Unshaken

I'm overcoming food issues, control, and I'm healing from racial trauma, my name is Cheryl. Hey, family, how you doing? You having a good time? It's been good, hasn't it? You know, we've been praying for you guys and trusting that God will meet your need as you walk through this week. We've been praying that you would have the rest that you need because you're getting a lot of information. We're praying that the Lord will meet you right where you are and provide you with what you need for the day. And He does that, doesn't He? He's so good. He's so good. You know, several years ago, I was in California and we were taping for, okay, Callie? We were taping for a Celebrate Recovery series and my phone kept buzzing. We were in the room before you go to the room to record and my phone kept buzzing and I didn't look at it and finally I thought, I bet you this is my sister. She's always bothering me when I'm trying to do something. And finally, I looked at the phone and I was shocked, actually I was shook. I was shook. I received a screenshot of a portion of my father's will and it read, "I have intentionally excluded my daughter, Cheryl Luke, as a beneficiary." And you know, what's interesting about that is I had done work through recovery to forgive my father and if you know any of my story, you know, my father had a family on the other side of town and he left us for those four kids that he had with another woman and he left my mom who was sick with four children. And so I had to work through the issues that come with abandonment and God brought me through that. Then years later, I'm sitting in California recording and I get this text and it felt like I had to forgive him and do some work all over again because I felt angry.

I felt hurt. I felt betrayed. I began to think through some of the things that we walked through as a family because he left us with nothing. You know what I mean? So we're gathered in that room and I had to figure out how do I deal with this? There's no going to him to reconcile because he had passed. So I couldn't have a conversation with him. And there's no way for me to ask questions regarding what he had done and by the way, this was in 2000, this was about three years ago, that Will was written in the 90s, which dates me a little bit, in the early 90s. So I had done work, reconciled with him, not knowing that he'd already disowned me. So that was a layered bit of work that I had to do, you know what I mean? That was hard. You know, some moments don't just change your circumstance. Some of those moments rock you to your core and I promise you, I was shook and then I had to go record after reading that. But have you ever experienced something that shook you, that rocked you to your core and you had to move on? One of the greatest paradoxes of the Christian life is learning to live in the tension of where freedom and Christ and the realities of hardship coexist. Christ has truly set us free, and that's not a future promise, it's a present day reality. We've been set free from the penalty of sin, we've been set Jesus never presented those two realities as contradictions. In fact, he said, in this world, you will have trouble in my way. Anybody know that song? I have to cry sometimes. This promise carries particular weight because Jesus offered these words to his disciples knowing that he was just about to die. He was about to face the reality of death as a human. He was looking at these men sitting with him, and he said, in this world, you will have trouble. Can you imagine, in the back of his mind, what he was thinking, I've got some trouble coming. I'm going to have to walk a road, but I'm going to have to share with these folks that are sitting

with me that in this world, you'll have trouble. This promise carries particular weight, but Jesus embodied that truth, knowing exactly what weighted him. This statement was grounded in the certainty that the cross would not have the final say. And he didn't stop there. He said, take heart, for I have overcome the world. He said the words before he rose from the grave, take heart, for I have overcome the world. Those words were more than encouragement. They're an invitation to face hardship through the certainty of his victory. The cross would appear to be defeat, but the resurrection would reveal God's purposes, can never be shaken. Take heart is a call to shift our posture when circumstances tempt us to despair. Take heart represents active resistance against despair, calling believers to trust and hold firm when abandoning our faith feels natural. It can face courage in the face of danger. I don't know what you're walking through in life today. I don't know what your world looks like. Sickness, disappointment, family, disillusionment, take heart. In the face of despair, we have the privilege to know that that isn't the end of our story. And sometimes we get in these situations where we're shook and we can't see beyond the circumstance. So we view God and his purpose for us through the lens of our issue. And that's not what he called us to do. He called us to take heart. Although you're in despair, although life is rough, although you're hurting, I have overcome the world. Your story is not troubling my way. I have to cry sometimes. You know what the rest of that song says? Jesus, he will fix it. When does anybody know when? Come on now. Jesus will fix it after a while. The decisive victory has already been won. That changes everything. It reframes suffering, it reframes struggle, not because our circumstances immediately change, because how often do our circumstances change quickly? Very rarely. But because our place in the narrative of God's story will change. As followers of Christ, we live in an interesting place in God's history. Theologians often describe this as living in the already and the not yet. Christ has already won the victory, but we're still waiting for that day when every tear will be wiped from our eye. You know, we have real freedom and we still live in a world that's not been fully restored. That means freedom and suffering coexist side by side, but we have a hope that the world knows nothing about. So if you've ever wondered, why is life still so hard if Jesus has set me free? Has anybody asked that question? Or am I the only one?

