Protégé or Parasite

A Protégé will change his schedule for you

A Parasite wants you to change your schedule for him

A Protégé says, “I want a car like yours...”

A Parasite says, “I want your car...”

As a Christian, your job is to give; you are a distribution center. You offer your sustenance, you offer your positive lifestyle, you offer the Word of God. And there is so much to give. As a result, you are faced with people everywhere who require something from you. What’s important to understand is that there are two categories of these people: Protégés and Parasites. The two are so similar on the surface that it’s hard to tell one from the other. Both draw from you, both need you for advancement. Both require you to give something but the motives are very different. One will benefit you in the long run while the other, be it intentionally or unintentionally will destroy you.

A protégé is a leaner. Webster describes a protégé as “a person who receives support and protection from another influential person which furthers the protégé’s career”. He is someone whose welfare or well-being depends on the influence of another. A protégé will withdraw form you but the terms are that of training and influence towards promotion. What you offer a protégé is not a loss but an investment which will be returned to you in due season.

If you have a protégé in your life, be thankful, God is using you. The presence of a protégé means there is a gift that God has given you to become a distribution center for, and He has even sent you the person or people whom He intends you to distribute to. Do your best to grow the relationship. Let nothing stop you from giving, let nothing keep you from allowing God to use you in this way. You can be confident that God will repay your obedience, He will return to you over and over again for sharing the gift that He has invested in you, as you are no-doubt a protégé of Him.

A Parasite withdraws from you in a negative way. They subtract with no intensions to re-deposit. A parasite is a leech; it grows, feeds, and is sheltered but contributes nothing to the survival of its host. A parasite takes advantage of your generosity with no useful return. A parasite will remain living off of you, feeds from you only to abandon you once there is nothing left to withdraw. A parasite isn’t seeking God for a blessing, he’s pursuing you; he wants your blessing.

If there is a parasite in your life, you must get them away from you immediately for two reasons. First, neither you nor they can benefit from this type of relationship. The methods of a parasite are only to extract but one cannot grow spiritually until they give as you have. They may have good intentions spiritually but the relationship is unbalanced so it will be fruitless. Secondly, worse, a parasite does not reach a point where he becomes satisfied and ceases to take. A parasite will drain your resources, consume your abundance and exhaust you. It’s a guarantee that depletion without replenishment will soon leave you empty.

There are several ways to distinguish between a protégé and a parasite. A protégé is looking to build a future with you; a parasite is not interested in the future, only the present and usually the past. A protégé wants to learn what you’ve learned; a parasite wants to have what you have. A protégé wants what’s in your heart; a parasite wants what’s in your hand. A Protégé says, “Make me”; A Parasite says, “Give me”

Be careful not to misjudge an anointed person as a parasite, it could cost you dearly. A man or women of God will often appear as a parasite, but may actually be your opportunity to become a protégé. When Elijah visited the widow at Zarephath in 1 Kings 17, the poor widow could have easily mistaken Elijah for a parasite. She explained to him that she was preparing the last of her supplies for her and her son to eat a final meal and then die. Elijah asked her to bake bread for him instead (1 Kings 17:13) and her meal would not run out nor would her oil fail her. She agreed in obedience to God and as promised they ate well from that day forward. While it may have seemed Elijah had arrived as a parasite requiring her last bit of sustenance, he was actually her last chance to be a protégé or die alone. He was sent by God’s direction to visit exactly when he did and ask of her what he asked. God had arranged her entire encounter with the prophet and she was rewarded greatly for her obedience.

According to the story, some time later the woman’s son became ill and died. But Elijah petitioned God to bring her son back from the dead, which God did. Just imagine if the woman would have sent Elijah away instead of giving away what she had to him. Not only would Elijah have been long gone by the time her son died but her food would have run out so she would have died as well.

Make your new years resolution to examine the people in your life who consistently require something from you; in your family, on your job, at your school, at your church, everyone included. Make a conscious decision about each, label them parasite or protégé. Are people withdrawing from you with the no intent of giving back? Are people using you for their sole benefit? Are they feeding from you and growing but refusing to contribute in the least bit to help you grow?

Then judge yourself. Are you a parasite or a protégé to the people around you: To your family? To your church? To God? Do you want what you did not earn? Do you wish to possess things that belong to others? Do you desire the blessings that your brother or sister has or are you seeking God for your own blessing?

