Austin Jaquith is a versatile composer of works for film, dance, and the concert hall. His musical style tilts towards orchestral and electronic genres, although he has produced works far outside these boundaries as well. His music has been recognized as outstanding by the Christian Worldview Film Festival, the American Prize, and the American Composers Orchestra Earshot Readings. His film scores are noted for their thoughtfulness, wit, and musical craftsmanship. In addition to his creative skills, Austin is also a conductor, an orchestrator, and a recording engineer, enabling him to produce beautiful & authentic scores. (source IMDB)

Join us as Austin discusses what it means to be a creative person made in the image of God. He shares stories of finding his talent, his wisdom on how he defines inspiration, describes his creative process and admits the struggles he faces as he balances perfectionism and productivity.

1 Corinthians 10:31- So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Check out some of Austin’s work at www.AustinKJaquith.com

• Talents are an interestingly vast topic. What is talent? How do you get it? Does everyone have one? In this series, we will discuss all of these areas and get you started in using your very own God-designed talents the way He purposely made you.
• Matt 25:14-20 – Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
• I feel like this ending is surprisingly intense. I originally wanted to leave it out. While I really want to encourage you and make you feel good about the talents that you’ve been given, it was important to leave this ending in.
  • It was important to Jesus to end the story this way, so taking it out would be cutting Him off.
  • It proves how serious Jesus takes talents. God entrusted specific ones to you and He expects you to do something with them. This is a warning that there are consequences if you don’t use them.
• What was a talent worth at this time anyway?
  • At this time, the currency wasn’t based on what was printed, it was based on weight.
  • The currency word that I am most familiar with is “shekel.” A shekel weighed 17 grams, approximately 2 grapes.
  • A talent weighs as much as 3,600 shekels or about 75 pounds.
  • The modern equivalent worth of a talent differs depending on who you talk to, but many scholars say it should equal about 20 years of a typical day laborer’s salary; $400,000 each.
  • Bottom line, when God gives us talents, He is putting us in charge of something incredibly valuable
• How do we define “talent” today?
  • The dictionary has multiple definitions, but the one I’m using for this is “A power of mind or body considered as given to a person for use and improvement.”
  • Some are evident: it’s easy to spot the smart kid, hear the good voice, read a great story, or eat a delicious meal.
  • Others are more internal but no less valuable: the ability to feel and understand other people’s emotions, to encourage people to become their best, to be able to communicate points well or to have self-discipline.
  • Whether or not you could audition for America’s Got Talent, you have something to offer, and it’s incredibly valuable to the person who gave it to you.
• What happens when we don’t use our talents?
  • Ultimately, the servant who buried his talent and did nothing with it was cast out of the land.
    • God takes talent very seriously. When He gives us something to take care of, He is not asking us to neglect it and pretend it’s not there in fear of losing it altogether.
    • When fear is the excuse to not use our talents, we are telling God that either we think He made a mistake, or that we don’t trust His gift (and therefore don’t trust Him!)
  • Fear is a terrible motivator, it is a lie from Satan set out to keep us from making a difference. In my life, there are two main fears that affect the use of my talents:
    • Fear of failure: I’m often afraid of making a misstep, losing my progress, and being unable to get back to where I was.
      • I’ve learned that in these situations, God proves that He is able to use me way better when I’m weak than when I’m “perfectly nailing it.”
    • Fear of not being good enough: Not that I make a mistake, but that I was never up to par in the first place. A fear that I will put in a lot of work and expectations to find that I don’t qualify or am unworthy.
      • We cannot make our standard of worthiness be the first place or highest level. First of all, it’s just not possible. Secondly, if only the absolute best at something did it, then we wouldn’t have a lot of great teachers, musicians, actors, chefs, etc.
    • This both sum up to one thing: fear of rejection. Who am I afraid of being rejected by?
      • People. Unfortunately, I can’t promise that you are not going to be rejected by people. Jesus actually promises that we will have trouble. But He also promises even bigger things than acceptance by people:
        • John 16:33- I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
        • Matthew 19:29- And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.
        • Those are some pretty big promises!
      • God. This is one person I can absolutely promise will not reject you if you use your talents. He gave them to you in the first place! The only way to get your talents rejected by God is to do nothing with them, as seen in the parable.
• How do we find out what our talents are? Everyone is different, but here are some places to start:
  • Try new things! See what you enjoy or don’t.
  • Ask your friends and family what they see, you may be surprised.
  • Take a personality test like Meyers Briggs or Enneagram.
  • Look at our last episode and see how my friend Jenn helps people find their strengths.
• How should we use our talents?
  • Proverbs 21:5- The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
  • Jesus chose money in this parable for a reason. Our talents are like currency, we’re meant to cultivate them, use them, give them purpose. We are not meant to hide them away.
    • Some ways to invest in talents are lessons, practice, sacrifice time, research, study.
  • Do not compare! Comparison only discourages.
    • Natural talent is easy to spot: the most graceful dancer, the baseball player who inherently knows how to hit a ball, etc. But natural talent does not mean that you should not invest more in them.
    • People who do not have as much natural talent as others can easily become as good as, if not better, than those with natural talent when they invest well (listen to the episode for a true-life story).
  • We need to manage them well.
    • Ecclesiastes 9:10- Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
    • Colossians 3:23-24- Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
• Our talents belong to God, not us.
  • Matthew 5:14-16- You are the light of the world. A town, built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (emphasis mine)
  • Galatians 5:13-14- You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
  • 1 Peter 4:10-11- Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
• We are not meant to have the same talents.
  • In this extremely public and social media-driven world, it is easy to look at others’ talents and accomplishments and wish we had theirs.
  • God made you with your talents for a reason!
  • Life would be extremely boring and incredibly competitive if we were all designed exactly the same way.
  • In the New Testament, Paul calls us to be a team, working together as one body.
    • Romans 12:3-8- For by the grace given me I say to every one of you; Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
• Whether or not our talent is “glamorous,” its purpose is to glorify God, not ourselves.
  • I have a lot of tools in my kitchen that I use. Arguably the least glamorous one that I have is my Dobie Pad (or kitchen sponge).
    • If I didn’t have tools like this that do that dirtier jobs, I would never be able to clean, restore, and reuse my other tools like mixers, whisks, spoons, etc. Sounds kind of like some talents I know, like servanthood and encourager.
    • No matter what our talent is, God designed it for a specific use.
      • Ephesians 2:10- For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
      • 1 Corinthians 12:12-25- Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
    • Some day in the (very) distant future, someone may come into my house and say “Wow! What a clean kitchen!” They will not think that it is so clean because I have an amazing Dobie pad, they will know that the work was done by me, the welder of the tool. Our talents need to work that way: show God’s greatness through what He did with us and not taking all of the credit ourselves.
• We have a very, very rich God!
  • When he talks to the servant with five talents (roughly $2,000,000) he calls it little!
  • We serve a God who has endless resources and loves us so much, enough to entrust us with them. When we look at it that way, it makes it so much easier to trust his judgment and use those talents that He gave us.
• Matthew 25:21- His master replied, “well done, good and faithful servant: You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

