but be wholly lost.” Christ Object Lessons, page 118
Inside of our core existence is a longing to belong fully and unconditionally. To be loved, and to matter deeply to someone. We’re floundering, perhaps going from one relationship to the next. Or living within a relationship that seems happy, but not completely. Searching, clinging, hoping. But not fulfilling. We think that perhaps someone lied to us and let us down. It’s not Jesus. But His imposter has dragged you around in a cesspool of lies.
How fair God is to let us recognize our need of Him and to call on Him when we realize, we can’t do this on our own. We don’t have that kind of power. But with Jesus, all things are possible. Through His incredible revelations, we begin to see our value to Him. Philippians 4:13
We begin to recognize that the more we invest in a relationship with Jesus, the more we are drawn to His promises, and we want to live for Him as surrendered servants.
He is patient. We don’t have to understand it all at once. And some things, we may never understand. But we see more clearly, the lies and empty promises that Satan has sold us by telling us to campaign for equal rights and be “who we are,” instead of accepting the amazing gift of who Jesus says we are. Royalty, a “New Creation.” His children, elect, soldiers, witnesses, ambassadors. Far more than we could dream of on this worn and torn earth.
But what about not “feeling” like I am somebody? What about being alone? What about not being able to express me sexually?
My friend, Jesus will never leave or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5. It may sound empty at the moment. But I challenge you to put Jesus to the test. He calls upon us to deny ourselves for Him. And as I read and study about Him and what He went through for me, that’s a lot. His requests of me are for a greater purpose than simply what I experience on this earth. He is preparing us for eternity with Him. He is worth it.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5
Without Jesus, I am nothing.