Anchoring Ourselves Between Here and There

As a kid, I exchanged letters back and forth with my grandmother who lived several hours away (how old fashioned, right?).

We've lost the art of hand-writing letters over the years, with the speed of email and text messages. 

But, there was just something about receiving a little envelope in the mail with my name on it. 

It felt so personal...a gift...and through those letters I carried on a conversation with my gramma, that went on and on, until she could no longer write. 

In those letters, I received, not just words, or advice, or comfort depending on what I'd talked about in my previous letter; but, she sent me a piece of her heart.

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It feels like we've been in a conversation that has kept us focused on Peter's first epistle.

Sometimes in the middle of a long conversation we need to pause and remember where we’ve been. 

So, you’re going to see a bit of review today from the last two weeks, because I don't want us to miss receiving a piece of Peter's heart for those he loves.

And, those people Peter loves? Well, they feel like they don’t quite belong anywhere (!!) — and honestly, that should be every one of us who claim to be a follower of Jesus.

It's simple, this world is NOT our home.

We’ve said it a few ways already:

• We are pilgrims, not settlers
• We will feel different (holy oddballs… social misfits)
• God never intended for us to fit in
• Our identity is exile — and strangely — that’s worth celebrating

Peter wrote to people living normal daily lives while carrying an abnormal identity: citizens of another Kingdom.

So, this will be our end goal: 

How do we keep walking through an ordinary world when we belong to an eternal one?

Thus far, Peter has instructed us to ANCHOR ourselves in three realities:

Our salvation
Our future home (obviously, heaven)
Our true identity

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Our Salvation

                                                                                                                                                                  

What a gift God has given us!

So massive the prophets strained to understand it.
They searched, studied, and inquired… but were told the fullness of grace wasn’t for them — it was for us.

Grace was their mystery; but it became our reality!

The mystery came to earth for us!

I honestly don’t think we’ll grasp the magnitude of salvation until we see Jesus face-to-face; but it’s important in the HERE, until we get THERE, to ponder it often.

Our Future Home

Heaven is not wishful thinking; it is a living hope.

And it’s not the gold streets or the pearly-white-gates that stir my heart with longing...

Two things do:

I will see Jesus — the One who stood in my place — and worship Him in person.

And every wrong in this world will finally be made right… and stay right forever.

Our True Identity

Salvation didn’t just rescue me — it redeemed me, transformed me, and renamed me -- 

beloved, chosen, restored, set free, daughter of the King...

But, as mentioned, MORE:

Set apart.
Different.
Holy.

(Which is why, we will never feel fully at home, because we live in an unholy world).

But, Peter tell us our immediate response to this is one that doesn't come naturally to any of us (and yet, it's something we can work on in the transition).

When we don't fit in: Rejoice. Jump for joy. Let it show...

Then he goes on with a P.S. 

“Oh, and by the way…

Don’t at all be surprised by suffering and hurt that comes from your new identity as EXILES, HOLY ODDBALLS…

…Trials will come at you in every size and color” 

So the real question —

How do we live with joy when life hurts because we don’t belong here?

Peter's going to answer that next.

But first, sit together with me as we examine this central, key thought of Peter’s letter that will become our ANCHOR in this world-thats-not our home. He’s telling us to get ready to employ these things:

Prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be revealed in Jesus Christ… and be holy in all your conduct. (1 Peter 1:13–14)

Next week we begin there, because to endure hardship, we have to cultivate our conduct…and that starts in the mind.

In the meantime…

Look closely at the words in those two verses.

Define them.

Turn them over in your mind.

What do you think Peter's trying to tell us? 

We’re about to learn how exiles actually live.

A Passport Stamped by Mercy

The older I get, the less I seem to care what other people think about me.

Not completely — let’s be honest — but the grip of needing approval has definitely loosened. The hunger for pats on the back isn’t nearly as "rumbly" as it once was.

Something has slowly replaced it.

The more I’ve learned to believe what God says about me — how He values me, and the beauty of an identity rooted in Christ (not self-identity, Christ-identity) — the freer I’ve become to simply do what I’m called to do.

