Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6
 
 
My story is one of heartbreak and healing, fear and courage, resilience and trust, and God’s strength and peace. While my story obviously began the day I was born, I woke up in the middle of my story, so to speak, when my brother died suddenly of a massive heart attack. My 18-year marriage began to unravel at the seams, passing the point of repairability until it ended in divorce. Through remarriage and subsequent divorce, through the deaths of both parents, through a cross-country move, I have seen God’s hand at work in my life to bring about transformation to my character, to my wants and desires, to my perspective. God has transformed tragedies into blessings, changes that I never wanted, but I am thankful for the growth and change within as a result of the changes without.
 
Change is never easy. Although some people seem to “roll with the punches” better than others, I have always found change difficult. Especially if there is little advanced notice, change can be disruptive and create chaos where there once was order. Change can commandeer our plans as it upends us emotionally. The flip side of the coin of change is the opportunity to break out of years of ruts, the prospect to be transformed, and the chance to begin anew.
 
When a friend recently called me resilient, I was stunned. Resilience implies an inner strength and fortitude to weather whatever the storms of life may bring. Perhaps outwardly I did reflect some sense of resiliency and I know that I did get to a place where that was actually true inwardly. What she saw in me was the grace and mercy of God. But to get there, I had days when I felt I was hanging by the proverbial thread. Praying for God’s strength and peace fills me supernaturally with both. When we can no longer move forward through change, crisis, or loss, when we cry out to God for help, He comes along beside us and also within us to fill us up with His strength and peace, and even wisdom to navigate the storm, if only we would turn to Him and ask.
 
My aim in life is not to be happy, as happiness is sorely dependent on circumstances, but rather to be content. Despite the circumstances swirling around me, God raises me up on a rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2). When I focus on gratitude, my heart overflows with thankfulness even in the midst of my circumstances and I experience contentment and even joy. When I change my perspective to God’s, even when my vision is clouded by my surroundings, I can experience His peace, knowing that God is faithful and He is good, that whatever happens to me can be used by Him to transform me into who He wants me to be.
 
We’re called to not only be the hands and feet of Jesus while we’re here on earth, but we are called to actually BE like Jesus, to take on His character, to be Christ-like in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. God can and will use painful circumstances in our lives to shape us into who He wants us to be. While this life of transformation is a journey, and I’m certainly not there yet, I can trust that the God who created me will see this change in me through to its completion, for my benefit, for others’ blessings, and for His glory. May it be so!
 
 
Father God, thank You that you hear my cries and Your indwelling Spirit fills me to overflowing with Your grace, mercy, strength, and peace. Continue to transform me into who You would have me to be, more like Jesus every day. Amen.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2018 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of sunrise in Monument Valley, Utah.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  Matthew 16:25
 
 
While shopping at a popular cosmetics store, I glance at their shopping bag. Written on it are the words, "Go ahead, lose yourself ". I pause, silently chuckling at the words, while wondering why they think I need to lose myself. Obviously, this was not a message for me. I, frankly, am on a path of self-discovery. Whatever happened to "find yourself"? Do we really need to escape from ourselves so badly that even shopping bags now carry messages designed to influence us?
 
My initial reaction was to ask myself if I needed to lose myself or to find myself. The pressures of this life do cause us to want to lose ourselves, to escape from stress and brokenness. But perhaps the better way is to find ourselves, to discover our gifts and talents, to be all we can and were designed to be. This involves stepping into the brokenness rather than running from it. When we can honestly look at ourselves, with all our faults and frailties, with our goodness and gifts, then perhaps we can embrace ourselves, in the good, in the bad, and even in the ugliness. Only in stark candor can we allow God to change what needs to be changed, to heal what needs to be healed, in order for us to be the best version of ourselves.
 
Yet there is more to this losing ourselves than is found penned on a shopping bag. In today’s key verse, Jesus speaks with His disciples of His upcoming death on a cross. He says when we live our lives seeking God’s will, we gain eternal life. When we follow Christ’s example, we lose our own identity in the Savior. In the process, we take on the character and attributes of Jesus. We find that He gives us a new identity, a new perspective, a new life, none of which can be taken from us.
 
Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries martyred in 1956 in Ecuador, profoundly stated: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” When we give of ourselves for Jesus, rather than holding on to what this world has to offer, we find that we have gained an eternity with God which cannot be taken away from us. As He shapes us into who He wants us to be, we discover gifts and talents we didn’t know we had which when exercised for His kingdom, bring joy to us and glory to God.
 
Rather than trying to lose myself in what the world has to offer, I lose myself in Jesus where I find my true self. When I discover who I am in Christ, I can be who I was created to be. I can celebrate my unique identity found only in Jesus and find healing for the brokenness. What about you? Are you busy trying to lose yourself to what the world offers? Or are you losing yourself to the One who gave His life for you? Discover and embrace who you are and who you were created to be. Lose your grip on the things of this world and gain what you can never lose.
 
 
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your life that first Easter so that I might gain a relationship with You. Help me lose myself in You as I live out my new identity in You now and for all eternity. Amen.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2018 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of a hillside near Lake Cachuma, California.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™