Living Out The Psalms: Jon Foreman Of SWITCHFOOTنموونە

KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT [The video portion of this devotional is not available on your device. To view this video, visit your plan at www.Bible.com] Junior High is a difficult time to be alive. The challenges you face in Junior High might not be quite as lofty as the things you’ll face when your older, but the added dimension of not actually knowing who you are in Junior High leads me to believe that Junior High could possibly be one of the most difficult times to be a human on the planet. It is certainly one of those times where being yourself feels nearly impossible. I spent most of Junior High trying to be BB King. And it’s good to learn from the masters- we learn best by imitation. But imitation has its limitations. And the biggest thing that BB King taught me, even though we never met, is that I am not BB King. In Junior High I set out on a lifelong quest, trying to solve the question of identity: “Who am I? And how do I "be" myself?” Like a newborn child, real life comes painfully, awkwardly, and delicately. You think about any mother in a delivery room and you can begin to understand the struggle for existence. Your mom fought to bring you here. Your birth might have felt awkward and painful, but you were worth fighting for. Think of creation like a sculptor’s chisel carving away at the block to bring something new into being. In the same way, every day we hammer away at the world we’ve been given to bring something new into life. In fact, the argument could be made that a human being is most God-like when she is most creative. Every moment is a canvas waiting to come to life. The walls of this planet and the walls of your heart are still available to graffiti artists everywhere. There’s still room for redemptive, honest, hopeful colors. "Search me and know my heart, oh Lord." The Creator himself wants to refine you- preparing you to co-create within his eternal narrative of beauty and truth. This breath is your canvas and your brush. These are the raw materials for your art, for the life you are making. Nothing is off limits. Your backyard, your piano, your paintbrush, your conversation, Rwanda, New Orleans, Iraq, your marriage, your soul. Your body is your instrument for this life you've been given to sing. And just like an instrument, every one of us needs to be tuned. How do you tune for life? You eat well, you get some sleep, but, more importantly, you need to regularly check your tuning with a standard that's reliable. In a world of constant change, you need to find something absolute to tune to. This is paramount! Take time every day to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will know who you are and who you are not. You will know what is yours to change and what is yours to surrender. To be yourself is to know who God made you to be. It’s going to take self-examination. It's going to take time. But don't let anyone other than Your Maker tell you who you are. The Creator loves you and defines you as his beloved. That definition matters more than anyone else’s. Ask God to search you, to know your heart, to know your anxious thoughts, to test you, and to lead you forward. For more daily resources visit SWITCHFOOT.com )