rebelling against low expectations
More frequently than I’d like to admit, I get stuck in the comparison game. I wonder: Am I as good as them? Why did this happen to me? Why can’t I have that? Unchecked, this kind of thinking is destructive. Yet, comparing ourselves to others is one of the easiest things to do. Opportunities are everywhere, especially when we have little devices in our pockets that provide instant updates on all...
When I was a kid, it was not uncommon for me to go to the grocery store with my mom dressed up as Jesus. My Jesus costume was one of my favorites, but my Batman costume was pretty good too. This costumed-shopping was a weekly or bi-weekly routine: I would find a new picture or see a new character on a show that I just had to become. Tunnel vision would set in. This was the guy. I would excitedly...
I was born into a culture that coddles teenagers, so I forget that many of the people God used for his purposes were my age. Daniel was a youth when Nebuchadnezzar captured him. His three friends–Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego–were likely teenagers when they refused to exalt the king’s idol. I’m eighteen and I’ve never been kidnapped. I’ve never been forced to defy my God. I’ve never...
Have you ever thought about how often God asks us to do something . . . without providing the means to complete it beforehand? Recently, at church, one of the deacons brought my attention to the many times God set his subjects to a task without giving them the means to complete it beforehand. Usually when God asks something, he sends his help while we’re working. In other words, he provides...
When people learn my dad is in the military, one of their first questions is, “How often have you moved?” This question immediately stops me, not only because I have to count–now up to seven–but also because it brings to mind memories of every place I’ve lived. I can almost see my friends, my schools, and my homes–all left behind in places to which I’ll probably never return...
Recently, a friend reminded me of a song, “Are You Adorning The Doctrine?” by C. S. Naylor. And that song convicted me. Am I adorning the doctrine? I’m not talking about doctrine as in words of various theologies we as Christians hold on to. I’m talking about doctrine as devotion to God. As Christians, we need to be so devoted to God that when “the world looks upon [us], nothing but Christ is in...
Editor’s Note: Recently, a young lady named Kat sent us this question. We loved her question and passion for Christ so much that Sara, our lead editor, wrote an article in response. We hope Kat’s story and the ideas listed below inspire you to do hard things and change the world around you! I first found out about the Rebelution when my mom gave my brother a book called “Do Hard Things...
I was an atheist. This is my story. Angry, Uncertain, and Insecure Junior year of high school. I’m an ardent atheist–but not a satisfied one. Having walked away from the church years earlier, I had embroiled myself in an eating disorder, and struggled deeply with self-image, destructive thoughts, and obsession with food. I had gone through an unhealthy attachment that shattered my values...
There are two things that seem to fly out of everyone’s mouths when they hear that you’re struggling–read the Bible and pray. Surely those are the most obvious answers, and they’re genuinely the best suggestions. Right? But for some reason, those answers can still feel empty. They can still feel hollow. How will reading a book, or talking to someone that I can’t hear help me with this...
I’d love to travel on a sailboat. To hang out over the railing, the wind whipping the rigging, flying fast and free over the foamy blue. Sun, salt, and sea-spray lightening the red of my hair, utterly unbridled joy and excitement. This water-daughter has lived most her life by the sea, and would love to sail upon it, to reach glorious lands yet unknown (at least to me). And in a way, that’s what...
rebelling against low expectations
