Shorelines

Hello blessed child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace and I hope you’re getting ready to start a wonderful week in The Lord.
Right now, I think what’s talked about the most is the end of holidays and the start of a new school year. What does it look like for you to prepare for a new school year?
As you’re preparing to go back to school (or to send your kids back to school) you probably think of a few things from last year which didn’t work as you expected them to work, which you regret or which you aren’t proud of.
Perhaps during the previous school year, you held on to the wrong things and it ended up pretty badly for you. Maybe you

• Prioritized pleasing people over pleasing God
• Held on tight to the wrong relationship because you didn’t know self-respect
• Made money an idol and a master which lorded over you instead of God directing you
• Chose the wrong type of friends and you ended up suffering the consequences of it
• Had so much difficulty maintaining hope in your mind that you’re now suffering from depression
• Gave in to bad behaviours which became patterns and which are now addictions, but you keep holding on to them

All these things can only make you feel more empty and more broken than you were in the first place. This just makes me think of the song “Shorelines” by Joe Guerra.
 

I know I’ve not made blogposts on Christian music for a long time, probably because I had reserved this for Lent 2018, but I also said that from time to time I would get back to writing a few blog posts about Christian music God-willing.
As such, today I thought it would be good to talk about this song, because It’s really a good one. I love this song because it illustrates the fact that we (human beings) are really prompt to holding on to the wrong things, the wrong relationships, the wrong thinking patterns, the wrong substances, and in the end we only feel empty, hurt and broken.
What’s most interesting about this song is that it shares such a deep truth, in general we know that the thing we are holding on to is only hurting us and is not good for us, but we keep holding on to it, either out of fear of the unknown, or because we just aren’t aware of the fact that God has something better for us.
What’s funny is that God loves us too much to let us continue holding on to the wrong things, as such, He will make them crash. He may have to strip us from everything just to make sure that we will need to find balance again, and to hold on to Him as our only anchor. Indeed, the most solid anchor whom you can choose for your life, is Jesus Christ.
Here is what He said;
Matthew 7:24-27

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

I don’t know what your last school year looked like, but I know that in mine, there was rain which came down, there were streams which rose against me, there were winds which blew powerfully against me, and in so many areas I held on to stuff which was only hurting me more, and I was hurt, and I was broken, but Jesus Christ used all this to re-center my priorities and to teach me to make Him my anchor, to have Him as solid foundation, not what people think of me, not my own efforts, not my past, not my pride, not my relationships, only God. All glory be to Him.
From the song “Shorelines” by Joe Guera, we can learn 3 ways to have Christ as safe anchor and to build our house on The Rock.

1. When You Are Broken Because of Someone or Something, Don’t Hold on to The Person or Thing, Hold on to God

Judges 9:21 NIV

‘Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek. ‘

Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Stockholm Syndrome is the psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor.
To summarize this, Stockholm Syndrome is when you fall in love with the person who kept you captive.
So often I’ve found myself being in relationships which were toxic to me, but sticking to them because I developed a sense of sympathy or love for the people who were hurting me. I can actually say that when I see people hold on to friends who are toxic, jealous, who destroy them and who seperate them from God, when I see that I feel like “Why do you hold on, don’t you see that this person is not good for you? That this person is keeping you captive in a cycle of toxiciy?” It is easier for me to see Stockholm syndrome in others than to see it in myself. Can you relate?
Did you ever stick so strongly to something (for example a substance of abuse, illicit sex, love for money, approval of people etc) so much that you knew it was hurting you but you kept holding on to it because you developed love for it, a sentimental attachment to it?
The more you’ll keep holding on to that thing the more you’ll hurt yourself. This is building your house on sand, and it won’t stand firm when the waves will come. However, if you detach yourself from these unhealthy things and turn to God, and make Him the center of your attention and your life, He will help your heart to be free from those toxic things and you will be building your house on a rock, you will have Christ as solid anchor.
Choose to spend time with God, and leave behind the unhealthy stuff.
NB: If any married person is reading this and thinks their spouse is toxic, recenter your relationship on Christ, and find a Christian counsellor to help you in this journey. Don’t use my blogpost as an excuse to divorce because I said “don’t hold on to toxic relationships” please.

