If you’ve ever watched an artist craft his/her piece, it’s a fascinating and awe-inspiring event. Every paint stroke, every curve in the clay comes with care and vision of what’s to become. I love watching artists in their craft, seeing the delicate and yet powerful placement of every single detail. Every single action has purpose. It reminds me of the care and meticulous purpose God took in forming us. This may make me sound like an old lady, but I love watching animals in nature move, recreate and hunt. They are living just like God created them to live. There are no incongruencies, no amounts of striving, and no hindrances or timidity to their actions and reflecting their God-given nature. They exude their design with ease.
Never once, in the history of creation, did God throw something or someone together last minute or haphazardly. (I’m SO thankful God doesn’t create how my art pieces turn out!) Every person has been designed to be incredible. Never once did God make a person small, shy, insignificant or insecure. He didn’t meticulously place His design to be hidden or covered. In His careful crafting and design of each person, God made each of us to tell a unique story about Him. He purposefully placed the strokes of every part of our being to release something about His nature.
I LOVE seeing His design in each person. He makes some people more introverted than extro, some to love plants and others to love math. Some to cast vision and others to implement. Some to be caretakers and some to be motivators. Some to be brilliant relationally, and others to be brilliant in business. Some to be artistic with their hands, other with their words. Some to be funny, others to be more contemplative. The list goes on and on.
But never once did God create a human to be small.
God made us, our actions, our words, our lives to be powerful and to be heavy laden with purpose. We are created to be game changers. Oh my gosh, I love those two words. GAME CHANGER.
Look at this painting I received for my birthday! (Let me tell you, watching Michelle paint this was MESMERIZING. Talk about a visionary game changer!!) Take a second and look into that lion’s eyes. Doesn’t this picture just make you want to ROAR?! I look at it and feel courage and bravery start to rise up within me. If I really let myself go, I start to beat my chest and say, “Let’s GOOOO!” Because God has placed passion in me that cannot be contained. If I try, I feel like I’m lost or about to spontaneously combust. 😉 He has made me fierce, a fighter and strong. I have tried to dial it back, hide it, and become small, but can a lion be any of those things??
That lion is a reflection of you, too. Actually, it’s a mirror image. This may sound cheesy, but I truly believe there’s a lion/ness in every one of us. What do you see in yourself when you study this that painting? What rises up within you when you gaze into those eyes?
A lion doesn’t have to try to be a game changer, it just is. Nor does he shrink back in timidity from his God-given place, so why do we? Why do we feel like we must become smaller, quieter or something other than who we truly are? Why are we so afraid to release our roars and reflect our beautiful paint strokes placed by God Himself? Why do we play it safe or hide?
You, my friend, are a GAME CHANGER. Every room and crowd you walk into, you belong. Every conversation you’re apart of, your perspective is valuable and necessary. You are a game changer at home, at work, at the grocery store, at church, on your campus. Everywhere those feet tread, you are a game changer. God is our game changer, (He is my forever game changer), and it’s who He’s created us to be. Game changers. (I simply cannot overuse this word!)
Think about some game changers who have shaped you and marked you in life. What made them a game changer? What did they do that impacted you so greatly? I would imagine, that courage would be a common thread between these brave ones. The remarkable truth is that if these people would have played it safe, if they would have meowed instead of roared, we wouldn’t be where/who we are today. By these people embracing their identity, and releasing who God has made them to be, they have been game changers in my life.
Here are a few of my game changers.
Jesus. If He didn’t give us His ALL, where would I be? Just as He is, so are we. (1 John 4:17)
Billy Graham. Where would our nation be without him?
Steve Jobs (and countless other market game changers). Has anyone not seen an iPhone/pad/pod/Macbook??
Melissa Helser and Stef Gretzinger. These two powerhouse women gave me permission to be whole-hearted and aggressive in worshipping my Father.
Coach Carle. She was the most passionate and inspiring woman who also happened to be my coach, and she believed in me during the formative years in my life. She carried confidence but not arrogance, and was an all-in kind of gal. She believed I was a game changer, and only spoke to me like I was one. Marked me forever.
