Esther Generation (From IF:Gathering) They say you should travel light But most of our lives we carry it all on our backs These days it isn’t our arms that stay weighed down It’s our minds We wake up in a panic Its our thoughts that hyperventilate for fear Of making mistakes. For fear of failing or succeeding Or fear that we’ll never move past our past That we’ll be exactly who they said we’d be That we’ll never be more than what was done to us That we will continue to be taken advantage of That we should accept shame as a companion to carry with us That we should let the lies befriend us The lies started in a garden Spoken slyly by a slithering serpent with his syrupy sweet: “Did God really say?” And we’ve be doubting ever since Allowing an unwelcome guest to make himself at home in our lives, minds, gardens Keep us bound with slithering fear that we are damaged goods Never going to be good enough Not enough brains, not enough brawn Not enough guts to take anything on. But there is no time for being soft or weak That at all times we have to be tough That We’ll never be perfect that We’ll never be worth it That we’ll never be enough And sometimes we feel God calling us, nudging us Trying to show us but somehow we stay trapped Behind walls of unbelief and unforgiveness Our arm’s a weary rope caught in a vicious tension Tug of war between our fear and our calling Between worry and peace Comfort and inconvenience Comparing ourselves to each other While battling low self esteem Do we do what’s practical? Or follow our dreams? Do we take care of ourselves? Or meet others people’s needs? Should we fight? Should we please? Should we hide from who we are to put other people at ease? And then the lies begin to echo and amplify Loser Time abuser Mess producer Who needs you? She’s so much better Just look at her You actually thought that was a good idea? Open your mouth and they’ll laugh long enough that you’ll shut your mouth You aren’t smart enough You aren’t good enough You aren’t sharp enough Who do you think you are? Fear is our chain and it’s rattling us hard It’s the poison that deadens our hearts Fear of failing Fear of flailing Fear of the arrows Fear of the way named narrow Fear of the shear rock in front of you that begs you sweat and climb Climb out of that drug dead comforting pit they call status quo And break right up through the earth and into the life you were born for In the now of your life while there is still time and hunger in your veins Turn around and shake off that snake Because it’s head’s been crushed, no pulverized So let go of the lie. Sometimes we imagine that God’s voice is a disappointed hard lined teacher Who is waiting to whack our knuckles with a ruler for any imperfections But that isn’t God’s voice at all That isn’t Gods heart at all He speaks tenderly He doesn’t need to raise his voice He speaks as if He’s right next to us Because He’s right next to us Because He goes before us Because His spirit lives inside us He starts with love And not because He is a hopeless romantic But mostly because He is ALL LOVE and HOPE and SECOND CHANCES Let go of the fanged lie and bind the wound with dressings of Truth that will heal your bloodied soul Take that sharp edge of His Word and hack that snake creeping up the back your neck The words The only life hack that will hack off the lie of the snake and make your life whole We fear that the place we think God’s love will run out or dry up We fear that place where we think God’s love will run out, dry up, fall of the edge And we’ll be left dangling beyond its reach We fear that somewhere God’s love ends But His love never runs out His steadfast love surpasses suburbia Canvases from skyscrapers to street corners from porch to stoop His love is looking for you. Who would you be? What would you do? If you weren’t afraid Could be that you’ve always wanted to come up through the ground in some desolate place that needed a tree To bear some fruit for someone with their tongue stuck to the dry roof of their parched mouth To be a limb that held some baby abandoned To be a limb that someone could used to swing over the fence and free We were made from dust A bit of earth kissed by heaven made to be groundbreakers And peacemakers And freedom shakers So you can take your glossy Vogue covers and use them for washing windows Because we’ve always thought the most beautiful women have dirt under their fingernails And could shake a bit of the very earth out of their warn and pioneering shoes And lets redefine comfort zone because wherever He takes you You are with the comforter Wherever He calls you You are always in his comfort zone So live all your present moments in His presence To keep company with Christ To get in on the best There’s a whole Esther generation right here and now and it is us. Who come broken Who are done being defeated by fear and worry and stress Because it advertises the unreliability of God Who want hard and Holy things because we want more than hallow lives A life more than self focus and cell phones More than iPhones, iTunes and iLove Who want a life of loving the least, the lonely, and the lost There is a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us Who are done with easy Who know that being like Christ and caring for the poor in body and soul Means more than just caring about easing our consciences It means living real sacrifice There is a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us Who say now is the time for the faith brave To sky dive and fly To remember that we don’t have to strive to be anyone To stop taking issue with what God made To accept that our perfect God makes no mistakes There’s a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us To take the weight we carry on our backs And offer it back to the savior who already carried the weight of the world on his shoulders Who surrender Who lay out alabaster hopes and dreams at the feet of our Savior There is a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us Who will no longer look for peace in opinions But to find our solid ground in the truth There are many tomorrows to face But today, lets open our hearts and our wounds and our stories To the great story teller That our lives may be chiseled by His pen That we may BELIEVE and LOVE and PRAY and FIGHT and REST and LIVE!
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