• Like many of us, Jenn struggled with self-criticism. Unlike her type-A friends and family, she focused more on good rest and relationship building on the forefront.
  • She was mad at God for making her this way, comparing herself to others and was therefore unable to see her own talents.
• When she started down the path of personal development and growth, she found CoreClarity. She originally used it to help build her marriage, but it quickly turned into a new vantage point of seeing herself through God’s eyes. She learned that He made her this way on purpose!
• Since then, she has made her goal to help others be able to define and refine their talents and to see their worth as precious and unique creations of God; created that way with intent and purpose.
• Take a listen to hear her story, her journey, and how she would love to help you change the way you view yourself as well.
• You can contact Jenn at jenngrandcoach@gmail.com or follow her on Instagram: @mrsjenngrand
• Romans 12:4-8- For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Show notes:

For more information on enneagram: https://www.yourenneagramcoach.com/

More information on the strengths test: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/home.aspx

To connect with Jenn: jenngrandcoach@gmail.com or Instagram: @mrsjenngrand

• I am not a relationship expert. This episode is not meant to give relationship advice, but to change your perspective of relationships.
• To be on the same page, the definition I’m using for relationship is: The way two or more people or groups regard and behave toward others. These relationships range from romantic, family (close family and extended), friends, coworkers, to the waiter you always get at your favorite restaurant.
• Genesis 2:18- Then the LORD God said “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”In all of His creating, man being alone is the first time that God said: “It is not good.”
  • We are not meant to live life alone, tucked away, isolated. We are such independent people, but the one thing we just can’t fix by ourselves is loneliness.
• Ecclesiastes 4:7-12- I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing. Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
• We live in a world of connectedness-with texting, social media, the news, the world doesn’t seem quite so big and distant anymore. I personally have 1,220 friends on Facebook right now.
  • This proves that if you are looking to find people, you don’t have to look hard to find them.
  • However, despite having millions of people available literally at your fingertips, loneliness is rampant.
  • The UK has declared loneliness an epidemic and a hazard to human health. It increases inflammation, cancer, and diabetes. One study even stated that the amount of stress hormones released from loneliness is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day! We are so designed for relationships that our bodies are dramatically affected when we don’t have them!
• Lysa Terkeust recently had an apropos post on Facebook: Alone. That’s how Satan wants us. Alone with our own tangled thoughts. Alone with whispered lies that start to sound more and more and more like truths. Separated from the very people who could speak courage into our deep places flirting with discouragement and defeat. Separated from friends who could let us stand on their faith when our own gets a little shaky. The enemy knows if he can isolate us, he can intimidate us. Confuse us. Deceive us. And ultimately, make us believe that the safer paths in life are ones apart from God and our friends who serve God.
• We spend a lot of time on social media. How do you spend your time? Do you compare yourself to others? Do you thrive on getting likes and comments? We live in a world of constant communication, so much that I feel we’ve lost the art of making, keeping, and deepening relationships.
  • Relationships are a dime and dozen, in my opinion. I would argue that many people think relationships have basically become disposable.
• I recently polled my friends to see what their biggest issues with making new friends are. The main 3 were:
  • Social anxiety- this is a real thing! Please get help if this affects you. There are many people out there trained to help and would love to get you more comfortable with people.
  • Awkwardness- the good news is that everyone else is awkward too! However, with all things awkward: they get better with practice. Yes, there may be bumps and bruises along the way, but the more you try the easier it will become.
  • Time- This is a hard one! Sometimes you need to get creative. Finding apps that help you communicate in your own time (Marco Polo and Voxer). Be willing to get an hour less sleep a couple of times a month to meet for coffee dates. My favorite was playdates where we helped each other cook or clean. If being too busy is part of your problem, check out this episode to get a new perspective of the rest that Jesus gives us.
  • I’ve decided to add one more: expectations. Expectations are ok within reason. It is not reasonable to expect people to read your mind, that there will never be conflict, or that people will feel the same way about things that you do. It is reasonable to expect to be treated with respect and to have quality time. However, you cannot expect people to read your mind. You need to communicate expectations, and I bet you will find that people are both surprised and willing to work with you!
• If you want to find new or deepen existing relationships, you need to be willing to sacrifice. CS Lewis talks about Agape love in his book The Four Loves. He describes it as the unconditional “God” love that is always good in all circumstances. It is a self-sacrificing love, selfless. We need to go into all relationships being willing to give mercy, to meet others on their terms and not our own.
• John 15:12-13- This is my commandment: love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
  • The original Greek word for “lay down” is tithimi. It has two meanings: to die, as Jesus died for us. The other is to set down, lay aside (as used in John 13:4 where Jesus set his garment aside to wash the disciple’s feet). We need to take our selves, our desires, and place them to the side to care for and love those friends that God has put in our life.
  • We need to remember that we don’t have the power to change people. The best way to start repairing our relationships is to start on our selves. The marriage ministry re|engage calls this “staying in your circle.”
  • You need to start practicing communication to understand others, not only to be understood.
• Your identity is not defined by your relationships! You are not more valuable because you have a significant other. You are not defined by how much people like you. You are not more important if you have the most Facebook friends. You are not a failure if social situations are uncomfortable.
• The only person that your identity lies with is the One who made you in His image, to be relational.
• Ephesians 4:1-4- Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to help yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

