Together We Are Whole

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 FULL.

Not socially distant.

Not isolated.

Not alone.

Not quarantined.

FULL.

This is not the life Jesus came to give.

For 15 days, the enemy has been attacking me. And it sure has been easy to not say anything. He reminds me of my past of rejection and I am silenced to fight alone. Yesterday, I read Jennie Allen's book "Get Out Of Your Head." For 18 months, she said nothing. She told no one. She fought alone. In the dark. Because the enemy told her it was not a big deal.

I do not know the lies the enemy is whispering to you today. I do not know what you have believed, what you have allowed it to do to your life, your joy, your peace, your faith, your marriage, your family, your friends, your children. I do not know. I wish I did. I wish we were sitting across the table over coffee.

But I can tell you this.

You belong.

You have a place.

You are loved.

You are chosen.

You are wanted.

You are cared for.

Provided for.

Called. Healed. Whole.

You have a purpose.

You are His.

And you can walk in it.

You can fight the enemy with it.

Every lie that the enemy has told you fails in comparison to The Truth. In the dark. In the light. In the quiet. In the surrounded. In the struggle. In the victory. The enemy knows where to hit you hardest and I know it is not always in the quiet and in the alone. It is everywhere.

But you know what is even bigger? Jesus. And HE is everywhere. He is EVERY. WHERE. More than the enemy. Louder. Stronger. Better. And He has already won. He has already defeated the enemy. Satan has no place. He has no grip on you. Because even though satan knows where to hit you hardest, Jesus is already there. He goes before and behind you. He loves you fully in that place and He died for that place. He died to redeem, restore and renew that place and every part of you. He loves every single thing about you and He died for all of it. Not just the pretty part, every single place. Every hurt, every choice, every lie. Every place you are scared to show.

The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy our identity, our worth and our faith. Jesus came to give us life and give it to the FULL. Full of His Love, His Grace, His Security, His Victory, His Power.

And I can tell you this.

Jesus loves you and your people love you.

We need Jesus and we need each other.

For the longest time satan had me believing that trusting people is bad. He actually had me believing I should only trust God and talk to nobody. I guess he realized he was not going to shake my faith, so he would just break my trust in all people. This is not the way God made us to live. From the very beginning, He said it is not good for man to be alone and he made Eve for Adam.

The enemy wants you to shut people out and put up walls. That is the only way to stay safe, right? I know because he does it to me. If I am just being honest, at my deepest part, I rarely trust anyone. I am always expecting and holding my breath for the day my people will realize I am not worth it. It is satan's oldest trick in his book for me and I fall for it every time. I expect it. And if the enemy can scare me enough, I'll beat them to the punch. Because you know why? Satan wants us alone, in the dark, unaccountable, disconnected and hurt, so we will run to false and temporary pleasure that leaves us still hurt, still alone and now empty and if he gets us good enough, now ashamed and away from God.

But this is not the life Jesus came to give. Jesus came to give us life and give it to the FULL. The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy our relationships, our accountability, our worth, our truth.

What you are going through matters. The lies you are believing are a big deal. Your people matter. They want you to tell them. YOU HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE. And if they do not want to hear it, then they are not your people. And thank God for showing you that so you can move on and find the people who are yours.

Absolutely first trust God, but then trust Him enough to trust the people He gives you. We are not made to be in isolation. We are not made to fight alone. You know that place you are scared to show? Trust God enough to know your people want to be in that place with you and trust them to be there.

First and foremost, Jesus is fighting for you. He is fighting with you. But with that, He fights with your people for you and with you. I love the song "Another in the Fire." Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had each other in the fire and with them, they had Jesus in the fire. Find the people who will go to the fire and fight Hell for you and with you. Who will yell at the enemy with you and for you. The one who wakes up praising Jesus, thanking Holy Spirit and telling our Father how much we love Him. Find your person that says "you are mine" and fights for you. Who makes you better, more like Jesus and wants to fight and struggle with you, just as much as they want to dance and laugh with you. And be that for them and with them.

Jesus is the most incredible best friend and if you let Him, He will give you the most incredible best friends for you to do life with Him together. One of the sweetest things I have learned is that Jesus and our people are not separate. In His Perfect Context, they do not compete, they do not cancel out each other, Jesus and our people compliment each other and as Jesus completes each of us, we come together whole.

"A cord of three strands is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12

We need Jesus and we need each other. - Jay Wolf