The end. The answer is that we're living in the tension of the kingdom of God. We're living in the tension of the already and the not yet. Christ has already secured our freedom, but we're still awaiting the day when He'll make all things new. Freedom doesn't remove us from the human experience. It transforms the way we live through it. It transforms our relationship with it. It transforms the way we walk through it. You know, a misconception we can have as followers of Christ is believing that freedom means life will stop being so hard. I know I've asked these questions. If I just grew enough, if I read my Bible more, if I were nicer to the person sitting next to me, if I just worked my steps, or if I didn't quit working my steps, if I'd become more spiritually mature, but that's not the promise of the gospel. The promise of the gospel is, in this life, you will have trouble, but I have overcome the world. And again, He doesn't say that you might have trouble. He doesn't say if you will, show enough. Show enough. Can you say show enough? You know, Jesus names the reality before He offers hope. And as I was thinking about this, it piqued my interest because, again, I keep going back to the picture in my mind of Him

sitting at that table or sitting with His disciples wherever they were and Him knowing that His crucifixion was looming. It was right before Him. And of course, He knew the end of the story, but He was a man. And He had to walk through all of that. How did He get those words out of His mouth? In this world, world, you will have trouble. I would love for you to take a moment and just think about that. You're about to walk through something very dangerous, life-threatening, and you're sitting with your children, you're sitting with your team, and you have to look them in the eyes and say, you know what? In this life, you're going to have trouble knowing that you're about to have to walk a walk. That will leave you physically dead, that you're going to have to walk through danger, that you're going to have to walk through pain. And then the next words that come out of your mouth are, take heart, have courage. Don't worry about it. I have overcome the world. That's our hope, family. I can call you family. That's our hope. In the midst of trial, in the midst of pain, in the midst of struggling with the thing that you're struggling with, He sees you. He knows. Nobody else might know. But He sees you.

He's saying to you today, take heart, for I have overcome the world. It's not over. You know, some of us may be facing terminal illness. And I do believe He's saying, take heart, for I have overcome the world. This isn't it for you. This isn't the end of your story. And I don't know what your story looks like in terms of this life on Earth. But I know that He died on the cross. He took that walk so that we can live, so that we can have a hope that goes beyond our circumstance. And I wasn't going here. But what I'm feeling right now is that there is someone here. And I know that it's more than one someone. You don't know what you're going to do. My challenge to you in this moment is to remember that He said these words, take heart. I've overcome the world. And though there may be trouble in your way, trouble in my way, and though you might have to cry sometimes, Jesus, He will fix it. He'll fix it. It's what He does. You know, when I go back and think about that moment, when I got that text. as I looked up, guess who I saw, Mary Owen. Mary Owen.

