From the Inside Out

Recently, I was reading in Romans and a verse just stuck out at me. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Now I have heard that verse many times over throughout my life, but I'll plainly admit it: this was the first time I had really focused on it and allowed it to take hold of me the way it should have long ago.

Okay, that was God's first nudge. And you oughta know, He never stops there.

This past weekend, a group of us leaders took 39 middle schoolers from our youth group to Winter Blast retreat. It's sort of a mini-camp in winter where kids from all around the area can come together and conversationalize, play indoor/outdoor games, pray and learn, and allow us leaders to just love on them. In short, it rocked. Our teaching series centered on the theme of connections; about how we connect with God and others. It was also about how easy it is for us to focus on the stuff of this world, and lose focus on what's most important...connecting with a God who really truly loves and cares for us.

Now I am wondering if I might have gotten more out of it than the kids did. Okay, I'm not saying they didn't soak it up or feel God's conviction in their lives, because so many of them obviously did. But it was amazing just how much the theme really hit it for me, more than I realized it would.

God began convicting me of my own connections. Like what was most important to me, what really stood out to others about me, and where He stood in all of it. And it was sobering.

Just how often do I try to cram myself into the mold this world has to offer—to be someone I'm not, or to have something I obviously do not need—only to realize that no matter how hard I try, it still leaves me feeling wanting, or worse, unwanted. By filling myself, my mind, with all the things that shouldn't be important, all I'm doing is conforming to this world. And I am pushing away God.

Basically, I've come to realize that everything I am shows to those 6th grade guys I lead. I mean co'mon, it's hard to hide who you are when you're teaching this stuff. But can a leader effectively lead if they're not fully connecting the way they should be themselves? That by conforming to the world around us, don't we know that we slowly degrade ourselves, and bring down those around us who might actually look up to us? How can we stand before God knowing we aren't really in the game?

Reality check. These guys look up to us (me) for...a comforting shoulder to lean on when things get them down, a positive word of encouragement when everything or everyone seems to fail them, answers they don't or won't have to the questions about God and life.

They are seeking someone, anyone, to connect with. They look for leadership. And not just the friendship that we sometimes tend to give them instead; they desire to be mentored. To be taught that there is a God who cares about them, desires to know them personally, and wants to show us His will. They want to know He is real.

Now, truthfully, how can I lead effectually if my will is not God's?

Romans 12:2 simply says to let go of the things this world tends to get us caught up in: Be it gossip, slander, arrogance, selfishness, or possibly your computer, game system, television, cellphone...whatever holds us and our minds down and inhibits us from creating and maintaining that true connection with God.

And that by letting all of those inhibitors go, only then can we honestly surround ourselves from the inside out with that which God intended...His will for our lives.

Here is video from a favorite Hillsong United song of mine. Listen to the words to catch a little of what I am saying here:

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
My heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

God, I ask you to renew my mind. Help me not become so caught up in the things of this world, but instead let me lose myself in You. Allow me to lead effectively and faithfully, and not be a distraction from You or Your will. Help me to continue to apply Your will to my life, and in turn, to those lives around me.