Be Jesus Well

A difficult circumstance, an awkward situation, a person who is hard to deal with, I think we've all experienced these. Recently, I'd say I've experienced all three of them at once. I sat thinking to myself... how do I be Jesus well to this person? That person who does something that creates a difficult circumstance, awkward situation, and makes themselves hard for me to talk to. How do you be Jesus well to someone when you don't even know how to deal with the situation/circumstance? How do you be Jesus well when you're frustrated with someone and you don't know what to say to them? You don't. But He does. In church we sang the words: "This world is dying to know who You are." Those words hit me every time, hard. Because the world is LITERALLY dying to know who He is. I mean, people commit suicide, murder, and each day, we're one day closer to dying. I know it sounds morbid, but it's true, and so to think of that and all the people who don't know Him... it makes it more real than ever. We always think we have tomorrow. When we have our mindset on the Kingdom of Heaven, we fix our eyes on Him, and our focus on living our lives for Him so others see Him. So how did I answer this question of: how do I be Jesus well? Well, I didn't answer it, God did. The song we sang in church went on to say: "Yes, all of you is all we need. Take everything." God reminded me that it isn't me, it never was, never will be. It's Him. Let Jesus be Jesus. Let the Holy Spirit move the way the Holy Spirit moves. He might use me to help this friend or He might not. But I know God has a plan, that plan will prosper, and everything will work together for my good and His glory. Yes, He is all I need. He will give me the words to say at the perfect time, the perfect balance of gentleness and seriousness, He will be Jesus in me. I may stumble with words, say the wrong things, they may get upset, walk away, or never speak to me again, or there might be a flame ignited, a seed planted, a seed watered. You never know. Let Jesus be Jesus. Another thing that the devil will try to convince you of is that you're not equipped to take on the task at hand, that you can't do it. Yet, Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." You can do it. But you need to let God guide you, let Him be the center, He will do it through you. How do I/you be Jesus well? By letting Jesus be Jesus in and through you. Let Him do His work. He will use you in ways you see and ways you don't. He does a pretty darn good job ;)

Let's finish with one of my favorite quotes by Francis Chan,

"God's promise is not that everyone is going to believe your message. His promise is that His spirit will be with you and will work through you."