Be a protégé of Jesus Christ and a protégé to the anointed man or woman of God that God has assigned you to and only associate with other protégés. Then when God entrusts you with a protégé, give to him/her freely. When you notice a protégé in your life, you know you’re on the right track and that you’re reward, your blessing, and your miracle will be great.

Your Station

Your station is an allegory for your currant place in life. The place that you are in now is a point you have to travel through to get to where you are ultimately going. You may spend a lot of time at one station. But, good or bad, your station is temporary. Don’t hold onto the place that you’re at because you’ve gotten comfortable. God has to move you through temporary stations on your journey to the permanent. Some one may push you out of a place, but it just might be God pushing you to another place.


Your station is where God will meet you. At your station is where your blessing is. God is everywhere, but He’s not going to help you everywhere. You have to be at your station to meet up with God. Your blessing is at the place where God is. Look at the Samarian woman at the well in John 4:7-29. She came to Jacob’s well for a cool drink of water. Instead she met Jesus Christ and He changed her life. She did not anticipate that place to be her station. She only expected to go there for a moment then return to her life, which was in shambles. Little did she know Jesus was going to recruit her that day and send her yelling through the city “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” John 4:29. She did not know how important it was that she arrive at the well that day. The fact is she wasn’t going to meet up with Jesus any place other then sitting on that well waiting for her. You can guarantee Jesus will show up at your station, but will you?

Whenever you first visit a station that you’re unfamiliar with, it presents pressure to you. It’s like when a man goes deep sea diving. There is more pressure to cope with there under water because it is a place different from what he’s used to on land. The same is true in space travel. Every station presents a new level of pressure that is higher then what is experienced normally.

So, what do you do when you find yourself at a station where there is a lot of pressure? What do you do when the pressure keeps building?

You have to determine if you will allow yourself to be crushed at this station. The world will apply pressure. And the higher you go in this world, the greater the pressure. But God is strategically in place at your station to help you fight the pressure. If you can make progress in faith believing Gods promises then you will be met with more power from the inside to counter the opposing forces against you on the outside.

In other words, just like in deep sea diving or space travel, we prepare for the new levels of pressure by getting clothed in a suit that will keep the pressure in our bodies higher then the pressure from outside forces. That suit is the living word of God. In John 17:9-26 Jesus prayed that we would not be crushed at any station. Jesus prayed that God keep the evils of this world from crushing us. We will never be presented with a level of pressure higher then what we can counter. To overcome apposing forces is the definition of a conqueror. The word of God says that we are more than conquerors through him that loves us. This means the most difficult station is really just an opportunity for God to prove his word is true.

When the pressure at your station builds, don’t allow yourself to be crushed. Instead realize that you are full of God's greatness and He that is in you is greater then the pressure that is in the world. Seek pressure relief from the Word of God and you’ll find yourself moving to the next station in no time.

Don't Breakdown, Breakthrough!

“…when it is well with you, remember me and show me kindness; I pray thee, mention me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison: Genesis 40:14

When God sets a plan into motion in your life and you begin to press towards a great breakthrough, there are a series of events that will take place to lead you to victory. Certain things will need to happen a certain way to lead you to a certain place so that certain other things can connect with you and, before you know it, you’re living the life that God promised you. The frustrating thing about waiting for a breakthrough is that, at times, we don’t do what God has strategically put in place for us to do. When we fail to do what God has given us to do, we stand in God’s way. Disobedience interrupts the process of reaching our breakthrough. Instead of being in the right place at the right time, we’re in another place looking for the same success. Instead of doing things right the 1st time, we’re out doing a bunch of things wrong following our own rules for the 3rd and 4th time, yet still have the nerve to ask God why we aren’t in the place we desire to be.

When we miss our mark, it doesn’t mean we can’t get our breakthrough, it just means that it’s going to take more time. God has to direct us another way; we’ve sabotaged ourselves. And once we realize this, it can get so frustrating that we want to quit. But, the message I want to give to you today is: Don’t give up! You have a destiny!! You have a divine purpose! There is something that God put you on this Earth to fulfill. God is not going to give up on you, ever. Only you can determine if you have what it takes to make it to your breakthrough, or if you are going to get frustrated and breakdown.

Joseph pressed towards the palace

The next time you find yourself frustrated by set backs, just think of Joseph; the man who dealt with years of obstacles before finally reaching his destiny. First, he was sold into slavery by jealous and spiteful brothers who despised him Gen. 37:4. After being sold, Joseph found himself in prison for a crime he didn’t commit Gen. 39:20. Then, while in prison, Joseph was forgotten by a person who he had helped but failed to return the favor Gen 40:23. Finally after two years, Joseph was called out of prison and advanced to meet his destiny as ruler over Egypt Gen. 41:39-40.

