My Language: Thoughts from Josh Brown of Day of Fire

Written by Josh Brown
September 2007 devotional for HM Magazine.com

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

Tuff, you think you've got the stuff
You're telling me and anyone you're hard enough
You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches for you tonight
Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone

...these words by Bono.

There is a fear that lives in all of us. We fear trusting people. It's not easy to trust people who can hurt you. Once you've been hurt, you develop a thick skin and a "Survivorman" mentality. Like Les Stroud or Bear Grylls, you'll do whatever it takes to not get hurt again. It becomes habit and then a lifestyle. You fight the elements of the wilderness alone. It gets cold and lonely in the wilderness. If you stay out there too long it can get dangerous. Without proper training, you can get lost or even die from starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, or an animal attack.

I've spent much of my life trying to survive alone. Though I have a caring family, loving friends, and a multitude of people that willingly give guidance in my life, fear often gets the best of me. At the core of my being, I am still afraid that if anyone knew how truly frightened, confused, lost or lonely I feel inside, they would stone me or leave me for dead.

I don't want to die in the wilderness. I have come to realize that if I'm ever going to make it out of this life alive, I'm going to have to trust somebody. I'm going to have to trust that God does His work through people. Whether they hurt or help me, God can teach me through them.

Jesus is a shepherd, savior, friend, father, and brother. I must allow Him to be these things to me through other people, and when someone hurts me, I must become the same to them.

Remember you are not alone in your loneliness.

Prayer:

Father, help me to let You into my life through Your people.
Help me to trust You and to trust others.
Help me to connect with the people You have put in place to guide me through this wilderness.

Verses: Psalm- 34:4
Psalm- 34:17-19
Listen to : "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" by U2

Previous devotionals:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August

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