At this time of year, in the midst of the holiday season, I start to reflect on everything that’s happened. How will I remember 2024? How did God move in my life this year? What did I learn? That list is a lengthy one.
This year has been filled with particularly poignant films from I Am Second. As we’ve prayed over them, we learned a lot, and we hope you did, too. Here are five lessons we’ve learned this year from our White Chair Films.
This may seem a bit obvious, but it’s something that many of us struggle with. Whether you lack confidence or maybe you have an abundance of it, as we learned from Bailey Maupin and Charlotte Smith’s stories, it’s easy to get lost when your sense of self and worth comes from the world. The world says we matter based on what we have – talent, money, status. God says we matter because we exist. He created us and he loves us, and that’s enough for him to send his son, Jesus, to save us. Friend, I encourage you, wherever you are in your walk, to ask God to give you confidence and a sense of self-worth based on who you are as a child of God. When your identity is built on who you are in God, you’ll find peace and quit striving to be “enough.”
Surrendering control is hard. Even if you don’t struggle with needing to be in control, it’s a very human characteristic to want peace and comfort – to know what’s next. But God doesn’t always work like that. In fact, a lot of time he asks us to step out in faith. Or if there is something that you put your trust in – your health, your career or your possessions – he may ask you to reprioritize your life. As we saw with Casey Beathard’s film, his focus was on his kids, and it wasn’t until he lost one that he realized that he had placed them before God. Matthew 6:33 says that we are to seek God first and everything else will follow. Trust me, I know how hard this actually is to live out. But I also know that it’s worth it because God is faithful to fulfill his promises.
We’ve talked a lot about community this year, and there’s a reason for it – we were not made to go through life alone. The Bible tells us that life is hard and it’s easier to go through trials when we are surrounded by friends. We saw this principle at play in almost every White Chair Film we released this year. DJ Hernandez overcame addictions and depression with the help of his faithful friends. Lauren Akins fought for her marriage and navigated postpartum depression thanks to her community that kept her encouraged. We also featured Unsung Hero and our documentary, The Big Stage, where we saw incredibly powerful stories of how surrounding yourself with a community that also walks with God can truly change your life. Jesus walked with his community and gave us an example of what it looks like to go through life together. If you’ve found your people already, pray that God would send someone new to join you. If you’re looking for friends like that, keep praying – God will lead you to them. We would also like to invite you to be part of the I Am Second community. By reading our blogs, joining our email list and connecting with us on social media, you’ll be the first to receive news about new films, helpful resources and encouraging reminders.
I love a good redemption story. It proves that with God, we win, no matter how far we have fallen. God promises that he will work all things together for our good and his glory, and he will. Just look at Paul and Amy Hauser. They were in the trenches, experiencing pain, loneliness and addiction that was tearing their family apart. But God had bigger plans. Plans to redeem and restore. Of course we can’t talk about redemption and not think of Nicole C. Mullen’s story. Nicole wrote a song called Redeemer, and this song wasn’t written while she was sitting on the beach somewhere, enjoying an easy life. It came from the depths of her grief after living through domestic violence and divorce. Friend, no matter what you’re going through, whether it’s from a bad decision you made or it’s something that happened completely out of your control, God can and will redeem it. Don’t lose hope; God is still working.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the here and now. If you spend time on social media, you constantly see people selling things and telling you why they’re obsessed with the newest gadget or beauty product. As someone who has been influenced once or twice to purchase an item, it’s never as good as I was hoping for. It’s never as life-changing as they make it seem. I’m quickly left feeling dissatisfied and disappointed. But you know what doesn’t disappoint? Turning off the distractions, putting down my phone and opening my Bible to spend time with God. Or turning on some worship music and spending time praising God for who he is. When we live our day-to-day life with our eyes on God and focus on who he is and what he’s done, there’s a sweetness that washes over each day. Ethan Hallmark’s Second Edition film is a moving reminder of that. Ethan lived his life with an eternal focus and because of that, he’s still impacting the world ten years after his death.
I pray that you are challenged and encouraged to take these five lessons to heart as we go into a new year. Keep your focus on God, find your community, find your identity in God and live surrendered to him, and never forget that God can and will redeem your story.