And I was like, "Mary, look at this, look at this mess." You know what she did? And she probably doesn't even remember. We prayed. We prayed. And that's what I needed in that moment. That's what I needed in that moment. You know, throughout Scripture, we see the same pattern. Israel was delivered from Egypt. They were promised of deliverance, but they had to walk through the valley. They had to walk through the wilderness. Joseph was favored by God. Remember, he had all those dreams, and he went to his brother and he was like, "Brah, you gon' serve me." Yet, he endured betrayal and slavery and imprisonment. David was anointed as king at a young age. You see his life? Also, do you see what a mess David was? Just like you and me. He ran for his life. Elijah was used by God. And he battled fear and despair. Paul was set free in Christ, but he had to endure prison and beatings and hardship. And again, Jesus, who lived in perfect obedience, walked the road to the cross on our behalf. So the pattern in the Bible isn't freedom equals no suffering. It equals freedom equals faithfulness, God's faithfulness in the midst of suffering. That's why I want us to understand something today. Freedom doesn't remove pain. It changes who walks through it with us. It changes our relationship with it.

The gospel doesn't remove us from the human experience. It transforms the way we live through it. Jesus doesn't promise the absence of trouble. He promises us his presence in the midst of it. He gives us his peace and he promises victory and that changes everything, doesn't it? So if pain is inevitable and according to Jesus it is, the question is no longer how do we remain free when pain still hurts because that's where the rest of our journey begins. The question is how do we remain free when life is hard? How do we remain free when life is hard? Scripture gives us the answer and it's not by acting like it's not difficult. This is what I love about Celebrate Recovery. We have a place to go where we can talk about what's going on in our lives, where we can talk about the pain, where we can talk about the trouble, where we can offer hope to one another. That's gospel. But we get to return again and again when there's trouble to what's true. So when we're trying to survive, it's difficult to remember. But remembering helps us return to what's true. I am reminded in Psalm 77 of Asaph. He was overwhelmed and he questions whether God had forgotten him. But everything changed when he remembered, it said I will remember the deeds of the Lord. His circumstances may not have changed. His perspective shifted. And then Jeremiah in the book of lamentation. In the middle of Israel's devastation, Jerusalem had fallen. The people were grieving and yet he says the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. In the midst of his pain, in the midst of devastation, his mercies never come to an end. They're new every morning. The Lord is my portion. Therefore, I have hope in him.

Isn't that beautiful? The Lord is good to those who fear him, who wait on him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly. I don't know about that quietly. It's good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? Hope wasn't found by escaping reality. It came by remembering who God is. Pain tempts us to draw conclusions about God based on our circumstances. He doesn't love me because I'm going through this. causes us to interpret our circumstances. amnesia. We forget his character. We forget who we are sometimes when life is difficult. We forget his promises, but through scripture, God invites his people to remember. Remembering is more than recalling facts. It's intentionally returning to the truth. And again, if you know me, I have a terrible sense of direction. I was walking through the room over here and they said, "Turn right." And in my mind, I think I have a 50/50 chance. I'm turning this way. I don't know my right from my left. And it was wrong. But I have a terrible sense of direction. And GPS was built for people like me. And I tell my family, "If you tell me to go somewhere, I'm going to give it three chances. Even with the GPS. And if I'm by that third time, if I'm not right, I'm going home." GPS or not. If my GPS tells me to turn right, and again, it says 50/50 chance, I got to look at the picture. And I decide there's a better way. It doesn't argue with me. It doesn't shame me. It reroutes me. It reorientes me. It recalculates and begins to lead me to that perfect route. I think this is a beautiful picture of what remembering does. Pain causes us to lose our bearing. Fear, grief, disappointment, and uncertainty can take us off course. But intentionally remembering doesn't change where you've been, but helps us remember what's true. When we're overwhelmed, we don't always need more information. Right? We need reorientation. We need to be reoriented. That's why remembering is such a significant practice in Scripture. God isn't giving His people new truth as much as He is inviting them to return to what's true. Return to what we already know. Over the years, I've noticed a simple rhythm that's helped me to do that. And it's not a formula.