• Psalm 16:9- In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.
• I did not originally plan for this to be the next episode. I was hoping to continue in the identity series. However, God is teaching me to follow His direction with this podcast and not depend on my own strategy skills.
• Why is it important to mark the God sightings in our life?
  • Because when we do, we realize that His faithfulness is real and tangible.
  • When we remember God’s faithfulness in the past, then we can have faith and courage knowing that He will be faithful in our future.
• Psalm 77:14-20- You are te God who works wonders, You have made known Your strength among the people. You have y Your power redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw you, O God; the waters saw You, they were in anguish; The deeps also trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies give forth a sound; Your arrows flashed here and there. The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightning lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea. And Your paths in the mighty waters; and Your footprints may not be known. You led Your people like a flock. By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
• Remembrance has always been important in Jewish culture.
  • Leviticus 23 talks about seven annual feasts of remembrance, marking God’s rescue, victories, blessings, protection, and atonement of sin.
  • When the Israelites followed these rules they made great changes and were blessed by God.
  • 2 Chronicles 30-31 describes how King Hezekiah brought back the Passover feast after many years of forgetting. Having this remembrance feast fresh in their minds, the Israelites were able to stay “strong and courageous” as they waited and watched God protect them from the taunts and attacks of the King of Assyria.
  • The book of 1 Samuel describes a time where Samual placed a stone as a physical reminder of God’s faithfulness in protecting the Israelites from the Philistines.
    • 1 Samuel 7:12- Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help:) for he said, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!”
• This episode is my Ebenezer, my documentation of how God has shown His faithfulness in my life specifically in the past seven years.
• Isaiah 30:18-21- Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord has given you bread of deprivation and water of oppression, He, your teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying “This is the way; walk in it.”

• Related Episodes:
  • The Story Behind the Bridge of the Faithfull
  • Waiting in the Shepherd’s Field

• We are taking a tiny detour to talk about something I have seen is constantly surfacing as a big issue: busyness. To be honest, I didn’t want to write this, I wanted to trek on in the identity series because that’s where I thought we needed to go. But God kept pushing back, trying to send me to this road instead (which I realize now is still well within the topic of identity), and I finally got the hint. This is not an episode about Sabbath or good use of our talents. It’s just to talk about being busy, why we’re busy, what we can do, and the hope that we have in Jesus when we are so tired.
• As a self-respected American adult woman, there is one badge of honor we all love and love to hate. In one word we say it all: busy.
  • I was the queen of busy in high school, and I am so tempted to be that way now. But when I look back at that time of running around like crazy, always thinking of the next thing to do and never the present, I realize how lonely I truly was.
• A lot of things we are doing that keep us busy are good things!
  • I watched Lysa TerKeurst speak on the topic “Unrush me” (you can find her book The Best Yes here), and what struck me the most was when she felt Jesus asking her “Do you love me more than these things that keep you busy?”
  • What things are you holding on to just so you can put it on the altar of the god of busy? Do you love Jesus more than these? What are we willing to give up to decrease the power that busy has over us?
  • Psalm 39:6-7 We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
• Our identity is not based on our busyness.
  • In It’s All Under Control by Jennifer Dukes Lee, she echoes this by saying “Your worth is not based on your usefulness.”
• Luke 10:38-40 describes two famous sisters: Mary and Martha
  • While Mary chose the best option to sit and be with Jesus, Martha was “distracted by the big dinner she was preparing” (vs. 40). I am often a Martha, busying myself so much to serve Jesus that I forget to just be with him!
• Sometimes we have to think like a farmer and thin our busy lives.