No nods in my direction required.

But that truth took a long time to travel from my head to my heart. Years, actually.

Which is why I can now say this without flinching:

Being a holy oddball is perfectly OK.

Actually… it’s worth CELEBRATING!

Because the Christian life was never meant to look normal. Scripture never promises cultural comfort. Instead it uses words like pilgrim, exile, stranger, foreigner, set apart, peculiar.

Not broken. Not misplaced. Not forgotten.

Just different — on purpose.

I’m walking through a world that doesn’t quite fit me anymore, and honestly, I won’t ever fit — and don’t want to! 

But that tension no longer unsettles me the way it used to, because I know where the road leads.

There is a place waiting — guarded, reserved, untouched by decay.
Imperishable (beyond the reach of change).
Undefiled (uncorruptible - imagine!).
Unfading (eternally vibrant and fresh, will not/can not disappear).

Peter explains why this isn’t wishful thinking:

“According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3)."

That sentence anchors everything.

My future isn’t based on personality, performance, usefulness, reputation, or how well I’m received. It rests entirely on the resurrection of Jesus and the mercy of God.

Just as Jesus encouraged Nicodemus, I’ve been born again — born into a new Kingdom. Not earned, not achieved, not maintained by good behavior, but given by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

A gift.

Which means my citizenship changed long before my location ever will.  How about you? 

So yes… I’m becoming more comfortable being a holy oddball.

Not for attention.
Not out of pride.
Not to prove how different I am.

AND BY ALL MEANS NOT TO BE UNUSUAL FOR THE SAKE OF UNUSUALNESS!

But because when Christ becomes everything, you inevitably become different.

His Spirit reshapes your love, your want-to, your responses, your ambitions, your definitions of success. And, eventually, you realize: you’re living out of a different homeland-mindset while still residing here.

You still care about people — deeply.
You just stop needing them to validate you.

So today I’m praying you embrace your peculiarity with joy.

Not awkwardness.
Not defensiveness.
Joy.

Because the passport you carry here is temporary.

But the one stamped by Mercy?
That one never expires.

REFLECTION: 

By the way...Yesterday was the first day of Lent. This is a great season to evaluate where your journey ends? Where is your "real" passport country? What mind-set are you living out of?

 One of the best ways to survive living as a holy oddball is to imagine not just what Christ has done for you through salvation, but what you've been saved to - HEAVEN'S JOYS.

Living as Holy Oddballs

In less than two months, I’ll be heading out to speak at an event for women who serve internationally. Those who know me know I consider this to be my sweet spot. In spaces like this, I’ve found my niche—and for about ten days, I feel an unmistakable sense of belonging.

In many ways, it gives me a glimpse of what heaven might be like… that place I will ultimately call home, surrounded by my people.

And yet, it also vividly reminds me that—for now—this world is not my home.

As I’ve prayed about the messages I’ll bring to these women, I keep sensing that this is exactly where I need to land: acknowledging, claiming, and even pre-determining the “how-to” of living as outliers while we reside temporarily in this world.

I’ve chosen the book of 1 Peter as my primary biblical foundation, though from Genesis to Revelation this theme is everywhere. There’s no shortage of insight to glean. As I’ve bounced around Scripture, digging into the lives of formative individuals who add more insight to Peter’s words, one thing has become clear: not much has changed from the opening chapters of Genesis until now.

Human nature is remarkably consistent.

We are still deeply affected by what I’ll call the but-I-want-to-be-like-the-nations-around-me syndrome. Sadly, there is no vaccine for this disease.

I’m reminded of my children—when they were younger, of course—pleading their case with airtight logic: “But Mom, everybody’s going…doing…wearing…listening…watching…” I get it. None of us wants to stand out as peculiar.

And yet—Peter asks us to do exactly that; and, not only to embrace this identity, but to celebrate it. To make peace with it. To receive it as a gift (shocking, I know)!

In essence, Peter says to his audience as his letter is read aloud: God has called you out. He has chosen you. You are sojourners, exiles, foreigners—and you will be until heaven. Then he adds language that can definitely unsettle us: a holy nation, a peculiar people, pilgrims.