2. Find Your Self-Worth in God, Not In Relationships, Not in Achievements

Peer pressure is very common at school and in the work environment. It’s so easy to do things just because you want to be considered as a “member”, you want to fit in and not be rejected. Unfortunately, if your self-worth is found in your relationships, then you’ll end up doing crazy things just to “belong” and in the end, those people will all leave you alone, in pain and in agony because they themselves have no self-worth.
The same goes for achievements. At times we focus so much on being the best, being “perfect”, getting the best grades, that we define our self-worth on the basis of what we achieve. As such, when we do not meet our high expectations, we feel worthless.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In both cases, God wants us to know that we are worthy not because of who befriends us nor because of what we achieve, but because He created us, and Christ gave His life on The Cross for us. No body can take it from you, no relationship can add worth to you, no achievement can add worth to you, no failure can withdraw worth from you, because your worth is in Christ.

3. When You Feel Like A Failure Take It To God

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

‘Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. ‘

Not every school year is “perfect”. Life in itself is not perfect. At times when we make our self-end-of-school-year evaluation, we realize that we’ve not made it up to our expectations, for example:

• I wasn’t as focused as I should have been as a student, I feel like a failure
• I didn’t act professionally enough at my internship,  I am a failure
• I didn’t improve my GPA from last year, I feel like a failure
• I wasn’t the type of parent I should have been for my kids, I wasn’t present enough,  I didn’t help them enough with their assignments, did I fail as a parent?

The list can be continued. The big thing is, if you hold on to your failures and insecurities, you’ll feel even worse. Don’t do that.
Take it all to God in prayer, tell Him how you feel, tell Him where you failed and ask Him to help you through His Holy Spirit to get better at this during this new school year.

Conclusion

If God is more than willing and able to reassure you and to take care of you, why do you keep holding on to things which destroy you and strip you from your joy? He longs to be with you, even in your fears and your pain, He longs to be with you, so stop trying to handle it on your own in the wrong way, build your house on Jesus Christ The Rock, make Him your anchor, and you’ll stand firm no matter the obstacles which stand against you.

Prayer

Father Lord God Almighty, please help me realize that I have to leave behind the things and relationships which seperate me from You and which poison me, in order to hold on to You.  Please Lord give me strength, faith and courage to do so consistently. Stand by my side everytime I try to find my self-worth in anything other than Your love for me, and please may Your Holy Spirit always remind me who I am in Christ Jesus, and that I am not defined by my failures, but that if I take them all to You, You will be my Comforter and my Instructor and You will teach me how to do better next time. Help me make Jesus Christ my only anchor, and help me build my life on Him, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.

It’s Now Your Turn

Now that you’ve read this blogpost, what did you relate to the most? Please let us know in the comments section.
Also, please make sure to listen to “Shorelines” by Joe Guerra. Add it to your playlist.
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Invitation

Are you fighting a battle in your mind against your past failures, anxiety, depression, comparison and jealousy, you need to learn how to tap from God’s Word to receive the necessary resources to win this battle. I recommend that you check out this new series by Pastor Steven Furtick, lead Pastor of Elevation Church. This series started on 11-12/08/2018, it is a 7 week series and we are already at week 3. You’re going to learn how to take back your mind in the age of anxiety.
All you need to do is tune in on the Youtube channel of Elevation Church every Sunday at any of the following times.

• 14:30 (GMT+1) a.k.a 9:30 am EST
• 16:30 (GMT+1) a.k.a 11:30 am EST
• 22:00 (GMT+1) a.k.a  17:00 EST

If you feel concerned about your internet connection, watching the whole worship experience with video quality 240 MP should cost you 250 MegaBites. Alternatively, you can download the sermon replay on YouTube on Monday evening at 17:00 GMT+1 (12 Noon EST)
God loves you so much
God bless you
Victoria Eyog