It's more of a rhythm. And it has five steps. And I call it the rule of remembering. And we will have a QR code, I believe, that you can look at that will have these five steps and the scriptures that are associated with it. But the first step in that process is to pause. Now, some of us don't pause. We panic before we pray. But when life is hard, I want to challenge you to take this first step and pause. Don't react. Look at what's happening around you. Become aware of your surroundings. Take a pause. Psalm 4610 says, "Be still and know that I am God." You know, the pattern sometimes is this, and it should be, before we act, we should wait on God. Before you act or react, wait on God. The second step is remember. This is where we remember what's true. After you've taken the time to take a beat and pause, look at your surrounding. Remember what's true. And this is where we return to God's character before we really interpret our circumstance. You know, as I was preparing this talk, I took inventory of my life and I kept looking at last year and the year before that and the year before that. And before I realized that I'd gone back ten years. And the last ten years have been rough. And it's felt like a black cloud has had just followed me wherever I went. And I had to, I found myself having to make myself show up. You ever been there? I found myself having to make myself be real. I found myself even if I had to preach, I had to pull from the reservoir of my past because I had to remember who God, how good God was because it didn't feel like he was being good to me over the last ten years. You been there? I had to think about the prayers of my parents, my mother from the past. I had to remember how she would believe God for change and that it would happen. I remember when we were a little, when I was very little. My father had left. My mom had cancer. We didn't have food. And we woke up one morning and there I asked my mom the night before, what are we going to eat? I needed to know what we were going to eat. We woke up that next morning and there was food on our doorstep. You know, my momma did gave half of it away. I was like, girl, no, you did not just do that. But the Lord always provided. But I found myself as I looked at the last 10 years,

I had to remember the goodness of God and he'd been faithful to me. Even when it felt like that black cloud was following me, he was present. He was with me in it. You know, there's a song. I hope I can hit this note right. All my life, you have been faithful. All my life so good in every prayer I will sing of the goodness of God. Listen, I love you, Lord, all my days. I've been held in your hand from the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God, a second verse. I love your voice. Listen to these words. You have led me through the fire in darkest nights. Your voice like no other. My father, I know you as a friend. I have lived in the goodness of God. All my life, you have been faithful. And all my life, you have been so, so good in every prayer I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life, all my life. All my life. Yes, you have, yes, you have. All my life, you have been so, so good in every prayer I will sing of the goodness of God. You think I'm going to do that other part? Goodness is good girl.

Yes, it is, your goodness running after. Yes, sir, everything, your goodness. Running out on my life, and all my life, you've been faithful, Jesus. All my life, you have been so, so good. Yes, you have, very good time in me. I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God, I will sing of God one more time, I will sing of the goodness. He's a good God, isn't he? He's a good God. And that's my testimony, that's my testimony. because I couldn't get my life together. I was riding in the car the other day with you, Sheila. And you said this to me. When things are falling apart, they might actually be falling into place. (audience laughing) (audience applauding) And sometimes, family it takes, remembering. Because it feels like life is difficult day after day, after day, after day, after day, and you just can't catch a break. Or you just can't catch your breath. But I'm here to tell you that we have this presence of God that remains with us when life is difficult. This presence that remains with us, when it seems like all is gone, but he's with you, he will never leave you, he will never leave you alone. And you know what else he does?

Somehow, he gives us the ability to get up every day and face that dark cloud that seems to be traveling with you wherever you go, and then one day you're gonna look up and you're gonna go, where is that cloud? (audience laughing) Where is that cloud? She gone. (audience laughing) That cloud is gone, y'all. It's gone, and that's my testimony. Remembering, so first, we pause. Second, we remember. This third one is an issue for me too, so you just gotta ride with me, rest. Who has time to rest when things aren't going right? (audience laughing) We have things to fix, don't we? The question with rest is, where is God inviting me to trust him when things aren't right? How am I showing up to trust God in the midst of this trouble? Remembering God's faithfulness allows us to rest in his presence, and I found, you know, singing is good for me. I don't know what's good for you, but singing is good for me because I come from a family of musicians, and so if life isn't good for me, if I can just get a song, I can remember who he is, I can put my clothes on and I can start the day, and I can still pull from the reservoir of my past of his goodness and present it. The primary scripture for this is Matthew 1128 through 30.