Lean into those words. Acknowledge them. Accept them.

You—and I—are privileged to be social misfits; for we are citizens of another Kingdom. Strangers here. We are meant to be uncomfortable, unsettled, non-conforming, different.

As I was writing this, I opened ChatGPT (my go-to research team) to ask for help with a title. I think I could hear "Chat" rolling on the floor laughing with the prompt response:

Living as Holy Oddballs

Well… there it is. And honestly, Chat might be right. There is much to think about when it comes to this identity—most importantly this question: 

What does it look like to live out our faith on foreign soil?

Let's explore this over a few Thursdays. This is a good space for me to process the messages I’ll be sharing (thanks!).

For now, I’ll leave you with one thought to ponder.

Years ago—probably back in the ancient era of 1976—I read a prayer and jotted it down in a journal I’ve held onto ever since. It reads:

“How can I stand, O God, for what I believe and not stand out as peculiar?
I don’t want to call attention to myself, cause trouble to others, or embarrass them;
but I do pray that through all the changes of life down to the gates of death,
You will keep me true to myself, true to those I love, and true to Thee. Amen.”

In light of 1 Peter, I now think this might be the wrong prayer to pray.

What if we reshaped this prayer to reflect the heart of God's servant writing to exiles scattered across Asia Minor?

O God of Exiles,
let me stand for what I believe without compromise,
knowing I will stand out as peculiar.
Set-apart people, by virtue of Your calling, will draw attention—
but may that focus quickly shift from me to You.
May others see Jesus in me.
And may I remain true to the convictions I hold,
loving You and loving others, and living holy, as I am called to do. Amen.

SIX WORDS FOR MY POCKET.

Six words stood out to me this morning.

Six words we need to tuck into our pocket—words to pull out when we need them most.

Six simple, not-so-random words:

The mighty hand of the Lord.

(thanks for the picture, Allison)

I’ve read those six words over and over again this week.

And then I started noticing the verbs attached to this Hand—verbs found in just four chapters of Exodus alone (13-16). This Hand (all on my behalf):

brings
leads
guides
lights
fights
hurls
saves
defends
covers
displays
shatters
throws down
unleashes
consumes
overtakes
destroys
works wonders
redeems
delivers
swallows
loves—unfailingly and steadfastly
establishes
plants
rules
heals
provides
protects
gives
creates
proves
shows;                                                                                                                                                          and, creates!                                                                                                                                                                     

What more do I really need in my pocket than these six words?

When I’m in the midst of chaos and confusion…

When fear threatens to consume…

When the enemy—whether tangibly real, or unseen principalities and powers (Ephesians 6)—presses in on my soul...

When disease ravages my body and old age begins to settle in…

What more do I need in the darkest of nights,
in the dead of winter,
in the driest desert,
in the shadowed valley of death,
in the depths of grief and loss…

When life turns out differently than I imagined, or expected it should be…

In these moments, I need to revisit these six words and pull them out of my jeans pocket.

They are more than comfort.
More than cheer.

And while they are worthy of celebration, they are more than whispered worship.

These words are life-breathing-assurances. A FAITHFUL PROMISE!

The God of the Mighty Hand is always with me.

And that Hand still moves on my behalf—
a reflection of His heart toward me.

Because hands do.

Hands act.
Hands move.                                                                                                                                             Hands work.

The Lord’s hands display His divine power—power that grants me everything I need for life and godliness.

His hands are majestic in holiness and strength.

When I step into His throne room, I do not worry.
His Mighty Hand always extends the reigning scepter toward me.
He moves to answer my call.

He answers—
not always according to my agenda,
but always according to His goodness.

His Hand lights my darkness,
holds me in the Day of my Distress,
and wipes away my tears.

His Hand is
MAJESTIC IN HOLINESS,
AWESOME IN GLORY,
WORKING WONDERS.

Six words.

Tuck them in your pocket.

They truly are life-breathing.

THE MIGHTY HAND OF THE LORD!