At any time during his journey, Joseph could have given up, especially when the obstacles he faced where no fault of his own. Joseph could have just decided that he was meant to be a slave, or a prisoner. He could have just accepted that he would never be anything more than a servant. But he didn’t breakdown. Years of set backs and adverse situations couldn’t break Joseph. Obstacles dealt at the hand of people around him couldn’t keep him from reaching his destiny.

What made the difference for Joseph?

Through it all, at every stage of his life, Joseph recognized that the hand of God was on him. He never let discouragement or hate settle in his heart over what was done to him. When he was made a slave, he made sure that he was a good slave. Joseph was so valuable that eventually he ran his master’s house. When he found himself in prison, even though he was innocent, he worked hard to be a blessing and he even served his captors. The guards looked forward to seeing him in the morning. Before long Joseph, a prisoner, had control of the whole prison. He served them to the point that it was unusually for him to see them unhappy. When he saw the guards fret, he was faithful to cheer them up.

“When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected... ‘Why are your faces so sad today?” Gen. 40:6-7.

Joseph remained faithful, no matter what. He continued to be obedient to God. And with obedience, Joseph received everything he would need so that when promotion time came, Joseph was ready.

Looking back, Joseph realized that it was all a part of God’s plan.

“God sent me ahead of you… to save your lives by a great deliverance… it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt” Gen 45:7-8.

God allowed Joseph to go through situation after situation to position him for the job he would have to do. It was God who made it obvious that Joseph was destined for greatness, which caused his father to decorate him as such. God allowed Joseph’s envious brothers to sell him into slavery so that Joseph would find himself in Egypt; the riches and most advanced civilization on earth at that time. Then God made Joseph’s master recognize his worth and promote him from slave to overseer. Then when Joseph was framed and put into prison, God’s hand was at work again to place him in a cell with Pharaohs Chief Baker and Chief Cupbearer. God is the reason that Joseph was placed in charge of the entire prison and all of the prisoners. Finally God gave Pharaoh a dream that no one but a little Hebrew boy could interpret. God provided Joseph the opportunity to use the gift that he was given to place him into the position to finally achieve his destiny. Joseph did what he was supposed to do and God made certain things happen in a certain way to lead him to a certain place so that certain other things could connect with him and, before he knew it, he was ruler over all of Egypt.

Our job is to consistently work towards a breakthrough. We need to get interested in moving from one level to the next; from one season to the next. The reason that our God is Lord of the breakthrough. If we fail to pursue a breakthrough in our lives, it is the same as us trying to put God out of work. If we are not interested in success, then the obstacles God allows in our life will begin depressing us and cause a breakdown instead of motivating us to keep striving for a breakthrough.

It takes time to qualify for a promotion. Remain faithful. Keep offering your obedience to God who holds your future in His hands. Recognize that the hand of God is with you. Don’t let discouragement or pain from anything that has ever been done to you settle in your heart. Remain faithful to the vision that God has for you, not the perception that the world has of you. The road to your breakthrough may be long, 2 years or 20 years long, but don’t breakdown. Decide each moment of your life that you will keep pressing with everything that is in you until the day that God provides the opportunity to use the gift you have been given to breakthrough!!

4-Day Cruise Pt. II

The story of Alex and his 4-day cruise from the port of Georgia to Key West Florida goes on a little further. It continues the next morning. Alex wakes up early on day 4, the last day of the cruse around 2’oclock in the morning. He’s not sure what awakened him until he realizes that it must be the fact that the ship has stopped. No constant hum of the engine; no study swaying from side to side; just stillness.

“We must have arrived” Alex immediately thinks to himself.

With excitement, Alex rushes to the window of his room and is met with an odd view. The ship is still entirely surrounded by water. It seems they are still in the middle of no where. However, as he continues to look, he can see the lights of what appears to be another ship in the far, far distance. It’s too far to make out exactly what it is without some sort of binoculars, but there is definitely something there. Alex glances at the clock; it says “2:15 AM”. Alex says to himself,

“Well, I’m up now…, I might as well check it out”.

Alex throws on some jeans and heads to the top deck. Once there, he takes a longer stare at the lights which he can now plainly see in the distance. In fact, he sees that there are quite a few lights in the distance; enough that he knows it’s definitely not another ship passing in the distance. It’s got to be land.