And I have this one in the message translation, it says, are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion, come to me. Get away with me, and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest, walk with me, and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. Isn't that awesome? Doesn't that take you to a place of resting in him? Resting in his presence? And the next is reach out, and the question I would ask with that is, who can walk with me through this? This is one I have a problem with, because if I'm in trouble, your girl's gonna isolate. I don't want anybody in my business. I don't want anybody to know. I wanna present like all as well, and I'm dying on the inside. And I have a community of people who can walk with me through this, but I don't want you to know. I have a God who is present with me, but I'm not taking it to him yet. I wanna isolate. I wanna be with myself, I wanna figure it out. I know I'm not the only one. You know what I had to do, because this is an issue for me.

I had to put a system in place where my friends, I had to give them permission if I didn't return a text, or a call after so many times, they had permission to come to my house and knock on my door. They have permission to call my family. And that's hard for me. I bet you if this text means that I'm on my way, I'll pick up that phone and say, "No, no, no, no, no, I'm good. I'm good, I'm good." (audience laughing) I'm good. It's all good. Ecclesiastes 4 says, "Two people are better off than one." If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Two people lying close together can keep each other warm. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated. But two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better. For a triple braided cord is not easily broken. We need each other, y'all. We were created for community. Freedom flourishes in community. If pain has a way of distorting our perspective, one of the first things it often tempts us to do is step away from people. We convince ourselves that we don't want to be a burden, that people won't understand, that I'm the only one, nobody knows, right? It's the truth.

Oh, y'all know the song, you singing, right? Nobody knows the truth. They can't, they just won't, they can't. I'm in this alone, or I'll figure it out on my own. Pain has a way of whispering lies that sound like wisdom. Think about an ember taking out of a fire. If it doesn't stay warm long enough, it slowly grows cold. In the same way isolation slowly cools our hope, our courage and our perspective. And the enemy knows something. Isolation amplifies what God designed community to help carry. Isolation amplifies what God designed community to help carry. Isolation amplifies what God designed community to help carry. We weren't created to carry lives burdens alone. We need each other. And community doesn't remove our pain. Community reminds us that we're not in it alone. And sometimes God's presence is experienced through community. And the last is respond, so we have, let me go back. Pause, remember, rest, reach out and respond. The question to ask is, what is my next faithful step? Because we can respond on our own and ask ourselves, what's the next step? But the real question is, what is my next faithful step? Because I've got to bring God into the mix. I've got to seek His face.

I've got to allow the Holy Spirit to speak truth to me and tell me, do I go right or do I go left? And then Holy Spirit, which way is left? Because I don't know my left or my right. We've got to listen. Faithfulness is usually the next step, not the entire journey, it's the next step. And isn't it just like God not to give us the full picture? Because my brother, you would mess it up if you knew. You'd be like, I'm not going that way. That doesn't make sense. Right? What's the next faithful step? Psalm 119 says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. These steps should be available on, there should be a QR code that you can get these steps on. And I really think if we pause, if we remember, if we reach out, if we rest, I know they're not in order, and if we respond, we'll find God, we'll give us what we need to endure that season of hard. You know, there comes a point where we've paused, where we've remembered, where we've rested, and we've reached out, and we've taken the next step, and yet things haven't changed. Some prayers aren't answered quickly, and I know we all know that. In some prayers, it takes years to overcome. You know, I really didn't know until I looked back how difficult the last 10 years have been, and I do believe it's because of the goodness of God

