I Don’t Know Who I’d be if I Didn’t Have You

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Lauren Daigle’s song of this title is hitting the Spotify radio rotation pretty regularly. 

I disagree with the title, however, as I know exactly who I am without Christ as the center of my life. 

I’ve lived many years with the person who attempted to live without Christ and he isn’t someone great to hang out with. And I am so thankful that today I do know who I can be when Christ is invited in daily. 

As I reflect on that this morning, I’m glad to see where I’ve come from - in recovery it is often easy to compare against another and be discouraged as to where I think I should be. More and more, however, I’m learning the importance of being present in the moment, asking God “who do You need me to be right now? Who needs me? This removes the comparison and puts my heart and God’s Love at the center of my world, leaving little room for anything else. 

So many stories on the Unashamed Unafraid podcast walk us through who we are without our Older Brother guiding us. 

When I don’t feel very inspired, my prayer can be “God, help me see others as You see them. Help me to love them as You love them.” Following this prayer with a list of everything I’m thankful for has yet to fail me. 

God never fails me and when I approach Him with an open heart and I am willing to put all my garbage, self-doubt, anxiety, fears, procrastination, inaction, and other weaknesses on the mental altar, Christ takes my mess and helps me to be a part of His message. 

My prayer for you today is to find out who you can be with Christ at your center. 

What Next? 

  • Take a moment and ask God who you can reach out to. Go with the very first picture of a person or name that comes to mind, or however you get inspired. Yes, you may think “anyone but that person” or “they are too busy for me” or a number of other prompts that don’t come from God.

  • Pick up your phone and call or shoot a text or drop by their house. Just do something immediately. Nothing may happen. A lot may happen. But you won’t know until you try it.

By Pete, Writing Team

"No I'm not! I'm Noah!"

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Through my study of scripture, stoicism, and most recently, the book "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz, the concept of "not taking things personally" has surfaced time and again over the past several years.

Like many truths that God has highlighted in my life, I initially dismissed it, believing it wasn't a problem for me. After all, I have thick skin and enjoy bantering and joking around with friends, even at my own expense. However, as this concept kept coming up, I felt compelled to delve deeper.

Another concept that recently resonated with me is the idea of an "inner circle," mentioned in books like "Own Your Past, Change Your Future" by Dr. John Delony. It suggests that there are a select few people in our lives whom we trust to truly know us, care for us, and guide us. Upon examining the "Don't take things personally" idea closely in my own life, I realized that at times, I grant the people in my inner circle the power to offend me.

This is something that has and can stall my recovery. This realization is challenging because I struggle to comprehend how it could be possible not to take offense in such situations.

Not too long ago, I found myself around a campfire with some friends, sharing our hearts. The topic of not taking things personally came up, and a comment caught my attention: A friend shared that he had been in situations where someone in his inner circle was invalidating him. However, he managed to adopt an outside observer's perspective and feel compassion for the person, and surprisingly, not take offense. He had developed enough self-awareness and confidence to recognize that such instances often reveal more about the other person or situation than about himself.

Another friend then shared a story that resonated with this concept. His young nephew, brimming with confidence, would respond to light-hearted jokes or even compliments by emphatically saying, "No, I'm not. I'm Noah!" Regardless of the comment, whether it was "You're a little prankster!" or "You're a great ball player!", the response remained the same: "No, I'm not. I'm Noah!"

That simple phrase solidified the concept for me. Now, I have hope that when confronted with a situation where I could take things personally, I can step aside, observe the circumstance, and remind myself, "No, I'm not. I'm Ty!" By bringing the truth of who I really am into situations where my worth is being questioned, I hope to gain the ability to analyze the situation accurately, avoid taking it personally, and perhaps even find opportunities for personal growth or offering compassion. No matter what happens, this feels like a step forward in my recovery.

What Next?

  • Study and truly embrace the truth that you are good and loved unconditionally

  • Get excited about the possibility of life without offense

  • Study the closely-related topic of setting boundaries

By Ty, Writing Team



Walls of Jericho

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Recently when contemplating the story of the battle of Jericho, I pondered what those Israelites may have thought when they were instructed to follow a process of marching around the walls every day, for six days, then seven times on the seventh day. Don’t you think they wondered how and if this process would work? Do you think it seemed fruitless to them? I can just hear the complaints, “Why are we doing this?”, “Oh I am so tired“, ”I don’t have time for this“, ”This won’t work.” Yet we know enough of them followed the pattern outlined by the Lord. They worked the process, and the walls came tumbling down.

I see many parallels to recovery in this story. I have heard myself or others say, “I’ve tried this and this doesn’t work”, “I don’t have time (for meetings, for therapy, for reading, for the work)” or “I am tired of trying!”

The work of recovery isn’t as quick and often not as black and white as the walls of Jerico falling but can certainly be as miraculous. Likely it will be incremental with progress and setbacks. For me, I know that it is a continuous process of applying the tools and resources, then coming back to them when I find myself off track. But the end result is miraculous.

The walls didn’t fall the first day; nor did they on the second, but they fell after the prescribed process. The process the Israelites were instructed to follow was rigorous, it required a lot of work, endurance and trust in the Lord. Your prescribed process for recovery will be unique to you, but the persistence, working, and most importantly the trust in God is not unique.

You’ll often hear it said in a recovery meeting, “keep coming back, it works if you work it, so work it because you’re worth it!”

What next?

Identify something you did in the past that was helpful to you that you gave up on and try it again.

By Nicole, Writing Team