  • I found an article on a website called Gardening Know-How that described the apple thinning process. It describes how sometimes when a tree is so fruitful, you need to thin out some of the fruit to get the big juicy “King’s fruit” in the end. This includes hard choices, like needing to choose between two good looking apples.
• Satan loves when people are busy.
  • It’s distracting, we forget to pray, we feel self-sufficient, and we get extremely overwhelmed when we reach our limit.
  • a supersaturated solution is when a liquid, under extreme circumstances like heat, will take on more of a solute (the substance that dissolves in it) than what is naturally possible. In a hand-warmer, there is a metal disk that snaps that “just one more commitment” into the liquid. This causes an exothermic (hot) reaction and seizes up the liquid.
  • We are not made to carry so many tasks, burdens, and responsibilities that if given just one more we may completely crumble.
  • Studies have shown that people who take vacations live longer, have better working hearts, and surprisingly are more likely to get that promotion at work than the people who slave over the extra hours.
• My dear friend Amber Payne recently passed away from complications of the rejection of her double lung transplant. However, one of the last things she did was urge us: “We don’t have to run to earn rest; we run fueled by a posture of rest.”
• Jesus absolutely knows what it is to be busy and tired.
  • Mark 4:38-40 describes how Jesus, after ministering to and being pursued by people all day, was so tired that he slept through a storm so violent that experienced fishermen were panicking!
  • Jesus was the busiest, most needed, and had the most expectations on him of any human before or since. But He gives us multiple examples of taking time to rest. Here are just a couple:
    • Mark 1:35- Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.
    • Luke 5:15-16- the news about him spread all the more so that crowds of people came to hear him and be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
    • Mark 6:31-32- Then Jesus said “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t’ even have time to eat.
  • Yes, Jesus was busy! He was also human and therefore got tired. He set an example of taking a break, resting when He knew it was needed. It’s ok to take a break! Even Jesus did, and He managed to still save the world.
• The word rest is foreign to us, or we sometimes just flat out ignore it.
  • I realized that some words have “rest” in it for a reason. like Rest Stop. I have often used these to take a tiny break on long or late trips, especially when I was afraid of falling asleep. Taking a break did not mean that I gave up on my journey and spent the rest of my life living at a rest stop! It gave me the energy to get back on the highway and keep going safely.
  • Restroom: a glorious place where we sit for a minute (sometimes you get the luxury of doing it without tiny humans trying to get in your lap). This is a place to sit and literally “dump” the toxins out! (Yes, I did make a potty pun).
• We are putting too much of our identity in the words busy and tired. These are things that we can and must change if we want to offer to God the king’s fruit of our efforts. Sometimes you need to choose between two good things so you can get best. Sometimes you’re tired and you just need a pit stop. That is not a failure! It is wisdom.
• I have often felt overwhelmed when reading about the Proverbs 31 woman in the Bible. However, while doing research on the topic I found out some interesting facts.Chabad.org has a conglomeration of a multitude of articles relating to Jewish faith, practices, and teachings. While looking on this website I learned two amazing things about this passage:
  • This is not a list of things that we should do, it is an acrostic poem celebrating the things that a godly woman can do! Men sing this “Eishet Chayil” (woman of valor!) song over their wives and mothers to celebrate them on the Sabbath.
  • There is nothing written in these words that are meant to pressure women into doing all of the things. It is written in awe and celebration at the wonderful things a woman is capable of doing.
• Sometimes we are just in seasons of life where rest does not come. But rest has been a part of the plan literally since creation. God does not expect us to be the Energizer Bunny. Nor is He disappointed when we have to say no to something that we just can’t add right now.
  • He is the god of Psalm 23:2-3- He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength, He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
• Jesus is the rest in our busy. He is the strength in our weakness. We definitely have good and important work to do, but we have never been asked to do it all.
• Matthew 11:28-30- Then Jesus said “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you- let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

