I’ve been searching and searching for how to fix this funk I’ve been in lately. The more I search and read the more deflated I’ve been feeling. I just beat myself up over and over again. I’ll never measure up. I’ll never figure out why I am so irritable. I’ll never be content. The more I search, the more this is enforced and believed. God keeps whispering to me to quit searching and just go back to the truths of who I am.
I’ve realized that my beliefs drive my thoughts. My thoughts drive my actions. When I’m focused on untruths then my actions will reflect that. When I focus on truth (what God says about me) then I can begin to catch glimpses of that truth in my life and live out of who I really am instead of who I’m trying to be. I can quit trying to make something true and believe what is already true. He has whispered this to me several different ways recently and He did it again through The Lion King.
Recently I played The Lion King while I was cooking. I was singing along, laughing and enjoying something I had not seen in a long time. Then came a couple of scenes that I had to pause, rewind and watch again. Simba had run away. His father was dead and Simba blamed himself for that. He let his jealous uncle tell him who he was and Simba believed this. These beliefs made him hate himself. He believed that he was a terrible person and that if people knew the truth about him they would hate him. Running away seemed like the easiest thing to do. He would just hide. Later, Nala finds him while out searching for food. They are excited to reunite but Simba’s excitement soon reminds him of what he’s been hiding and Nala knows something is not right. In their heads they begin singing an edited version of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”.
Simba thinks:
So many things to tell her
But how to make her see
The truth about my past, impossible
She’d turn away from me
Nala thinks:
He’s holding back, he’s hiding
But what, I can’t decide
Why won’t he be the king I know he is?
The king I see inside?
Can you feel the love tonight?
The peace the evening brings
The world, for once, in perfect harmony
With all its living things
Can you feel the love tonight?
You needn’t look too far
Stealing through the night’s uncertainties
Love is where they are
What we believe affects our relationships and our actions.
Hiding keeps others from experiencing the real us.
Soon after this scene Simba’s deceased father, Mufasa, appears to him in a cloud. His father whispers his name and Simba hears his voice and listens.
Mufasa: “You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself Simba. You are more that what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life.”
Simba: “How can I go back? I’m not who I used to be.”
Mufasa: “Remember who you are. You are my son and the one true king. Remember who you are.”
Remind yourself of truth. Remember who you are. This will end the search for who you are trying to be. Ask a trusted person what they see in you. Ask God. Ephesians is also a great place to be reminded of what God says about you. It’s ok to need the reminders over and over again to quieten the voices in our head that tell us otherwise.
-Melissa
****Over the summer months we will continue blogging but we will also slow down a little along the way so we may not post every Tuesday. We hope you enjoy your summer!
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