On Sunday, 11/20/22, Pastor Chris shared the story of Ruth with us. I love the story, and I love the way Pastor Chris brought us through Naomi’s journey as she struggled with her experience with God and finally came to a place of peace and happiness at the end. You can check out that message here.
During his message, Pastor Chris used the phrase, “living from the inside out.”
That caught my attention.
What does it mean to live from the inside out?
Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew 12:35 NIV)
From this passage and others we learn that our behavior is a product of something. That something is inside us. And what’s inside us?
Our beliefs. Our takeaways. Our interpretation of life.
For a while Naomi was walking around with the lie: “God has been unjust and cruel to me. He has robbed me of everything precious and left me with nothing.”
From her perspective, what she believed seemed true, and we could hardly blame her for believing it. If any of us were in her situation, we’d probably feel the same way.
Understandable.
But not true.
God is not a thief, and He does not leave us with nothing. God is not cruel. And God is not unjust.
She didn’t see the bigger picture until the end. And that is so often true with each of us. We need the grace of God to see the bigger picture. We need to know God’s heart toward us. We need to know His love, His care, His goodness.
And that means we need Him to correct our takeaways. It means we need to take all our hurt, our bitterness, our anger, our sorrow—or whatever else is going on inside—we need to take all of it to God and say, “This feels true. What do You want me to know?” “God, it feels like You hate me, like You’re trying to hurt me. Is that true? Is that really the way You feel?”
Without God’s perspective, we will continue to live small and mean lives. But when we invite God in to share His heart and His mind with us, we are changed…
…from the inside out.
Our heart goes from bitter to grateful, from anxiety to peace, from shame to confidence. We start acting like God’s ambassadors because we’re able to think and speak from His perspective.
This is a lifelong process, but the nice thing is this: God is available right now. What’s going on inside you right now? Share it with God. Ask for His perspective. Watch your life change.
Dwight
