There is so much pressure in this world today to get along.  To follow along with what everyone else thinks.  To believe as they do.  We have become a society filled with robots who have lost who they are and try live a life that’s under the radar and as long as they can get along, then all is well.  There is so much fear to be different.  So much fear to stand up and be alive.  I’ve been reflecting on this the past few days.  I was reflecting on my own life and how I lived a life that just wanted to get along.  To live secure in the world I knew and tried to be good husband and dad while working to make a success out of myself.

God revealed something to me though.  I was walking down an ice covered road in the mountains of Colorado and He showed me that I have spent way too much time staying on the wide open path that the world had laid out before me.  I was spending too much time on the simple road with my eyes closed to God and blinded by a world that made it okay minimize my faith.  He had been spending the past few years tugging on my heart, but I did not listen fully.  I knew I needed to change, but I was scared.  Scared of the worlds response and what that would mean for my family and me.

I realize this year what I was being called to do and I had to realize that I could no longer live a life of fear of what others would think.  I am now working on transforming my entire life including eventually leaving a career I have spent 15 years building to counsel and disciple for the Kingdom.  I realized that I could no longer ignore the calling of God.  When He calls, you have to go.  It is a calling that has become way too strong.

With that said, making this change has had its challenges.  Try telling people your making a change because God called you and they look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears.  There are many that are just as pumped as I am, but there are instances of those that just don’t get it.  Often times, especially if it’s people closer you can easily fall back.  The enemy tried many times to get me to stop this change.  I have spent many days calling to God bring the Cross of Jesus over my life to take on this battle.  It’s spiritual warfare at its finest and the enemy will use even those close to you to try to stop you.

This world and the enemy will continually try to assault our identity and who we are in the Lord.  Look at Jesus.  The greatest assault against Him was on his identity from His time in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, to his battles with the religious elite.  A constant assault.  Coming into faith with Christ and being called as God’s sons, we now face an assault on our identity in this world and from Satan as well.   We have to fear to not live in fear and not fear to be different than what those in this world expect of you.

So I ask, what fears do you have?  Are you scared to be different?  If so, why?  Do you feel the calling and the urging of God on your heart, but not sure what to do with it?  I tell you this, its not easy to move away from the norms of life.  It can be very difficult and painful. You have to learn to stop being defense and let Christ be your advocate in life.  Surrender to Him and learn to live a life where your motives are driven by your faith in Him.  Don’t make agreements with the enemy that you can’t live out your story in Christ.  Those agreement include telling yourself that you can’t change or that you just need to be happy where you are even if you feel in your heart that God is calling you out.  Don’t let him deceive you.  That’s his game.

Don’t be scared to be different.  Don’t be afraid to stand on faith against all else to live for God’s full glory.

“Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities, And cries it shall be done.” –  Charles Wesley