A Good Name, Jehovah Nissi
Last Sunday the pastor started a series where he is talking about the names of God, and he talked to us about the name Jehovah Nissi, which means God is my standard. Now for those of you who don't know the standard was a banner that was raised and went ahead of the army in order to lead them into battle. So God is my banner means God is my Guide in battle.
These last few weeks I have talked to many young people and even a little older people and the common phrase was always, I feel LOST, I feel afraid of getting lost, I think I am lost, etc.
During the years when we were children we could say that we almost went hand in hand with our parents although it was not always like that our parents told us or authorized us to go everywhere. What activities we were going to do. Who we were going to hang out with. Etc.
Now, when we reach the point in our lives of these years, we begin to make important decisions and our parents no longer have much influence in these decisions. So to speak, we can walk on our own without anyone holding our hand. Our parents do not choose the career we choose in most cases, our parents do not choose the group of friends we are going to hang out with, our parents do not choose the person we like, and so on.
Now some here may know with a little more certainty where they are headed and where they are going in their lives and what decisions they are making. Some may be taking firm steps and some may not. But let me tell you something, and that is that we are certainly at the STAGE OF BEING LOST.
Tell the one next to you it's NORMAL TO BE LOST
When we walk in this stage of life everything is new. For example in the university: it is new to have to register for each subject, it is new to have different classmates for each subject, it is new to have to consult the bibliography for any doubts we may have. It is new to have theory classes and practical classes. Or in the case of working, it is something new to work, to have responsibilities, to manage the salary, to treat our coworkers well, etc.
And in new places it is very easy to get lost. When I first moved to San Lorenzo and I had friends there I kept getting lost and ended up walking too much.
In other words, it could be said that being in a new place is synonymous with getting lost many times.
There is a reality and that is that to be lost you have to be going somewhere, nobody gets lost at home. The problem is that at our age we are constantly going from place to place.
Now this is probably the big problem of all young people and it is the thought of I AM LOST, because everything is new and because we go from place to place, and I want to read you something that I wrote in my prayer notebook 4 years ago when I was only 21 years old:
21/05/2020
Where am I going? Where am I going God? What are you doing God? Isn't this age my story supposed to be different? A year ago when I met you I thought my life was going to be different, and I strived to follow you and I walked away from everything you asked me to do. But I feel like I haven't accomplished anything yet and I try and try to have the life I want to have and I don't get it. I want to feel your guidance God but I don't get it.
Now when I read this relatively recently I laughed.
To give you some context at that time we were in a pandemic. My dad had moved to Buenos Aires two years ago, he had married a woman from there so he left me in charge of my disabled sister. So it was something new for me to be the head of a family, to have to take care of a child that was not mine, to work, to study. I didn't really see any fruits in my life. Although I was doing well in college, I still had a year and a half to go before I graduated. In a career in which I did not see myself working at all.
The feeling of being lost is something ugly, it generates panic, it generates the feeling that we are not in control, it generates the thought that we will never reach our destination. That we will have to send a message to that person who is waiting for us that we are not going to arrive or that we will be super late because we got lost.
Because I like to equate it with sending a message to someone to let them know we got lost.... And because I say that I laughed when I read this that I wrote in my prayer notebook. Because what I wrote was not for God but for the person who was waiting for me.....
And who was that person? Well... a Julian who imagined that at the age of 23 he was going to live alone, that he was going to graduate, that he was going to be able to do what he wanted and enjoy life. A controlling and capricious person who was very upset when things didn't turn out the way he expected. A person who believed that his value was the goals he could achieve. I was writing to that person: -Euuu our fear of things not going as planned are being fulfilled. All wrong my friend you don't reach the goal.
Tell the person next to you that you are NOT REACHING YOUR TARGET.
Sounds ugly, isn't?
Ways to Get Lost
Now we already talked about the fact that being lost generates panic, it generates this feeling that we do not reach our destination and that we will have to say to that person: - hey, look, I got lost-. But I would also like to clarify that there are two ways to get lost.
One is going to places that seem to be the right destination but that lead us to get lost. And the other is, as when we are children, letting go of our parents' hand and losing sight of them.
Go to Wrong Places
When I was a teenager I used to run after empty goals, to be one of the most popular, to be the coolest, the one who always made jokes, the one who always went out partying on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, etc. I wanted to get my degree so I could always go out with my friends and live a life of uncontrolled. And although I later met the Lord and moved away from that life, I kept running after other destinations that were just as empty. I want to live alone so no one bothers me, I want to have money so I can have all the luxuries I want. I always want to have a good time. See how lost I was. I was going to destinations that I BELIEVED were good and right but I wasn't going to the right destination I was just running to roads that the world thought were right. I was not feeling well, as I read, I was tired, I was overwhelmed, and this feeling of euuu where am I going, this feeling of euuu I feel lost, I feel I am not getting to the destination was present.
