Be Brave! Be Bold! Speak out!

I recently had the opportunity to prepare a talk for a Women's Worship Night at our church. The theme for the night was Be Brave. It was to encourage us as women to speak boldly for our families, friends, and community. This was what I felt God led me to speak on: 

When Lisa first approached me about speaking at this event I was pretty unsure of where I would go with this topic. Being brave and bold for Christ are not words I would use to describe myself when it comes to sharing my life. I tend to keep things close, I don’t share feelings or experiences openly, I try not to rock the boat or offend people, so I didn’t know what I could offer.

Shortly after I said I would speak I was up one night not able to able to sleep and feeling frustrated. I decided I should read my bible. I had been a bit discouraged in my quiet time, feeling like God wasn’t really speaking to me so I didn’t know where to start, I even considered googling, where to start when you don’t know where to read your bible ~~~Which may have led to some good passages, but was just as likely to have lead me to spending time on pinterest or facebook, so I decided to just pray and as I was turning to one of the passages that I had been reading recently the words “Give thanks to the Lord” caught my eye in Psalm 107, and I decided to read there instead, thinking maybe it would lead me to a good a good thanksgiving activity to do with the kids. Instead it served as my inspiration for tonight. So if you have your bibles with you turn to Psalm 107, if not, you can just listen as I read through the passages and discuss them.

 Psalm 107:1-3

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.
² Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
    Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
³ For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,
    from east and west,
    from north and south.^[a]

It starts out with the command.  Give thanks to the Lord. When we are thankful and recognize what God has done for us, we begin to be in a place where God can use us. With gratitude comes a desire to serve and reciprocate, so I want to encourage you that if you don’t feel like doing things for God or are feeling disgruntled in the hand that you’ve been given, begin giving thanks and see how your heart changes.

The line that really hit me in this Psalm for tonight’s theme was “Have you been redeemed? Then SPEAK OUT!” ~ notice,  he ends that with an exclamation mark, that is a command sentence, not a suggestion, we are to speak out. Every one of us has a story, a place, a life God has redeemed us from. And we are to speak out! Tell others! No excuses! And just in case you read that and think ya but, I am too messed up, too boring, to inexperienced, too young, too old, too insecure….whatever hindrance we claim, he carries on in verses 4-32 removing all excuses. He tells what the Lord gathered the “exiles” from, the different experiences that made them “unworthy” to be used by God ------ but he redeemed them, and they are to praise the Lord – to bring glory to him.

Psalm 107: 4-9

Some wandered in the wilderness,
    lost and homeless.
⁵ Hungry and thirsty,
    they nearly died.
⁶ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he rescued them from their distress.
⁷ He led them straight to safety,
    to a city where they could live.
⁸ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
⁹ For he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

Some wandered lost, homeless, hungry, and thirsty….

There are some of you who have experienced this type of wandering. You may have always felt like something was missing, like there was more to life. For you this may have been what drew you to Christ and that longing was filled. Others may have experienced this dryness, this type loneliness after knowing Christ. You wondered what your purpose was, or what it all meant, where God was leading you and as you walked through these dessert times and God fulfilled these longings you know the gift that you have been given, that God has filled your life with good things and that the desires that he placed in you have been satisfied. Now you can use this experience to seek out the hungry, the thirsty, and reach the people in your life that are seeking truth. You have been equipped to boldly praise the Lord and watch what he does with your story for his glory.

Psalm 107: 10-16

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom,
    imprisoned in iron chains of misery.
¹¹ They rebelled against the words of God,
    scorning the counsel of the Most High.
¹² That is why he broke them with hard labor;
    they fell, and no one was there to help them.
¹³ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
¹⁴ He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;
    he snapped their chains.
¹⁵ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
¹⁶ For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;
    he cut apart their bars of iron

Some have known depression your whole life, some have dealt with anxiety and fear, others have been in a place of circumstantial depression where an experience has rocked everything you thought you knew and God has brought you through it. If you have been in these situations you know how impossible it feels to overcome them. You can use that to come alongside those that are struggling and encourage them , “speak out” into the lives of those who need your help. You may not have all the answers but you have  HOPE and when you allow God to move you to be brave you can be a difference maker in someone’s life who feels they are imprisoned by bars of iron.

Psalm 107: 17-22

¹⁷ Some were fools; they rebelled
    and suffered for their sins.
¹⁸ They couldn’t stand the thought of food,
    and they were knocking on death’s door.
¹⁹ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them,
    snatching them from the door of death.
²¹ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
    and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.