• Last episode we talked about the things we are not. We can often find examples of this when we introduce ourselves.
  • When we meet someone, we’re often asked to “describe ourselves.”
  • These things are usually not bad or sinful! But how much power we give them over our identity can steer us away from the one identity that can never be taken away from us: being saved by Jesus and becoming a child of God.
• When I started working on this, I often thought “why is this even such a big deal anyway?”
  • In American culture, finding our identity is huge.
  • Starting with kids shows and movies, many major or at least minor themes are “be true to yourself” or “finding me.”
  • We are often addicted to personality tests (Meyers-Briggs I am an ENFJ, I haven’t quite figured out enneagram but that doesn’t mean I haven’t tried)
  • But if you look at these things over time, they often change with our experiences and circumstances, our feelings are not constant.
• One thing for sure is true and always: the one who truly knows us and created us is the one who is directing us into what He made us to be.
• In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis sets a scene where Lucy finds a spellbook and makes herself beautiful. She quickly finds that this is not who she was meant to be, despite her desire to identify that way. Her dream quickly turns into a nightmare until Aslan comes to rescue her. He warns Lucy that she “wished herself away” and ends with: “You doubt your value. Don’t run from who you are”
• Our identity is the outward presentation of what we put our value in.
  • This is why we need to define it and to ensure that we are putting it into something safe and everlasting.
  • We need to anchor our identity in something immovable: God.
• It all began with creation.
  • Genesis 1:27- So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
  • It’s so important He put it in there twice: In His image.
  • The Hebrew word Tselem is used three other times in Genesis:
    • Genesis 1:26-Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
    • Genesis 5:3- When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
    • Genesis 9:6- Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
    • God has placed so much value in us, given us authority, despises our destruction, and made us like him in a way that a child is like a parent. He loves us, He put part of Himself in us, and He made us the way we are very much on purpose.
• Because our identity in Christ is so important and vital, no wonder it is so constantly attacked!
  • What do people do when they sense danger is near and need protection? They often hide.
• The recurrent image that came during all of the studying for this episode was a veil.
  • Veils are often used to hide something: In C.S. Lewis’ book Till We Have Faces, the main character Orual wears a veil to cover the fact that she is incredibly ugly.
    • The veil eventually gets used to manipulate how people see her (powerful, mysterious, unfeminine).
    • The veil helps her to kill off the Orual that she was created to be.
  • Veils are also used to deceive.
    • Wedding veils were originally meant to hide the bride from evil spirits.
    • Genesis 29 gives a story of how Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his daughter Leah instead of Rachel (who Jacob truly loved).
    • How many times have we done this? Covered our true identity with a lie, hoping we would eventually become the person we wished to be if we tried hard enough or gave enough of ourselves away to become it?
    • Leah tried to live up to her lie by giving Jacob sons.
      • Her heart can be seen by the names of her first four sons:
        • Reuben- The LORD has noticed my misery and now my husband will love me (vs. 31)
        • Simeon- The LORD heard I was unloved and gave me a son (vs. 33)
        • Levi- Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me since I have given him three sons (vs. 34)
        • Judah- Now I will praise the LORD. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that Judah became the one God chose as the son in which He would make the line of Christ. When Leah stopped looking at outward influences to decide her worth is when God decided to bless the most.
• Where do we start? With a new name.
  • Leviticus 13:45 states that a person who had leprosy must wear a veil over the lower part of their face and shout “Unclean! Unclean!”
  • Luke 15:12-13 gives a story of how a leper comes to Jesus, asks if he is willing to heal him. Jesus says yes! And touches him, instantly changing him from a veiled leper proclaiming “unclean!” to unveiled and proclaiming “healed!”
  • Jesus is willing and wants to do the same for us. Chances are without Jesus changing us, we are identifying in something we wish to be healed from.
  • In Hinds Feet on High Places, the character Much Afraid says yes to the good shepherd, which leads her on a journey to change her name to “Grace and Glory.”
  • Our name transforming starting with changing our name from “sinner” to “rescued.”
    • Ephesians 2:8-10- God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this, it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
    • 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new created. The old has passed away, behold the new has come!
• The Bible is rich with promises of what we can base our identity on.
  • 1. We are fervidly, passionately loved.
    • John 3:16- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. That whoever believed in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
    • Ephesians 5:2- Live a life with love, following the example fo Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
  • 2. We are chosen.
    • Ephesians 1:4-9- Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. he is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
  • 3. We are free.
    • Psalm 118:5- In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.
    • John 8:36- So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
  • 4. We are secure.
    • John 6:39- And this it will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up on the last day.
    • Isaiah 54:17- But in the coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to rescue you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken.
  • 5. We are set apart.
    • Ephesians 2:19- So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s family.
    • Deuteronomy 14:2- You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.
  • 6. We are strong.
    • Isaiah 40:31- But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
  • 7. We are known.
    • Jeremiah 1:5- I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.
    • John 10:14-15- I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.
• I Am Who You Say I Am
• Why do we believe all of these points? In order to answer that, we need to get to know a little more about the person who made these promises.
  • Toward the end of Till We Have Faces, Orual writes a book confronting the gods with a petition against how they treated her. After she writes it, she states “I ended my first book with the words ‘no answer.’ I know now, LORD, why you utter no answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?
  • God showed us His face through the Bible, especially through Jesus. He unveiled Himself so that we could know Him. Jesus died to unveil that barrier between us and God. Through his death, we get to secure who we are by having full access to knowing whose we are.
  • Matthew 27:50-51- And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