Cheryl P. She inspired me (and tricked me too) to become a fitness instructor She’s a game changer. Charles, the bass player at my church, is a game changer to me. His all-in style releases joy and freedom! Jordan and Robin show me purity AND power. These are all game changers in my life. None of these people are playing it safe!
Who is your game changer? What exactly is it that inspires you to become the truest, godliest you? (Write them a quick note telling them!) Can you imagine the impact if they’d held back? How would we be affected if the composer held back on the crescendos of his masterpiece symphony? How would Lebron impact the game of basketball if he played it safe or tried to blend in or play small?
The goosebumps, the victories, the crescendos, the overcoming, the beauty of the journey, the becoming, the fulfillment, they all come from living alive and giving it our all, our gusto. God says that we are HIS inheritance. (Ephesians 1:18) He is open and available to receive so much in and by us!
How can we step into our identity as a game changer? What has God placed in you that has the potential to rattle the community/city/family/earth to its core? What can you release that looks and sounds and feels a lot like God? How can your roar bring impact, growth, and freedom to you and those around you?
For me, I have to let go of fear to become my fullest and truest self. I have to lay aside what people think, how they perceive me, etc., etc., blah blah! I have to be willing to look foolish, be judged and seem like I’m too much. I must stand out and not blend in. (This goes for ALL of us!) I must lay aside every weight, every wound, every lie, every hindrance that so easily ensnares me, so I can run my race with passion, endurance and determination. Jesus gave me His all, so I will give Him mine.
When you see yourself in life’s day-to-day scenarios, what are some of your hindrances/wounds/weights you carry? What holds you back, and why? Can you identify some of the fears or lies with which you identify? (Did you know shy is a lie?) Now ask God how you can shed those heavy and unnecessary layers (think thick coat on a summer day) allow for what He’s placed in you to come into the light. How can you partner with His artistry in you? What does it look like for you to release your roar? To be a game changer?
Maybe it’s time you release your roar to that mountain standing arrogantly in your face, so it’s cast into the sea and you can keep on running your race. (Matthew 21:21) Maybe your roar is binding the voice of the enemy/liar and telling him where to go with his lies and destruction. (James 4:7 and lots more) Maybe your roar is a shout of thankfulness, a song to sing in the shower, in the workplace, anywhere and over all God’s done and doing in your life. (Any Psalm!) Maybe that roar is giving the encouragement or words you felt nudged to give, but talked yourself out of. Maybe it’s spending time creating, crafting and co-laboing with God. Maybe it’s getting physically fit or emotionally stronger. Maybe your roar is doing that something you’re afraid of, the thing you KNOW to which God is calling you. We don’t need to try, we don’t need to come over the top or be timid. Just like the lion in the jungle, we must simply BE who we’ve been created to be. Our actions and nature are congruent with what the Father has placed within us. We are a mirror image of Him. (1 John 4:17)
I pray that today, this very minute, you’d start to see yourself the exact same way God sees you. Just as God encouraged Joshua and countless others, I pray that you’d be strong and courageous! I pray that each of us would discover our roar and release it with courage and tenacity. I pray that we’d recognize the weights that ensnare us and hold us back from our God-given identity. I thank you God that the person reading these words right now is a GAME CHANGER. I pray that every voice would be unlocked to release what You’ve designed it to release. I bless the eyes and the ears and mind of the one reading right now, in Jesus name. I pray for understanding so every person would know where and how to run their race. Thank you for every game changer who has touched our lives, God, because parts of who we are today are because of their courage. We’ve felt the wonderful ripple effects and want to cause some of our own with You!! Thank you God in the mighty name of Jesus.
God already took such care in forming us, now will we step into the fullness He’s created? Let’s lift up a resounding YES!! Go, and release your roar, and I pray you sound, look and feel just like your Maker. The scripture below is ah-MAZ-ing. We are God’s messengers of power, His mighty heroes who listen to what He’s saying and DO IT!! Love love love.