EXAMINING INSECURITY | Luke Lezon
I used to think that my insecurities defined me. I was right, but I was also wrong.
I wish I could remember the first time I felt a twinge of insecurity, but how could I possibly remember that? Insecurity has the ability to grab us in endlessly abounding ways as we live in a world that largely filters the struggle out of our situations.
How is it that I don’t have their opportunity? Why don’t I look like that? Will I ever be able to do what they do? Is there any way I’ll be able to get to where they are? I can’t believe they said that about me. I hope they think I’m not who I actually feel that I am.
The most difficult part of filtering through our insecurities is being able to discern the voice of truth. Insecurity shouts, love whispers. I think Jesus uses our insecurities as a way to show us that despite what we think of ourselves, He loves us, is with us, and He is greater.
When I find myself feeling insecure, it’s typically because I’ve put my security in something that is inconsistent. Something that can be taken from me. So often we put our identity in things that can crumble, and when that foundation begins to crack, what was once our identity becomes an insecurity.
You’ve always been the athletic one, but your health can be taken from you, slowly or swiftly. You’ve always been the brilliant one, but then you met someone that seemed to be just as knowledgable and twice as witty. You used to be the pretty one, but then she came along and everyone seems to be after her attention. You used to be the one everyone wanted to be around, but now you’ve become boring. You used to be the one crushing your job, but they just hired someone who has had a better quarter than you.
If my security is reliant upon the steadiness of something that has the tendency to shake rather than the steadfastness of Christ, then I’ll find myself consistently insecure. Thankfully, Jesus is the epitome or consistency. The author of Hebrews declares in chapter 13, verse 8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Christ Himself said in Matthew 7:24-25, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
The Lord Himself could have felt insecure for a multitude of reasons. Even the people spread rumors about Him. Luke 7:34, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” People called Jesus a glutton and a drunkard. Insecurity will speak to you, saying things, assuming things, and questioning things about you. Walk in who God declares that you are, not who your insecurities say that you are. And what is it exactly that God declares?
In my mind, Matthew 3:16-17 is as beautiful as John 3:16-17. Look at these side by side.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Matthew 3:16-17, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
What does God declare? What is it that He thinks of you? That He loves you and that He is pleased with you. You aren’t defined by your insecurities, you are defined by the fact that you can live IN security. In the security of knowing that you have a Father Who loves you and is pleased with you.
God loves the parts of us that we can't stand. Every flaw or obstacle in your life is a platform for God to work and shine through.
Ephesians 1 says that in Christ, you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Your security is sealed with a promise. God not only keeps you secure, but He keeps His promises, and His promises are true. Nothing can take away who you are in Christ. Everything else may fall away, but Jesus remains.
Luke Lezon grew up in Dallas, Texas before graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in Communication, minoring in Creative Studies. After graduating, Luke married his beautiful wife, