This won’t be a long post today. Just a little preview of a new series to come. At the very least, some foundation laying…
In recent years, I’ve referenced our ‘loved by God’ identity as the base of knowing who we are; however, as recent conviction has reminded me, there are other layers we must consider, other tiers we must not mistake as optional.
One of them, as I’ll unpack in future blogs, is our ‘man after God’s own heart’ identity (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), which for the record is not synonymous with our ‘new creation’ identity though it is close. While a breakdown will be forthcoming, in short, a new creation identity acknowledges the justification by way of the Cross (one time redemption) while a ‘man after God’s own heart identity’ abides in the sanctification of the Cross (ongoing renewal day-by-day).
This in mind, I think for many of us, there are inhibitors keeping us from fully embracing a King David-like heart. Guilt and cynicism are some of mine but to you, the struggle may look different. Whatever the case, I can’t help but wonder why receiving and walking in an ‘after God’s own heart’ identity is harder than its ‘loved by God’ counterpart.
Perhaps we feel like a man after God’s own heart is contingent upon works, consistency, and the absence of strongholds. Perhaps we’ve made it a conditional label based on our perceived strength of spiritual health. Perhaps we just have to feel good about how we’re doing to fully embrace the call of following Jesus.
Again, while this share is more of a breadcrumb than anything, I want to submit we take inventory of:
Any place God may be resource, not source (shout out to my dad, Steve Fry, below).
What is keeping us from yielding to Jesus in times of temptation and/or when we sense our need for fulfillment is greater than adhering to righteousness.
What is keeping us from receiving the totality of God’s grace and mercy.
What is keeping us from going and sinning no more.
Bottom line: I believe many of us are trying to find something that isn’t lost, something we already have! The charge, then, is not to lament what seems absent but return to Jesus. Whether you’re concerned about the ceiling of your potential and/or discouraged about who you used to be, surrender the pride, confess your heart, and know the likeness of God is enough in the context of repentance and fullness. Don’t turn your redemption into a legalistic narrative. Like David, ask the Lord to remove the stain but leave the scar (More on this later on as I’ve been fascinated by this dichotomy in recent days).
From there, get back on your feet, run the race, and don’t look back.
For the first time in this series’ history, I’m writing a post to compliment parts 1 and 2 linked above. After encountering a revelation deluge during a sultry late summer run last weekend, I figured integrating these points into this episode made sense.
If you’re checking in for the first time, our goal with ‘Mourning Glory’ is to learn what the Bible says about grief and how to channel mourning into giving God all the glory. In many ways, these posts capture the journey Lys and I have been on this year. We hope these truths minister to your heart regardless of your circumstances.
1) Finding grief in the account of the 12 spies (Numbers 13)
Whether or not we realize it, there’s a piece of us internally during seasons of healing, recovery, and intense grieving looking to scout and assess where we are. Since we almost always need something to anticipate, our idea of ‘Promised Land’ generally becomes the ultimate source of hope (on earth edition). The million-dollar question is: What is our ‘Promised Land’ and how are we getting there?
To answer this question, we have to know what constitutes the giants in our life – what constitutes the Nephilim, and God’s role in the entire operation. For most, we’ve misappropriated our grief within the analogy. We think the giant in the room is the heartbreak, depression, whatever is causing us pain/hurt, etc. However, I submit…
Your pain isn’t the giant in the room. Perhaps an elephant but not a giant. The giant in the room is any toleration or stronghold that keeps us from pressing through…by faith– anything that keeps us stagnant as we walk through hell and/or keeps us from wrestling with God the way Jacob did with the man in Genesis 32.
Put another way, the giants in our lives are tolerated strongholds/sins and negative behavior patterns we use as coping mechanisms and bartering tools to maintain any sense of satisfaction. Tangentially, wrestling with God is how we conquer them and should not be considered optional in our journey to the Promised Land.
Speaking of Promised Land, what is it in the grand scheme of grieving, mourning, and journeying through pain/suffering? I think for most, we assume this represents a graduation, the proof of having healed and moved on. The problem is: If we abide by this perspective, then we limit victory as only realized once we’ve crossed a ‘finish line’, even if it’s one we can’t define it.
If we’re to correct from this mindset, we have to adjust the past vs. participle dichotomy within our thinking. For instance, while many view breakthrough as a binary function (I.e. you’re healed or not healed, moved on or haven’t moved on), the truth is:
We’ve already been set free and as such, can discover our new creation identity on top of our ‘loved by God’ identity day by day.
While the Word says we’ve been purchased at a price, this doesn’t mean we’re going to hit a point in this life when we’re officially complete. In the context of fullness, we’re never going to be complete. We’re never going to be perfect; however, we can still pursue it as being perfected (Matthew 5:48).
Why does this matter? Because we can live and heal without the burden of feeling far from an end goal when the goal is Jesus and He’s never far away!
God is everything and as such, can’t be detached from the Promised Land we’re seeking. Accordingly, don’t forsake or undermine His oasis presence as you journey but receive Who is He as what sustains you and maintains momentum. Walking with us through the valleys and shadows of life implies motion; however, we can’t self-effort that motion (and e-motion for that matter) in a way that leads to where we want to go. This is one of the main reasons why it took the Israelites 40 years to journey through the wilderness.
The Promised Land is multi-dimensional. Although you can experience a part of it through Christ alone, you may still feel far from victory, or should I say the evidence of victory (I.e. being around a group of people that have historically misunderstood you, being in the same space where at one point you experienced trauma in some capacity). Certainly, we can’t embrace strength and courage without abiding by the Spirit and trusting in God’s sovereignty.
For now, I encourage you not to make certain people and circumstances the enemy, as the giants in the room. They are not worth the negative empowerment at the cost of your distrust. Rather, if you want to view your grief as a race, bring God into every leg of it. If it’s a journey, bring Him along as if He’s in your backpack, fanny pack, whatever. The joy in walking with Jesus is you’re being changed, perfected, and nurtured day-by-day. God isn’t just at the finish line waiting for you. He’s with you through the grieving/mourning process ready to share fresh facets of His nature you couldn’t have known had you not gone through the pain, hardship, etc. Hence, why we should see suffering as a gift more than anything else.
2) Finding grief in the account of Jacob’s wrestling with God (Genesis 32)
In this chapter, Jacob is looking for favor in the heat of stress and anxiety. Not only does he feel the betrayal from Laban, but the wrath from Esau, caught up in a bizarre series of deceptions with his life on the line. Like the griever, he’s desperate for assurance and blessing, the realization of comfort and God being for him, not against him. This sets the stage for the wrestling with ‘the man’ (v. 24 ), a beautiful picture of how we should cling to Jesus when we’re suffering and in some cases, grieving on the backend of loss.
Think about it: Jacob had everything to gain tackling His Lord. The cost set before him, he was determined to be take hold of his inheritance relative to his identity despite a side effect in the most literal sense. And it’s here where my imagination has been captured of late.
In the heat of the moment, despite his mourning and discomfort, Jacob never let go…not only to the glory of God but for the sake of never walking the same way again.
As Jacob portrays, wrestling with God is an intimate experience. While it can be uncomfortable, the reality of pain being a gift can triumph through rest knowing we have a default way to react when something goes wrong. I’m telling you, my friends, this is the power and significance of the limp and why we should embrace it as we journey in unity, contend in hope, and help others in need.
Just as we limp when a bone is out of joint to protect us from further damage, we limp when we lose a beloved person and/or experience a significant life change. While limps come in various shapes, sizes, and severities, when we grieve the right way, our inner man is declaring ‘I need Jesus’/’I need my brokenness aligned amidst a broken world‘ . Conversely, when we grieve the wrong way, we declare the injustice is with God Himself and/or the specific people and strongholds involved in the situation that may be fueling the grief.
Therefore, we can take joy when we consider our grief/mourning in the construct of Genesis 32 knowing pain can help us not only reach for Jesus, but see Him reflected in what we’re going through, our limp an always present reality keeping us humble and hopeful along the way.
In closing, I charge you, brothers and sisters, to grieve in hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) knowing…
And even if you feel you can’t, that’s okay. For in your weakness, He is strong and in your vulnerability shine all the more brightly through saints and providence alike. While more content on this topic will eventually follow, for now, as I always say in bidding adieu…
For the typical working man, the twists and turns of corporate life can be unpredictable, sometimes sudden.
Granted, there are many roles with descriptions defined by consistency; however, for others, especially entrepreneurs, small business owners, even freelancers, the marketplace can seem like a daily flight through wake turbulence. Sometimes, you don’t recognize the bumps until you’re in them.
As most can relate, to excel in occupation is to know how to execute in the face of routine and audible alike. The question is: How does this look like when a non-rescindable, large-scale, global phenomenon, like Artificial Intelligence, is the catalyst?
Before I continue, please note I do not approach this subject as an AI expert. Rather, I submit my words as a humbled yet curious marketplace minister committed to understanding the times. Knowing me, I could spin this off into a Romans 1 SOAP Bible Study and paint modern technology as an example of evil alluded to in v. 23.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Romans 1:18-23 (ESV)
However, this wouldn’t completely capture my conviction given I believe AI can have positive life-altering implications. The problem I have is not with the science but the people behind the architecture who have openly admitted to what can only be described as a Pandora’s Box unfolding before our eyes. In recent years, the signs of an arms race were becoming increasingly imminent. Now, with billions of dollars and millions of egos at stake, the writing on the wall is clear: While the power of AI was inevitably going to be unleashed, the unveiling was too much too soon. Depending on what tutorial you use in your educational research, don’t be surprised if you hear such a claim.
On a personal level, the topic hits close to home as Lys and I lost a signature freelancing gig in May due to AI after a 3.5-year run. As writers in the 21st century, it’s the price we pay in a world that assumes the voice-heart connection is easily reproducible and values automation over augmentation. No doubt, for every wise business leader who understands the dichotomy, there is a foolish one abusing it to cookie-cut corners and fuel self-serving agendas. While a follow-up post will seek to break down the automation/augmentation divide, for now, I call upon my working brothers to be careful as you discover and formulate new strategies.
For as Lys and I experienced earlier this year, the excitement behind AI integration can ignite, how do I say it diplomatically…robotic impulses within. If you’re a business owner/leader tasked with implementation, I implore you: Don’t ever undervalue the flesh, blood, and lifeblood of your company. Likewise, to new job seekers, don’t assimilate or over-spiritualize AI as a necessary evil.
As it’s been said before and will continue being said, people won’t be losing their jobs to AI but to people who know how to use it. Thus, the debate at hand should not be whether AI is necessary or why it exists but how can it be used the right way for the right reasons by the right people.
Again, I’m not here to shout on a pedestal or lash out in soreness. Truth be told, it wasn’t the abrupt releasing that hurt Lys and I, it was the fact the change in direction wasn’t communicated with us until we saw the evidence ourselves. Imagine writing for people you once respected only to be let go without any ‘heads up’? Regardless of relationship history, the initial shock would likely come across as whiplash to most in that situation. As a firm believer in all people being co-equal in value, diverse in function, I can only hope the ethics in our situation would be deemed questionable by the majority.
Yet, bringing this intro post in for a landing, I trust this premise is relatable and on target. Whether you’re an employee or contractor, your work matters and you deserve to have a voice in critical conversations about your impact and how it can evolve before ties are cut. Accordingly, as we pursue fewer humans in certain operational affairs, let us not be less humane in our treatment of our colleagues and subordinates.
After all, while God has given man talents and skill sets to govern the utilization of artificial intelligence, it does not permit us to distribute our ‘mind of Christ’ mentality by proxy. As vocationals blessed with unique gifts, what the divine has imparted should never be taken for granted to the point we leverage it with what has become idolatry to an unyielded world. If your intentions are rooted in convenience and bottom line alone, consider a responsibility lateral to one who understands it is man who is called by God to be faithful stewards of natural and artificial resources and subdue the earth as an overflow, not man’s creations. If what you design and develop is the definition of what makes your company great, news flash: It isn’t, at least it shouldn’t.
And while it’s true, there’s no turning back now, based on what’s already been unleashed, this doesn’t mean God can’t inspire wisdom among those daring enough to embrace it.
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