Letting Go of Our Heavenly Father's Hand
But also notice that at that time he was letting go of God's hand and had lost sight of Him. At that time, even though I knew the Lord, I had really lost sight of who He was, I had stopped holding His hand and walking together with Him. Like a child who is at the crowded beach and wanders a bit away from the parents. I was so focused on following the right ways for me and for the world, which are a lot, that I really felt like a child lost on the beach among many people, because there were so many things to follow (like people on a beach) that it was difficult for me to see my heavenly father.
The Domino Effect of Getting Lost
Getting lost at any point is complicated and usually has a domino effect, for example in the university getting lost in a subject means that you may fail the partial therefore you are free therefore you lost a semester, therefore one more year of career that you are going to do therefore one more year without working and so on ...
And it is normal, if only all the paths were clear and certain. I wish
So I invite you to ask yourselves....
What is my destiny? Where do I want to go with all this? Are my actions leading me to the goal? Are my friends helping me get there? Do I really have peace with the things I do? Do I feel like I am lost? Do I feel like I am running after something? Because if I run at some point I will get tired. Do I feel like I'm running after someone? How many times have I accomplished something and felt that it didn't fulfill me?
Two girls receive the gospel
Yesterday I went to lunch with two friends, one of them was called Camila and she is 29 years old and she is still studying in college and when we finished eating we were walking downtown and we were chatting about our year because we had not seen each other for a long time, she started to cry because she had failed a final and she was very worried about the fact that she is 29 and she is still not graduating. And she said I wish I had achieved everything that Flor, my other friend who is 27 and is a lawyer and has been working for many years and has a car and a lot of money, and at that moment Flor started to cry together with Cami and told her friend that even though I have achieved all this I feel empty and I feel that I am LOST in life, I don't know where to go and I don't know if the place where I am is good for me. Imagine my face. There I was trying to cheer up both of us.
Well, Flor had apparently reached certain DESTINATIONS IN LIFE but she still felt lost. It is no coincidence that there are celebrities who have their lives figured out, they have a lot of money, recognition, no big worries, they are even some super cute. But still they suffer from depression and anxiety.
Conclusion
I was telling you that when I read what I wrote in that prayer notebook a few days ago I laughed because now years later that feeling of being lost is gone. And it was all thanks to the fact that after I wrote that I didn't move away from God but I sought Him more and more and I was able to understand something key. In the Bible one day the disciples asked him who he was and where he was going and he answered them:
John 14:6
I am the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to the Father except through me.
I am not saying that studying, wanting to prosper in life is a wrong or mistaken destiny or a path that is not worth walking. I am saying that this feeling of vertigo, this feeling of being lost will not go away if we do not believe in what Jesus left us in the Bible:
Jesus said I am THE WAY, that is to say, the fundamental way in our lives should be to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, to walk together with him, that he may be our faithful friend. To follow in his footsteps and enter into communion with him. Any path where you want to walk will not make sense if you do not first walk with Him.
Pero no solo dijo que es el camino, sino la verdad. Es decir que todo lo que EL dice es verdad, Dios en esencia no puede mentir, y todo en la biblia es cierto, es un hecho. Por ende aqui nos dice no solo soy el camino sino que tenes que CREER en que soy el camino correcto o verdadero con tu corazon porque es VERDAD, es una verdad absoluta, tenes que creer que Dios te ama, tu identidad tiene que ser la verdad de Dios, tu valor no puede depender de lograr llegar a ciertos destinos o metas en la vida que aparentan ser valiosos, pero que no son una verdad absoluta. A diferencia de lo que nosotros y el mundo nos dice sobre nosotros mismos, nuestro valor esta en que somos hijos amados De Dios y que valemos tanto para el que entrego a Jesus por nosotros.
Now Jesus did not say I am the way and the truth and end there. That is to say I am the true way. He ends by saying I am the LIFE. That is, I am the only true way that can make you live life!!!! All of us here have goals and objectives in our life but sooner or later we will feel this vertigo of being adrift if we do not accept and believe that following Jesus and believing in his truth is the only right path to follow to live a full life!
That's why I say I laughed when I read this recently because I was like Ahhh Julian stop making drama if the answer was simpleee. The answer was there in John 14:6 all this time, the answer you heard it 100's of times inside the church. But it wasn't enough to hear it many times but I had to live this verse. I had to start walking that path.
Creo que dijimos que es normal estar perdido unas 100 veces hoy, pero también hay una realidad con todo eso, cuando nos perdemos lo usual es pedir indicaciones, y podríamos pedirle a cualquiera quizas sepa como llegar al lugar o quizas no quizas nos mande para cualquier lado. Pero quiero dejarles una tranquilidad que esta en la biblia:
Isaiah 30:21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying: "This is the way; follow it".
It's OK to be lost from time to time, it will happen, but fortunately God will always be showing you the way you have to follow! He will always say to you: Hey, I know that you're a little bit lost, but it's this way! Come on! Follow me! I say this from my own experience. No matter how lost we are, he is always there behind us with his gentle whisper to tell us: my beloved son, it's this way. And unlike people He doesn't get tired, He doesn't give up, He is always there touching us and speaking directly to our heart telling us this is the way .....