I went to church for the first time in a while. I knew that I needed to go back, to be obedient, even when I wasn't feeling it. I knew that God would meet me if I were to start walking in that direction. And he did - I'm so thankful that Sunday was a day of revelation. This was a what I gleaned from it. Please forgive the lack of any kind of order. This is how my brain works. (A class with me is nightmarish if you like your routine/structure, hahaha...!)
This sermon was ironically about being hurt, carrying pain, getting rid of our pain and realizing that God pours into us so that we don't have to be our own gods.
We are all hurting people. Hurt people (subject) hurt (verb) people (object.) I wanted to clarify because that sounds like a strange sentence if you don't take those mental pauses. When we are wounded, if we continue to carry it around, we're only going to infect other people and kill ourselves. Stop the cycle of hurt. Don't lash out at others. If you need to talk, TALK, but to the right people. To those that will listen, love you, and not take advantage of your vulnerability. When you do find those people that will listen, thank them. It's exhausting listening. So much energy can be spent empathizing, and it usually goes unappreciated.
For those that do the listening: whatever your take in, you're going to get that same amount out. There is no magic spell that allows you to pull from this invisible cistern of energy, where, when you only gather a certain amount of love, peace, joy or whatever else you try and fill your life with, you will be able to give that exponentially. Here's a little visual for you:
Your life is this pipe. The amount you put in is the same amount you get out, like I said previously. If all that is going into you is strife, anxiety, worry, stress, pain, hurt, - anything negative, you will not harvest anything positive. You cannot make good from bad on your own. Salt and fresh water don't come from the same place.
If you try to give of yourself to others, ministering with all that you have and more, you will get burnt out. You will dry up. You are not infinite. You cannot sustain yourself and someone else. When you are being that listening ear for someone, that shoulder when they are bawling, you can't keep it together on your own. It just doesn't work that way.
Even if you aren't ministering to others or being there for them, and are trying your best to keep yourself in one piece - - - it STILL doesn't work. Maybe you're the only one you have to look after - you will fall to pieces anyway.
HOWEVER.
If you allow God to cut a hole in the pipe, and have his goodness flow into your life, you will be reaping more than what you've sown. Exhibit B:
This grace from God overcomes the pain and has the power to transform.
Minister only from your overflow. If you try and be everything to everyone, you will burn out. You will dry up. Don't try to be someone's savior. Let Jesus do that.
I'm done preaching tonight. I just felt I needed to get this down in writing. Not that these are my own words necessarily (this is a close summary of what I heard) but teaching is a way that I learn. I can fully comprehend and digest things when I'm telling what I've been told.
Goodnight, loved ones.
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