“That’s it! That’s Key West! I knew it. We’re there...” and then he stops and thinks to himself, “So why in the world have we stopped?”

Once again, Alex begins to search for a cruise attendant. He knew an attendant would be a little tougher to find at 2AM, but before long he locates a worker mopping along the top deck.

”I know I see land” he says to the attendant. “Is that Key West out there?”

“Actually, that is Ft. Myers.” the attendant tells him. “But, Key West is not far past that. We’ll be running parallel to Ft. Myers Beach and Marco Island for about a half-hour till we reach the port to dock at Key West”

Alex then asks with a puzzled look,

“So if we’re only a half-hour away from Key West, why in the world have we stopped? Doesn’t the ships computer know how close we are? Why are we just sitting out here in the ocean?”

“Well, Sir,” the attendant begins, “we are not scheduled to pull into Key West until 9:00 AM. So the ship is not going any further till about 8, maybe 8:30…”

“But why not?” Alex interrupts, “…if we’re already this close why don’t we just dock early?”

The attendant puts down his mop.

“Because” the attendant begins, “Nobody is going to be at the port at 2’oclock in the morning. The Key West port is deserted right now. There’s nobody to guide us in, nobody to dock us, nobody to unload the luggage, nobody to off board the passengers...”

“But” the attendant continues, “If we wait and pull in at our scheduled time, the dock will be filled with people to greet all of you passengers. There’ll be a band playing; the shops will be open and family members will be there all to welcome in this voyage. Plus, every one of you will get a free gift as you off board. So that’s why we’ve stopped. As I said, the ship isn’t going any further till about 8; 8:30, then they’ll kick the engine back on and we’ll be on our way to the dock”

And here lies the point of this second story. One of the things which may happen while you’re on the way towards your goal in life is you’ll begin to see your destination approaching in the distance. You’ll see your dream beginning to materialize. You’ll see your plan beginning to fall into place. You’ll start to realize that your goal will soon be within arms reach. Once you finally begin to see your destination with your own eyes, you will want it even more than earlier in your journey when your goal was only a vision. And because of this you may get frustrated if you can’t end the journey and just grab your dream right then.

But that is the most important time to be patient. You have to understand that once you can finally see “land”, it does not mean you are suddenly ready to dock. The thing is, sometimes you will be near land but, like the ship in our story, you’re early. And it may not be due to the work that you are doing in preparation of your destination; but instead it may be that your destination simply isn’t ready for you. Things outside of your control are not in place yet for your arrival. Quite often it is people who are not in position yet which keeps you stalled at a distance away from the place you are headed. In other words, sometimes it’s not you, it’s them; they aren’t ready.

That’s why timing is everything. And only God has control of the timing so you’ll have to trust God with the last leg of your journey the same way you trusted him in the beginning and the middle. There may come an occasion where you find yourself within a short distance of your destiny and unable to move any closer. But if you can be patient and wait, God will eventually reignite that engine which has gotten you thus far and send you blasting full speed ahead towards your destination. And there, at your destiny you will find a docking station filled with people whose sole purpose is to welcome you into your new plateau. There’ll be a band playing (figuratively for most; literally for some); the shops will be open, family members will be there. And you can even expect something extra that you didn’t even anticipate at the conception of your journey.

So, if you feel stalled in your mission, jut trust that soon God will wave you into the docking station of your destiny once it is prepared to welcome you with open arms so that you pull into your position right on time.

4-Day Cruise Pt. I

The story begins with a man named Alex, a former sailor, on a 4-day voyage traveling from Georgia to Key West, Florida. Gazing across a clear blue ocean from the top deck of a Carnival Cruise Ship, Alex was getting board. He had been very excited to be on this cruise when it originally launched from its port in Georgia, but by this, the 3rd day, he’d gotten fatigued with the journey. He’d already seen the entertainment on board and done all of what he’d wished to do. So, standing on the top deck, he simply glanced across the miles and miles of crystal clear, turquoise Blue Ocean which surrounded the ship on all sides. The calm, lucid sheet of ocean water barely moved as the huge vessel burrowed its way through the sea on this very warm summer afternoon. And that’s when Alex noticed that the ship was moving rather slowly.

“Why would a ship this size move so slowly through an ocean which is relatively still?” He wondered to himself.

He began to feel that maybe there was a problem. So he immediately searched for a cruise employee to see if there was any reason to be alarmed. Before long he found one.

“Why is this ship going so slow?” he asked. “We’re barely crawling out her. I swear we would be there by now... Is there a problem?”

