NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

Day 20 - Why I fear "faking it 'til you make it"

Scripture focus: You know where I am, God! Remember what I'm doing here! Take my side against my detractors. Don't stand back while they ruin me. Just look at the abuse I'm taking! When your words showed up, I ate them— swallowed them whole. What a feast! What delight I took in being yours, O God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! I never joined the party crowd in their laughter and their fun. Led by you, I went off by myself. You'd filled me with indignation. Their sin had me seething. But why, why this chronic pain, this ever worsening wound and no healing in sight? You're nothing, God, but a mirage, a lovely oasis in the distance—and then nothing! Jeremiah 15:15-18 The Message

Making spirituality an "outside" job doesn't work. But it is a tempting scenario. When faced with the truth that only God can save us, mold us, and shape us – this plan seems way to nebulous. How will that happen? What will he shape me into? And, quite frankly, figuring out how to fake it is easier. We can learn the lingo, and mimic the behaviors of those we think have gone before us. Surely all this outward expression will seep down into our hearts, won't it?

Well, no. It won't. Renovation is always and forever more an inside job.

"Performance-obsessed cultures can never promote healing. Rather, they create more wounding. " (Bill Thrall and Bruce McNichol) Increasing the dissonance between body, soul and spirit without wrestling with the acknowledgement of this internal civil war doesn't work – it simply increases the pain, and demands that we "try harder." Something we've all tried with very little success for a long time. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Trying to get by on our performance when our heart isn't in it is crazy.

As you read today's scripture focus, notice Jeremiah's honest wrestling. He ate the book and ended up with an ulcer. He ended up with an anger management issue. His body became riddled with chronic pain. He's lost his North Star and questioning God's existence. God doesn't zap him for this honest confession of war between body, soul and spirit. Nor will he zap you. It's ok to tell God the truth.

Recommended reading: Proverbs 4 - 7

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