LIVE IT OUT! — Sarah Francis Martin

Today I’m happy to share with you an excerpt from my long time friend Renee Fisher’s latest ebook Dream Devotional: 40 Days Of Hope. Renee graciously allowed me to take an entire day from her devotional to give to you. The word EXPOSED just stuck out to me. Here is what Renee has to say…

Day #9 ~ Exposed

“‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, “Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian’” (Judges 6:13, NIV).

Have you ever felt emotionally drained to the core? Exposed. Your life is on display for all to see like a tree showing its roots. It seems like every negative habit from your life has reared its ugly head. Even the way you respond to pressure, criticism, loneliness, etc. It’s like you can’t do anything right.

When I couldn’t handle the pressure of an incident at work, I locked myself in my room for about four months with little to no social interaction. It was my way of coping with the drama. I didn’t want to lose my job by speaking out, but I didn’t want to stay quiet either. But maybe you do. Maybe you know the feeling of helplessness and the sting of abandonment. What it feels like to read about God and be tested on it almost immediately. If you’re anything like me, when that happens, God has to reach down and press deep into your soul to help you get it into your thick skull that you need to know Him.

But how? It’s hard to know how to receive God’s love when you feel exposed and abandoned. It’s also hard if you deal with anxiety like me. I stayed quiet for so long that my anxiety turned into depression. Maybe your present troubles are triggering an event in the past that you thought you had dealt with already. Have you ever been there?

It’s like Gideon and his priceless reaction when the angel of the Lord arrived and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

“But why?” Gideon said.

Isn’t that so typical? Gideon asked why, and why do we ask it too? Gideon didn’t feel powerful. When God allows certain situations in our lives, we certainly don’t feel confident either. I can’t answer that in your life, but I can point you back to the scriptures.

“When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet” (Judges 6:7–8a, NIV).

God heard their cries. It can be hard to sit and wait for God to answer when the situation is desperate. I don’t know about you, but when I feel exposed, I want God to fix it right away. It hurts. But maybe there is a reason that we can’t see yet. Maybe God is working out a plan behind the scenes that requires courage now, but we will reap the benefits later.

Take time to wait for the Lord and give Him your feelings of abandonment in order to express your concerns. Go to God and get alone with Him. Pray in your prayer closet. Search the scriptures for your promise.

Dear Dream-Giver Jesus, I am feeling exposed and abandoned. I don’t feel like I have the confidence to continue. Help me to know that it’s okay to speak up and do the right thing, even if it means I will face resistance. Thank you for showing me the example of Gideon and that today with your help I can be a mighty hero too! Amen.

Have you ever felt abandoned? What triggers it today, and how do you deal with it?

What do you think? So inspiring!

**Be sure to click HERE to order your copy of Dream Devotional ebook.

Renee Fisher is an adoring wife to Marc and mom to their pit bull named Star. She is a spirited speaker and author of five books, including Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me (Harvest House, 2013). Renee is the editor and founder of DevotionalDiva.com, and loves nothing more than to spur others forward. She is on the Advisory Board for ChristianMingle, creator of Quarter Life Conference, and a Biola University graduate. Renee lives in CA and loves running on sunny days. A Dream Coach, she loves connecting with new people daily. Connect at ReneeFisher.com.

I’m about to jump out of my skin––super excited––to share with you another excerpt from my upcoming book Just RISE UP!: A Call To Make Jesus Famous (releases Oct. 7 but now available for PRE-ORDER)

As I was skimming through the book deciding on what to share with you, I prayerfully chose this segment on living a lifestyle of praise. For me personally, this is one of the most impactful changes that I’ve made in my own life. Here is part 1 of Living A Lifestyle of Praise…stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

In order to RISE UP! and create a lifestyle of praise (with thoughts, words, and actions), we must live in constant pursuit of Christ. We must worship Him simply because He is ever so worthy and not for what we can “get out of it.”

I find myself cringing whenever I talk to someone about his or her recent experience at church or at Bible study and the person says, “Well, I really didn’t get much out of it.” I, too, have fallen victim to this type of thinking, but I realized that it came from being naive about my life purpose. Though the church experience is for our benefit (to learn from biblical teaching and to connect with others who love Jesus), it is also a divine opportunity to join in with the heavenly choir and corporately praise and honor God. It is not about you or me or what we “get out of” it. No, we are called to a lifestyle that revolves around God’s majesty.

What does a lifestyle of praise look like?

Definition from The Free Dictionary…lifestyle: A way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group

Whether we like it or not, our lives will reflect our true “attitudes and values.” We are called to authentic faith, a faith immersed in reverence and commitment and not what we can “get out of it.” I believe this generation craves authenticity. When we watch television or flip through magazines, we see nothing but slick, Photoshopped lives, which stand far from our own reality. We can easily turn and do the same through social media. How often do our Facebook status updates show what is really going on in our lives?

 Authentic Faith: Reverence and Commitment

I truly believe that people in this generation respect those who stand for something, who live differently because they believe in something—anything—greater than themselves. It goes back to the desire to make your “mark” on the world. We have the opportunity to make a meaningful and eternal mark when we model lives of praise, when we live an authentic faith, full of reverence and commitment to the King of kings. Our friends and family may not always understand just who it is we serve and why we place Him above all, but our authenticity in faith will catch their attention. Even those who say they are Christians (but don’t live out their faith) will be challenged to examine what they believe or in whom they believe when they see us living differently for the sake of making Jesus famous. They may think we are weird. Weird is good! It means we are set apart from the pack . . . exactly what the Bible says we are supposed to be (2 Cor. 6:17).

Outward reverence for Christ comes into play when our lifestyle makes it obvious that we care more about His name being renowned in our lives than about what others think. Outward commitment to Christ is shown when we make difficult life decisions. When we boldly step out in faith to say no to things that displease Him and yes to things that bless His name, God is honored.