The cruise attendant was glad to respond,

“Well, Sir, we’ve got a long itinerary full of things that must take place during the course of this cruise. There’s much more entertainment on board; 4 more shows within the next day. Then there are vendors who’ve paid to come aboard and sell their products and paraphernalia; T-shirts, souvenirs, maps; all types of fun items to buy. Plus there are meals prepared; dinners arranged just waiting for your enjoyment including tonight’s big feast celebrating the last night of our journey”

The attendant continued,

“The truth is, Georgia is only 4 hours away from the Florida Keys. If we traveled at regular speed there wouldn’t be time to accomplish all that’s on the itinerary and people on all sides would be disappointed. That’s why we go so slowly. The ship is preprogrammed to turn a 4-hour journey into a 4-day cruise and that gives us time to completely execute our itinerary”

The point of this story is this: many of us set goals years ago which we’ve been traveling towards. Goals such as a college degree, a substantial weight lose, freedom from debt, a home business, raising successful kids…the list goes on and on. Well, most of us have been on this course for a very, very, very long time; in fact, most of us have pursued the same goals for our entire adult life. We’ve seen progress but most of us have not arrived at that place where we can finally rest. Needless to say, many of us are pretty fatigued with the journey and sometimes feel depressed and desperate for something new. So we reach this point in life where we look up towards heaven and say, “Why is this taking so long? Why does progress come so slowly? If I could go just a little faster I’d be there by now!”

The answer to this question is the same as the answer Alex received on his 4-day cruise. Your goals are actually right around the corner from where you are right now. But there are a lot of things that must to take place in your life before you arrive at that destination. There are adjustments you must make to your lifestyle. There are changes that must take hold. There are new behaviors that must be learned; old behaviors that must pass away. There are people who don’t support you who will leave your life and others how will support you that must enter. There are new lessons that you must learn, old memories you must forget and past hurts you must resolve. If you traveled at what ever speed you imagined years ago reaching your goal, there wouldn’t be time to accomplish any of those things which are necessary for you to make the objective you seek permanent. With out accomplishing your itinerary, you won’t be able to sustain the progress you’ve obtained and might eventually move backwards. You could end up back where you started only more disappointed, more depressed, and perhaps even suicidal.

So just remember that your goals are within reach, but the path to your destiny is sometimes gonna be slow. Loosing 70 pounds is just as attainable as loosing 7 or 107 pounds but, unfortunately, the road is going to be slow. Debt freedom is attainable, but it’s just a matter of time and that time will be slow. A successful business plan can be achieved, but most of the execution will be slow. Raising successful children will take a lot of attention and the results will be slow. That Bachelor’s or that Masters degree is going to happen slowly. That new job is sometimes gonna come slow. The path to home ownership is slow. The path to better relationships, especially a better marriage sometimes is just gonna be slow.

Don’t get fatigued and start gazing at the sea in hopelessness waiting to get off the boat. Instead, have confidence that your journey will eventually take you to somewhere that you really want to be. Have faith that what you endure on this extended voyage will be well worth it in the end. And all you really need to do is go back and enjoy the ride!

BRUISED

Picture a polished, gleaming, juicy red apple sitting high up on top of a fruit stand amongst dozens of other apples in a grocery store. It’s luscious, ripe, ruby tone assures any onlooker that behind the thin, glossy skin of this delectable fruit contains the flesh of a delicious desert fit for the consumption of a King.

Now imagine the display case is brutally bumped. The jolt jars the apple from its position atop of all the other apples sending it tumbling aimlessly towards the edge of the stand, then over the edge where this precious fruit hits the floor with a loud “thud”. Now imagine the produce manager instinctively looks around to make sure no one saw, quickly positions the apple back on top of the fruit stand and then walks away to continue his day.

The apple has completely absorbed the blow. No harm, no foul. Everybody’s happy, life goes on; right?

Wrong. Because, while things appear as perfect as they once were on the surface, beneath the thin outer shell of this apple is a record of an incident that went unreported. An unlucky patron will purchase this apple based solely on its outer appearance and soon find that this apple has a deep, dark secret; this apple was hit by a cold, hard floor and is terribly flawed. It carries the worst of all types of wounds; it bares an internal scar which will mark the spot of the injury forever. The person who blindly buys this apple will discover it is damaged; blemished; defective; bruised and this person will no doubt be disappointed.

So you ask, “Gerard, why in the world are we talking about a bruised apple?” Well, any one familiar with human psychology recognized the analogy by the 3rd sentence.

