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Just like everybody does

OIP-9

Inside

A change is happening on the inside

And it makes no sense for me to hide

What I don’t want you to see

Come see

Everything that lies inside me

‘Cause amidst the mess I’ve made of me

You might see the Lord
From the song, “Inside” by John Fischer

You wouldn’t believe how arrogant I was when I wrote this song about the mess I’d made of my life. If you had asked me about that mess then, I’m sure I would have come up with a few things, but I doubt they would have added up to much of a mess in the grand scheme of things. In fact my arrogance would have been a major part of the mess, but I wouldn’t have realized it. I had indeed made a mess of my life, I just didn’t see it. In spite of the “mess” I thought I was doing pretty good. That’s why songs are so prophetic. You utter truths before you’ve had a chance to actually experience what they mean.

So now, today, I can truly tell you I’ve made a mess of my life. There are numerous important areas of responsibility I have ignored, and that amounts to sin. And along with that, the arrogance is still there — the resistance against admitting that there is actually anything really wrong. Which makes it worse.  

So according to the song, all of this is part of the mess I’ve made, and yet you can still see the Lord in me, because that is how He works. He does not make us perfect people. He manifests His love and His presence in our lives alongside of our fallenness. In fact, it is the reality of His presence in the context of our messy lives that shows Him to be real, and shows us to be believable. 

The older I get more I realize how much I need Jesus. Just like everybody does.

‘Cause he’s in there movin’

Got a knife and He’s prunin’

Cuttin’ out the old man

Bringin’ in the new

And it’s foolish to fake it

So I’m lettin’ Him take it

‘Cause He said I’d be like Jesus

When He’s finally through

12 responses to “Just like everybody does”

  1. Mark Dennis Seguin

    As you wrote Pastor John: “… I can truly tell you I’ve made a mess of my life.” Please DON’T feel alone! Sometimes, no change that OFTEN I wonder Lord I’m not to sure what you saw in me to be worth saving, BUT MY GOD I am so happy you did…

    PS Also, I think man if the Son of God died a terrible & just an awful death for me – I SURELY must have value – So get behind me Satan!

    Reply
    1. jwfisch

      Yes. You have value because God loves you. It’s not that you’re worth loving; it’s that God’s love makes you worthy.j

      Reply
      1. Mark Dennis Seguin

        Amen! Loved the way you phased it!

        Reply
  2. Toni Petrella

    Mr Fisher I say just about all of us can relate to what you have said and I admire the honesty you have by admitting all this. Always be glad the Lord feels each of us worth saving no matter what if we come to him in faith and prayer. I hope millions read today’s message and really realize all this.

    Reply
    1. jwfisch

      Once again, as I replied to Mark, God love us not because we’re worth loving, but because His love makes us worthy. It’s subtle, but it’s a big difference.

      Reply
  3. Chris Azar

    Like Jackson Browne said in his song, “Fountains of Sorrow”
    “…And while the future’s there for anyone to change, still you know it seems
    It would be easier sometimes to change the past
    I’m just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you
    In my lessons at love’s pain and heartache school”
    John, I guess what I’m saying is that you’re not alone. I’m just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you…
    Yours for the journey…Chris

    Reply
    1. jwfisch

      Great lyric, Chris. Thanks for sharing. I always did like Jackson Browne.

      Reply
  4. bobnearseattle

    “We expect Christian behavior from our employees,” was the explanation.
    “Why don’t they have a list about not being arrogant, insensitive, harsh, spiritually indifferent, and critical? None of these were addressed.”
    ~ David Roper from today’s “Our Daily Bread” Devotional:
    https://odb.org/US/2021/07/21/authentic-christianity

    In his classic work Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote of “the utter deceitfulness of sin,” which “is always offering happiness, and . . . always leads to unhappiness.” In contrast, he noted that the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3–10) show us the path to true happiness. The characteristics Jesus describes here—the poor in spirit, the mournful, those hungry for righteousness, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted—define the true believer in Christ. Lloyd-Jones asserted that these traits aren’t naturally possessed by any of us. Such a way of living comes only by God’s grace and can be put into practice only by those in whom God’s Spirit resides. The “Beatitudes lifestyle” is entirely, radically dependent on the Holy Spirit.
    ~ Insight from today’s “Our Daily Bread” Devotional written by Tim Gustafson

    Be a blessing. Be blessed.
    Be of good will. Be of good cheer.
    Be courageous. Be encouraged.

    Shalom, Peace…

    Reply
    1. Mark Dennis Seguin

      Bob, liked this from the article you posted: “Following Jesus can’t be defined by a list of rules. It’s a subtle quality of life that’s difficult to quantify but can best be described as “beautiful.” to which add Amen.

      Reply
  5. jwfisch

    Good reminder, Bob. Thank you.

    Reply
  6. Jim Catlin

    Before Bathsheba, I reckon that David was feeling pretty good about himself too.

    Yet he was a “man after God’s own heart”. On the one hand, there is our nature – riddled with more corruption and selfishness than our minds can even imagine. And then on the other hand there is our heart’s desire to embrace the goodness of God, the righteousness that we all long for. God allows the contrast in our life deliberately. He is glorified even in our failings.

    So instead of mourning the emerging awareness of our decay, we must focus all the more on the magnitude of the cross which broadens in its dimensions as God removes our blindness to ourselves.

    “Gee, it’s worse than I thought.”
    “Yeah but the cross is bigger than I thought.”

    Reply
    1. jwfisch

      Well said.

      Reply

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