Words of Hope – Defects of Character

Words of Hope – Defects of Character

Have you ever been challenged to do something that feels very uncomfortable, awkward, and perhaps evening frightening?  So much so, in fact, that you’d rather drop a large and gnarly rock on your toe, then actually follow through on the request?  This happened to me this week. I was sitting in staff meeting on Monday afternoon and we were moving our way through a lesson in the Freedom Sessions material and towards the end of this particular session, the presenter challenged us to reflect on our “defects of character,” those areas of sin and brokenness that are the “root” cause of our destructive and consequential sinful behaviours.

This was hard enough. I could think of more than a few areas God was addressing in my life. But then the presenter took it stratospheric, asking us to send these lists of possible defects, to people who know us best and the list did not include only “safe bets” and allies.  To the contrary, it included people who may actually have plenty to say about our defects. It was humbling. I got that nauseated feeling in my gut you get when you’re being stretched, challenged, and pushed beyond your comfort zone.  But I knew I needed to do it. So a few hours later I drafted the message, prayed, almost deleted everything, but in the end, decided to push send. And then all I could do was wait.

When’s the last time you hit the symbolic “send” button on something God was challenging you to do? So – the reply came back a little while later. And as is usually the case with these divine exercises in transformation, God sent back just what I needed to hear. I got some shining light on my blindspots and just enough hope to tackle it. Painful? Yes. But also something that I knew God was using to grow me.  I want to encourage you to take the plunge the next time you hear God’s voice challenging you!

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