Whenever you experience a traumatic incident which inflicts emotional pain, whether it happens while you are a young child, a teen, an adult or even in old age, your psychological mind has a record of the event. On the surface you appear to be unaffected by whatever happened. But underneath your psychological “skin” is a bruise that swells and throbs begging for your attention.

Now with fruit, the bruise will never go away. In the case of your psychological mind, however, your psyche has the ability to place a sort of “false skin” over the incident to shield you from the emotional pain of the impact at the site of the wound. You are blocked from the pain and shielded from further injury in that place. This “false skin” is the process of removing the incident from your recollection. You’re able to carry-on for years, even decades as if the event never took place because you are protected from the memory of the pain by this “covering”. Think of it as an emotional “scab”, if you will.

The trouble comes when your consciousness begins to detect the imminent pain of the concealed emotional bruise. This is when your “covering” fails allowing you to “remember” (not as in a full recollection, just a conscious realization of hidden pain). When this happens, it’s just like ripping off a scab too early; the wound begins to bleed all over again. Then you must deal with a larger portion of the painful occurrence than you are ready to realize.

The moment an emotional injury finds its way into your consciousness, you might do innocent little things to occupy your mind. Things such as read a book, do a word puzzle, do house work, play video games, watch soaps, watch sports, or perhaps write a 500 word narrative on the human psyche (this one is over 1,000). But, when those things don’t suffice, people have been known to do things that are drastic and much more harmful in an attempt to dispose of pain that has been inadvertently unearthed. Damaging things include stuffing your face with saturated fats, drinking alcohol, smoking weed, snorting cocaine, or having unprotected sex with strangers.

If you recognize any combination of the behaviors above to be your life, here’s what I want to say to you. You may not know this, but… Jesus was bruised. That’s right. Jesus was bruised. He was bruised in every place that we are bruised today as part of his fellowship with us. The bible says he was, “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” Isaiah 53:5. This passage goes on to say the “chastisement” or our punishment “of our peace was upon him”; meaning, in order to “know” us and give us peace, he had to go through the hell that awaited us.

Jesus, who was without sin, endured wounds and bruises for our sake. The bible says Jesus was despised and rejected. He experienced sorrow and became acquainted with grief. He he was whipped and carried stripes of open wounds on his back for the load of troubles that bruise our backs. He was made to wear a crown of thorns on his head which no doubt streamed blood into his face for the crown of emotional torment that we wear. They drove iron nails the size of railroad spikes through both of his feet for the punishment of the sinful places that our feet take us. And they pounded these iron stacks through both of his hands inbetween the ulna and radius bones, just below the wrests (the palm of the hands would never have supported the weight),  for the iniquity that our hands are drenched in today.

But this passage in Isaiah goes on to say that “WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED!" meaning with the abuise that Jesus endured; by the blood that Jesus shed, He removed the requirement for us to suffer any longer due to our iniquity. This means you CAN find healing for your situation. You CAN find peace from physical and emotional bruise!

The truth is, none of us are perfect, we are all terribly flawed. We’re busied, disfigured, blemished, defective, we are all damaged goods. But because Jesus endured the pain of our bruises and even endured death; we have a new hope. We are broken vessels but God now has a new treasure invested in us. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 says, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” We can face tomorrow because God has placed within us his power, his excellency. Our worth is not of ourselves, but it is “of” Him. We are broken vessels, but in Him we can be made strong. We are troubled on every side, but we do not have to have to be distressed. We are perplexed by our condition, but we do not have to find ourselves in despair. We’re persecuted everyday but God promised we will never be forsaken. We’re cast down, but the treasure that God placed with in us will never allow us to be destroyed.

So trust God. And by “trust God” I mean trust God’s plan for your life. God knows what your bruises are and He is the only one who can resolve the bruises. He knows what happened and even when it happened because He was there. Yes, He did allow it; however, what differentiates our God from the neglectful produce manger in my story is that God cares. He’s never once turned a blind eye to the cries of his children. You’ve got to trust that God has a process in place to rescue you from the corrupting, consuming, internal bruises that are rotting your life from the inside out. You’ve got to trust that you are in the hands of a master; in fact, you’re in the hand of THE master which means things WILL NOT remain the way they have been.

You can’t fix yourself. And you can’t keep covering the pain with some temporary emotional fix or vice. You can only trust God to orchestrate your repair and bring to your attention the help that you will need to finally resolve the hurt and bring you peace once and for all.