• As a whole, we don’t own our own identity. We often tend to put it into the hands of someone else: a significant other, the way you want people to view you, your children, ideals, etc.
  • Beth Moore’s book So Long Insecurity she says “why would we put our self-worth into the hands of someone who’s oblivious to the power they have over us?”
  • Giving other people or ideals the power of owning your identity puts it in a delicate state, where someone who doesn’t know they hold it (or worse still, they do know and don’t care for it well) can easily shatter it and walk away leaving you to pick up the pieces.
• Other times our identity is focused on things that we are not.
  • “I’m not as bad as them” or “I refuse to be like this”
  • This leaves us to constantly justify, compare, and empty ourselves instead of focusing on the good and improving what needs to be worked on.
  • When we base our identity on comparing, we’re never seeing the full picture.
• So many times we focus our identity on where we feel inadequate.
  • One area that I personally struggle with is beauty.
    • God does not set a standard of beauty on us, He sets us to be His.
  • When we do this, we open ourselves up to two traps:
    • Envy: we become jealous of those people that have what we want.
    • Idols: we admire, focus, or worship things in our lives in areas that should be dedicated to God.
      • Ask yourself: is there something that if lost, we would lose our identity? A relationship, job, talent, or hobby.
• A person who lost everything in one second and had to redefine her identity is Joni Eareckson Tada.
  • In her biography Joni: An Unforgettable Story she writes: “But that’s the same for everyone if we let society determine our value,” Steve explained as he sat down on the piano bench. “We always lose when we evaluate ourselves according to someone else’s ideas or standards. And there are as many standards as there are people. A jock measure you by your athletic ability, a student by your brains, a steady by your looks. It’s a losing battle,” he said, striking a sour piano chord for added emphasis. “We have to forget about what people say or think and recognize that God’s values are the only important ones.”
• It is so important for us to remember the ist of what we are not defined by.
  • 1. Labels.
    • Some labels we proudly claim (mom, girl boss, wife, crunchy, etc.)
    • Some are given to us (loser, nerd, jock, popular)
    • These often affect decisions we make as we try to live up to or dispute them.
  • 2. What you consume.
    • The things we use to occupy your mind affect the way you think and act either positively or negatively. This can be music, books, movies, culture, and art. These affect our emotions, reactions, hopes, ambitions, and we can get trapped into ideals that aren’t even ours to begin with.
  • 3. Comparison.
    • This can either be when you feel “less than” or “superior to.” Whether you are crashing in despair of “not enough,” caught in the lie to superiority, or dealing with the fallout of our pride taking the best from us- it is not who we are or how we are truly defined.
  • 4. Defined by others.
    • You are not defined by people’s expectations of you.
    • You are not what the media thinks you should be.
• You do not need to be afraid of not being enough.
  • 1 John 3:1- See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
    • Why do I struggle so much with caring that the world knows me? If I am claimed as a child of God, why do I care if the world doesn’t recognize or value me for the person I am?
      • Satan is constantly watching for whatever he can to drag us away from the path toward God. (Beware the Prowling Lion)
      • John 10:10- The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy.
• The book Identity Theft describes three main categories that Satan attacks our identity.
  • 1. Using the world: when we want to conform.
  • 2. Using the flesh: when we want to glorify ourselves instead of God.
  • 3. Using shame: he traps us with the chains of past so we forget that we are free in Jesus.
• We often look at ourselves and think “I’m not enough.” But we’re looking in the wrong spot. JESUS is enough, and that’s what matters. One of the biggest and best parts about finding our identity in Christ is that he is the one thing we just can never lose. If our identity is protected and defined by him, it can never fall into identity theft!
• So now we’ve started to figure out what we’re not. So what are we?
• 1 Peter 2:9-10- But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

