Charisa Stories

Tag: rich mullins

  • Finding Peace in Dark Valleys

    Finding Peace in Dark Valleys

    No one gets through this journey unscathed. We will all face sadness, struggles, worry, sickness, and death. When I face trials I default to a song titled “Hold Me Jesus” from Rich Mullins. He is with Jesus now but Rich Mullins’s ability to capture our faith journey in lyric form was remarkable.

    Well, sometimes my life
    Just don’t make sense at all
    When the mountains look so big
    And my faith just seems so small

    Right now I am in a pretty good place in my life and journey with Jesus. But a heartbreaking number of my friends and loved ones are going through agonizing struggles and can relate completely to those lyrics. Rich Mullen’s words do not exaggerate the pain.

    And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
    It’s so hot inside my soul
    I swear there must be blisters on my heart

    I used to respond to troubles by thinking it must be my fault somehow. God must not be pleased with me. I would decide I had to do something to bolster my faith. I needed to read more verses or do a study or pray more or believe more. But the answer was far more simple and the chorus by Mullins nails it. All I needed was to rest in the love of God.

    So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
    You have been King of my glory
    Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

    I needed to quit flailing and trying so darn hard to be righteous. Hold me Jesus. Won’t you be my Prince of Peace? In those moments this prayer is simple and profound.

    “God…would you love me today?”

    And He does. I don’t have to “do stuff” for God to earn His favor and receive His love and peace. For those of us “doers” who absolutely must do something here is your homework assignment.

    1. Believe what God says is true about you.

    That’s it. That is your assignment and it may not be as easy as it looks in print. Believe you are forgiven. Believe you are loved. Believe you are His child. Believe you are adopted. Believe you are redeemed. Believe you are a new creation.

    I have made it so stinkin’ complicated and performance based for so many years. When I trust what God says about me I am humbled. I worship. Believing how my Father sees me causes me to obey out of gratitude and not teeth gritting compliance.

    Why did I fight this amazing grace and His unconditional love? Well, Rich Mullins nails that too.

    Surrender don’t come natural to me
    I’d rather fight You for something
    I don’t really want
    Than to take what You give that I need
    And I’ve beat my head against so many walls
    Now I’m falling down, I’m falling on my knees

    That was me. Beating my head against a performance wall instead of surrendering to the extravagant gift of grace and freedom. Next time you are flailing and striving to please God would you try this simple request?

    “Jesus…would you love me today?” He has promised to be there.

    “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28, NLT)

    Hold me Jesus. I want to rest in your love today.

  • Don’t Kid Yourself

    Don’t Kid Yourself

    After listening to a few minutes of depressing news I needed a little soul nourishment. Rich Mullins is one of my go to songwriters for that need. The first song that played was very timely in this season of sadness and uncertainty. “We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” shows how our relationships can be fragile in the best of times.

    Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
    To part the waters of the sea
    But it only took one little lie
    To separate you and me
    Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are.

    If only we could acknowledge that we are not as strong as we think we are and then live accordingly I believe we would see an amazing difference.

    I need God and the community of believers to be spiritually and emotionally healthy. Yet pride tells me that I am able to handle the situation. Fear tells me that revealing the needs of my heart will only make things worse. So one little lie or misunderstanding dealt with in my own strength negates the strength of a God who could part the waters of the seas. I choose my power over the One who could heal my pain if only I would let Him.

    I remember when a major food company recalled thousands of chili cans that were tainted with deadly toxins. A later follow-up to that story told about cans of chili exploding as the pressure built up inside the containers.
    That is a messy and disgusting metaphor for how we deal with the internal toxins of relational hurt, misunderstandings, accusations, and fear. We seal those emotional and spiritual poisons up and store them away hoping it will somehow be okay. But the toxins in our heart have not been killed, only compartmentalized. The pain continues to grow, slowly and inexorably. Finally the pressure builds to the point of explosion. There is a better way.

    Paul described that better way to the Colossians.

    Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

    (Colossians 3:12-15, NLT)

    Sometimes I dream that the body of Christ would commit to spend 30 days living and breathing just those four verses. What would that look like? How much healing would happen? I think four verses could spark revival.

    But we pull back and try to go it alone. Even if we attempt to walk in community we are too afraid or proud to share our needs. Rich Mullins was exactly right. We are not as strong as we think we are. Especially in this weird socially distanced isolation we need each other more than ever. So I am going to encourage you to reach out before you lash out. Ask for healing before you hurt yourself and others.

    And if you find yourself in a decent place right now ask God to show you someone that you can reach out to and love. Call them. Text them. Ask how they are doing. God is serious about how we communicate about others in the flock. Peter writes:

    Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9, The Message)

    Rich Mullin’s wrote that weakness is not a sin. Failing to acknowledge our need for God’s strength is the sin.

    We are frail
    We are fearfully and wonderfully made
    Forged in the fires of human passion
    Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
    And with these our hells and our heavens
    So few inches apart
    We must be awfully small
    And not as strong as we think we are.

    No, we are not as strong as we think we are. We need to acknowledge that He is God and we are not. We need one another but I know that too often we let each other down. At that point another Rich Mullins song comes to mind about our need for Jesus. The irony is that we often resist that always available grace.

    Surrender don’t come natural to me
    I’d rather fight you for something
    I don’t really want
    Than to take what you give that I need
    And I’ve beat my head against so many walls
    Now I’m falling down, I’m falling on my knees…

    When your soul is dry as dust and everything seems hopeless this chorus is a healing prayer.

    So hold me Jesus,
    Cause I’m shaking like a leaf
    You have been King of my glory
    Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

    He will hold you in your fear. We need to leave our pride at the foot of the Cross and depend on His grace and strength. And we need to not kid ourselves about this simple truth. We are not as strong as we THINK we are. We need Jesus. We need each other.