What Did You Believe When You Woke Up This Morning?
“Perspective is central. What you believe about this decade will be the primary factor in shaping what this decade becomes.”
What we believe in our core assumptions shapes everything.
If we believe we are entitled to things, if we believe we “should” be in charge, calling the shots and answering to no one, then these beliefs will sabotage the preparation for kingship that this decade provides, this crucible of preparation into which our very own King is inviting us.
How do you interpret this decade? I don’t mean your ideals, I mean in your belly, in the bowels of your being. Another angle to reveal these deepest beliefs is this: what do you believe when you wake up each day?
For me, this question always reveals the civil war raging within me between the false self and true self.
Here’s what the false self believes most mornings:
-It’s up to me (fill in the blank… career, marriage, parenting, finances…)
-I’m not understood
-I’m really only loved and appreciated when I achieve and come through for others.
-I’d better “get my shit together and figure it out.”
These beliefs shape everything.
By way of example, for years, self-hatred shaped my self perception. And I was completely unaware. I drove myself, day after day to achieve the proverbial “more” in the category of fitness. It was always elusive. Until two years ago some friends prayed over me, helping me to identify an agreement I made with self-hatred. I broke the agreement. And everything changed. I have enjoyed fitness in ways that I never before was able to enjoy it. I’m kind to myself in new ways; energized, self-accepting, and finally open to choices toward self care.
Remember, scripture is clear that believing is seeing. Paul says we must believe in our heart in order to be saved – from the inside out (Romans 10:9). Do you recall that Jesus denounced the cities where he did the public miracles for their lack of belief? More people witnessed miracles there than any place on earth up to that time… and belief remained nearly non-existent (Luke 10:13).
Believing is seeing.
(For a healthy reminder, watch this scene from Bruce Almighty)
What do you believe about the decade in which God has you?
As I pray and come into agreement with who God is and what He is doing, I feel the false self peel away, like a snake shedding it’s skin. I feel the life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit fill me. My interpretation is restored, yet again.
I believe:
– God exists.
– I am a son. I have a loving Father who is providing, protecting, bestowing generosity.
– The Holy Spirit is prompting me, inviting me to respond to His wild ways. Joy is the fruit. The path is not linear and the vision is not long term. But the choice is available. I can choose in this moment to follow and to have life that is truly life.
– Jesus’ life, His inextinguishable life, is available now, in this moment. I am grafted in. He is increasing my awareness of how and when I operate out of the false self. He is offering me Life so that I can choose, offer, and respond with the impossible-made-possible, in love. He is dismantling the false self within me, step by step, and restoring the true. He is showing me what love looks like, right here, right now. In Union.
– The spiritual context of this day and this decade is excavation and restoration. The bulldozers are here, digging, digging, digging. I am the apprentice of the Father in Kingdom-living. Right where the rubber meets the road today. In blood, in sweat, in tears. He is training me in the way of becoming a whole and holy man. I’m not the man yet I want to be, but I’m not the man I used to be (okay, now I’m sounding like Tim McGraw, but it’s true.)
– He is training me to yield my strength. To be harnessed in love, by His will, His way, and His remarkable intentions for my life that exceed what I even ask for or can imagine.
– I believe this is a decade of preparation. The stakes feel huge, but in reality they are smaller than what is ahead. The invitation is to risk, to trust, to choose love, to watch for the outcomes. To learn. To grow.
– These are the “hidden years.” Frustration is healthy. Dropping my pencil at 5 is a holy and loving act.
– I want to become good soil. Today.
I believe. Help my unbelief. (Mark 9:24)
What do you believe, on the deepest level? About this decade? About this day? Those core assumptions shape everything. And they are central in determining the outcomes of this decade of character over kingdom.