Pure rebellion, our own wrong choices and selfishness lead us here. Often it is these experiences that make us feel least equipped to serve God.  We tend to want to keep our skeletons buried deep in the closet, afraid of judgment, embarrassed by our past. We know we chose the circumstance that caused our pain and regret. It makes us feel inadequate to serve God, and we buy into the lie that we are damaged goods. We feel that he might forgive us but we can’t use us. However, I think that it is sometimes these ugly stories that can be most effective in sharing Christ with unbelievers and struggling stories. We may believe that if people find out our past they will think Christians are hypocrites and mistrust God, but these experiences actually allow people to see that God’s grace is for everyone---no this isn’t to say that we glorify sin or that we should go make bad choices so that we have a good story to tell, if this isn’t a part of your experience God will use you in different ways, but if this is your story don’t be afraid to use it with God’s leading. I don’t believe that every bad choice needs to be publically posted, but I believe if Christ is leading you to share your story, speak out in boldness and see what he can do. We have so much freedom in our forgiveness and we need to be willing to show people that, as it says “let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. If you have been redeemed then our life should boldly display the joy we have in that freedom.

Psalm 107: 23-32

23 Some went off to sea in ships,
    plying the trade routes of the world.
²⁴ They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action,
    his impressive works on the deepest seas.
²⁵ He spoke, and the winds rose,
    stirring up the waves.
²⁶ Their ships were tossed to the heavens
    and plunged again to the depths;
    the sailors cringed in terror.
²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunkards
    and were at their wits’ end.
²⁸ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
²⁹ He calmed the storm to a whisper
    and stilled the waves.
³⁰ What a blessing was that stillness
    as he brought them safely into harbor!
³¹ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
³² Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
    and before the leaders of the nation.

Many can relate to this, we have gone through life knowing God, praising him, taking note of his power and greatness sailing along just fine, and all of a sudden life swells around us. Maybe we loose a loved one, experience financial stress, a relationship falls apart, a child renounces his faith, sickness overwhelms us….all types of things can knock us off our foundation.

I have gone through a season of this. Life was good, we were enjoying many blessings, and one day everything felt like it was knocked upside down. It felt like being thrown overboard on a ship being tossed around by the waves, having a hard time coming up for air. It threw me into a season of questioning all that I had known for sure. Did I really believe God loved me? Did I believe he cared? Did I believe he was in control? Or had he simply chosen to let life happen? Was he indifferent to my suffering? As I wrestled with these doubts and fears I feel God let me struggle for awhile, until my heart was ready to draw near to him and get my answers from him. When my heart was ready he began to calm it, I started to hope and trust again and he has slowly been rebuilding my faith on a stronger foundation.

 As we experience these types of questionings we can feel like bad Christians, but as we are called to speak out publically and share those with the congregation, I believe God wants us to do that so we can encourage others that may be struggling with what we have felt. It is easy to sit in church and feel discouraged, believing that everyone else is right with God and experiencing a life of spiritual ecstasy, when in reality many are struggling with deep hurts and questions themselves. When we share honestly we encourage those around us and give hope to those who feel they are drowning.

The last few verse are what most excites me in this Psalm. They are filled with promises and warnings, not that life will always be perfect or rosy, but in all of that God is powerful. They encourage me to believe that if we are brave, we will see our families strengthened, our friendships deepened, and our community turning to Christ in spite of ourselves.

Psalm 107: 33-43

³³ He changes rivers into deserts,
    and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.
³⁴ He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,
    because of the wickedness of those who live there.
³⁵ But he also turns deserts into pools of water,
    the dry land into springs of water.
³⁶ He brings the hungry to settle there
    and to build their cities.
³⁷ They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,
    and harvest their bumper crops.
³⁸ How he blesses them!
    They raise large families there,
    and their herds of livestock increase.

³⁹ When they decrease in number and become impoverished
    through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
⁴⁰ the Lord pours contempt on their princes,
    causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.
⁴¹ But he rescues the poor from trouble
    and increases their families like flocks of sheep.
⁴² The godly will see these things and be glad,
    while the wicked are struck silent.
⁴³ Those who are wise will take all this to heart;
    they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.

Lets be the ones God uses to plant seeds in the heart of the people around us, to continue to work to their growth and to allow a bumper harvest for Christ.  Before I conclude I want to share a final analogy I came across that I felt applied well to this topic.

Imagine sitting down at a table with two cups of flour, three eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla, one cup of sugar, a half teaspoon of baking powder, and a few other ingredients. You taste the sugar and it is good, but when you taste the baking powder it is bitter. You continue to taste the ingredients, some tasty and some downright gross. This is like life. Some of the events in your life are sweet like sugar, others dry like the flour, and still others that you don’t like at all. However, using Jesus’ perfect recipe, all the events of your life will be mixed together and put through some intense heat—and then you will rise. Just as a cake would not be the same if you left out some of the ingredients, so Jesus wants to use all of your experiences to make you complete and able to be used for His Glory.  (Lysa TerKeurst, "How God Equips us for Ministry" as found in Leading Women to the Heart of God)

So, in summarizing, people don’t need perfect white washed Christians in their lives. They need honest, broken, raw people used by God. Have you been redeemed? Speak out! Let us hold on to the final verse of this Psalm, believing that if we faithfully and honestly share our lives, our story, then those who are wise will take heart, they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.