It’s funny how the Hebrew meaning of “Nehemiah” is “[God] comforted.” Nehemiah 4:14 has left an indelible mark in my spirit. For eight weeks, I have surrounded my life around fighting. Not defensively, but offensively. Fighting for my family, fighting for my peace, fighting for my joy, fighting for my faith. This fight hasn’t been as a result of a last-minute effort to save my marriage. I have been through that already, and succeeded. Nor has it been a desperate plea to prove that I am a good father. God is constantly perfecting me in that area. But it was a fight to maintain the people and things in life that sharpen me and make me smile. Moreover, it has been a fight to tear down any walls I have of total “surrenderance” (not an actual word, but often said in the church) to God, and to embark on my path of manifesting my dreams.
There are two major points that I learned more than anything these past couple months. One – surrender EVERYTHING; even if it doesn’t feel good. When you look at a situation that is challenging, God knows the end from the beginning. Therefore, he ALWAYS knows the best possible option. Look to him, and let him lead you down that path. Personally, I have been in ministry for 16 years. Preached, taught, traveled, done it all. In that time, there were some incredibly rough moments, but God has brought me out of them all. Now, I understand why many of those moments lasted longer than they should have. It’s because my mind was on scurry mode on many occasions, when I just needed to trust God and press through trying to handle it myself. Such a beautiful realization.
Second, I learned that not only will your fight be much easier when you give everything to God, but so will your thoughts, your actions, and your attitudes. Living a Jesus-centered life can be so cliche for those who have been “churched” for so long (I know this all too well), but it really does require removing you of you to fill up with him. Life really begins to get much easier when you center it around Jesus. Not live for Jesus, then allow yourself to step aside to get disrespectful, or not handle something in a way that is spirit-led, but LIVE FOR JESUS. Matthew 6:33 is a perfect example of the outcome of this. When you live for Jesus today, there is no need to worry about tomorrow.
And for the married couples: HAVE FUN. In the nearly four years that I have been married, undoubtedly this year has been the best. Simply because I realized two things: 1) I have the ability to completely change the atmosphere with the love of Christ, so take advantage of that ability. As a husband, true leadership comes from being the best example of a Christ-follower that my wife sees. 2) When she is happy, I am happy, SO MAKE HER HAPPY!
The tools that I used throughout these eight weeks have given me so much hunger. Hunger for my faith, hunger for my marriage, hunger for my passions. The conclusion of Fight Club is not the end… it is the beginning.
It is a club worth fighting for, and has guaranteed successful results. Why? Because JESUS IS THE CENTER.
ViZion United, LLC 