• Recap: I do think that it is OK to question God. However, I do think that it is a bad thing to question God without ever waiting for the answer.
• When I was a kid, I used to get so frustrated at the Israelites for their continual loss of trust in God’s faithfulness after all that He had done for them. That’s the key that I am finding: to be able to trust God in our future, we need to get a good look at what He’s done in the past.
• Exodus 14 has a huge story in Israel’s history: the parting of the Red Sea.
  • This event happened right after the plagues that convinced Pharoah to “let my people go.” Even though the Israelites had seen God’s miraculous assault on Egypt and its gods, they still felt betrayed and scared when they faced the Red Sea.
  • I can’t honestly blame them, they were facing extreme danger in front and behind all while sleep deprived and physically exhausted. I don’t think I would have done much better.
  • But even when the way looks hopeless, if we’ve followed the clear path that God leads we shouldn’t be afraid. Exodus 14:13-14- But Moses told the people “don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
  • The big thing that this story proves is that even when we freak out at our situation, God is still faithful. He doesn’t need our calm or our strength to get us through it, but it would be more glorifying to Him if we do.
  • What happened next? God took over! God had been leading the Israelites in a pillar of cloud/fire and He changed from leader to protector. It moved to the back of the group and protected them from the oncoming Egyptian army.
  • At the same time, God sent a powerful East Wind to part the Red Sea so that the Israelites could safely cross. For me this isn’t the peaceful parting that I had originally imagined growing up. Science has shown that it would take winds around 63 miles per hour to part the sea in this way. Perspective: the typical tornado ranges from 40-100 mph. I feel this is often how God answers our prayers in these big life-changing moments: with a little bit of turbulence and a big push forward.
  • This is our starting point: the escape from Egypt. God loves His people, He works out our rescue, and His plan is always in motion even when we don’t understand. And then, He does even more than we expect!
  • Not only did God provide escape, but after the Israelites had crossed safely, He used the same Red Sea to defeat the Egyptian army. So not only did God provide an escape but through that escape, He also completely destroyed the danger that was pursuing them. All through the same tempestuous rescue. So many times I forget that not only did God provide liberation from the sin that enslaved me, but He destroyed it and it cannot overcome me again.
  • How does the Israelite’s escape from Egypt apply to us today? It proves three main things: 1. God keeps His promises. 2. God is so much more powerful than anything else we could worship. 3. He cares about and protects us.
• Joshua 1:9- Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
• Isaiah 43:1-4- But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says “DO not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom. I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.”