that kept me during that time, and because I was able to have people walk with me. I was able to have a Mary be right next to me and pray for me, or a Sheila to remind me that things sometimes don't fall apart, they fall into place. She said that, and I'm like, where's my book? I need to put that in my notes for tomorrow, right? difficult times until we look back and see, "Lord, you were with me. You were there all along." So I want to say to you, my brother or sister, who feels alone, I want to say to you who's the one who's struggling with a habit that nobody knows about. You're not in this alone. In fact, we're in it with you. We are in it with you. And the beauty of this ministry is that you do not have to keep that to yourself. You don't have to keep it. This is the safest place to share the thing that you don't want no one to know about. I said this at the beginning. As followers, we live in a unique place in God's story. We still live between Christ's resurrection and His return, that place of the already and not yet. Death has lost its final victory. The tomb is empty, yet life is hard. We live in a world longing for redemption. We wait for the day when every tear will be wiped away. When Christ will make all things new, Paul tells Timothy if we are faithless, he remains faithful because his faithful is not rooted. His faithfulness is rooted in his character. He doesn't become faithful. He is and always has been faithful. We live between, again, Christ's resurrection and His return in this already secured freedom. Yet we still live in this broken world. Our hope is not that life will stop shaking us. Our hope is that God cannot be shaken. He cannot be shaken. So I want to go back to that text where my father disowned me. It hurt. It grieved me. It shook me. It wasn't something that I prayed for. It wasn't something that I could address with him. But here is what I discovered. That moment didn't define me. I have to tell you, that jacked me up for a moment because I'm like, again, and you're not even here and you're messing with me. You understand what I'm saying? It rocked me a little bit. But it didn't change God's character. And it didn't even change the fact that I had to go. I think we went upstairs and share God's truth. And I knew it was true, even though I was facing a difficult moment. I was still preaching the truth,

sharing the truth of his word. He doesn't change. Shaken doesn't mean. Unshaken doesn't mean that we're not touched. We go through difficulties in life. I want to take a moment now and take you through that exercise of remaining when life is hard. Is that okay? This isn't a formula. I call it a rhythm. It's a way to remain grounded in Christ when things are unresolved. So it's pause. What's happening? We take a breath. Remember what's true? What about God? Do I need to hold on to? Rest? Where is God inviting me to trust him? Reach? Who do I need to invite in this journey and respond? What is the next faithful step? Think about those words. Think about it. If you're not going through something, think about a situation. If you're walking through something, I'd love to ask you this question. Which of these practices do you tend to skip? Or which of these practices comes least naturally to you? Pause. Remember. Rest. Reach. Respond. When you realize which step it is, will you raise your hand? Now, will you do me a favor and turn to one or two people and share that step with them and share why you feel that that's the step you don't identify with? And I can give you an example. Mine is rest. I don't identify with rest. So just take a few minutes and share with a person next to you. Which one do you skip and why? [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] Okay, can I have your attention? No part of saying free is learning to tell the truth in community, which is what we just did. Sometimes we need to say out loud, this is where I need God to strengthen me. In a moment, we're going to close with a corporate declaration. Throughout scripture and throughout history, the history of the church God's people have declared truth together. They recite the shema, they sing songs, they confess their faith, they testify to God's goodness. Public declaration helps form a people because we're not only reminding ourselves what's true, we're reminding one another. So as we declare these words together, this is not a performance, it's a remembrance, it's faith. This is the people of God standing together saying life may not shake us, life may shake us but it cannot shake the faithfulness of God. This is the confession of God's faithfulness, let's say this together.

Today, we remember what is true, hold on a minute, will you stand up with me? And then as the kids say, will you say it with your whole chest? Today, we remember what is true. We remember that Jesus has overcome the world. We remember that our freedom is secured through his death and resurrection and our hope rests in his unchanging character. We remember that the God is faithful to Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles and the church throughout every generation remains faithful today. When life is hard, we will return to what is true. We will remember God's character, trust his promises, rest in his presence, remain connected to his people and take the next faithful step places before us. Amen. Thank you guys. (Applause) (applause)