• I am not an expert in this area, however I also feel that the Bible is not silent on the topic. While research and expertise in this area are not bad things, I do not think God made reassurance of His faithfulness far out of our reach.
• The Bible is not silent on suffering:
  • Job: An honorable man that God allowed Satan to attack in order to prove that Job was indeed an honorable man.
    • Job’s friends and even his wife told him to just curse God and die, but Job refused.
    • Job actually had the opportunity to ask God “why?” after the suffering had ended. God’s response was essentially “I am too mighty for you to be able to comprehend.” And Job was content with that answer.
  • David: The least favorite son of Jesse, who had to run for his life from king Saul many times, and dealt with all of the drama of being king himself. He wrote many psalms dealing with the emotions of going through trials yet trusting God.
  • Paul and Silas: after rescuing a woman from demon possession, they were stoned and placed in jail. Instead of crying and wailing, they praised God in prison. Their miraculous rescue that night paired with their praising of God brought many people to Christ.
  • Lazarus: Jesus waiting to go to him when he was sick because he knew that God would be glorified more through Lazarus’ death than if Jesus healed him right away. Jesus’ lack of quick response was not due to lack of love, the Bible is clear that Lazarus was very special to Jesus.
• Romans 8:28- And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
  • We love the first part of this verse, but often forget about the “according to his purpose.” God has a use for everything that happens to us, even when we don’t understand them. We need to learn to trust that.
• Why should we trust God?
  • The answer is in the past: think back and remember that times that God has gotten you through.
• The Red Sea:
  • The Israelites dealt with the Red Sea poorly. After seeing all of the miracles that God did to rescue them, they still did not trust Him with this trial.
  • Emotions, fear, and fatigue played a big role in their decisions and actions toward God.
  • Though we can’t always feel God, He has not abandoned us. Our trials are a sea to walk through, they aren’t permanent.
  • God will part the way to get you safely across and also use it to completely destroy that past that was pursuing you.
• Joshua 1:9- This is my command- be strong and couragous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
• How to strengthen Your Faith by Andrew Murray: if the answer to every prayer came immediately, how would we ever become acquainted with the LORD Himself?
• Waiting for God’s answer to our prayers during trials is so hard.
  • We need to remember that we serve a God who responds to us.
  • Sometimes His response is to rescue us from it, other times to stay with us through it. Psalm 27:14- Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. Joshua 1:9- This is my command- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
  • Lamentations 3:32-33- Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow!
• Margaret Feinberg said: I cringe when people suggest that becoming a follower of Jesus will provide a sheath from hurt, pain, and loss. After all, Jesus was nailed to a tree, betrayed by a best friend, and stared death in the eyes. Yes, he triumphed, but he never went numb. He felt. He sensed. He ached. He cried out. We will too!
• Isaiah 41:10- So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you: I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.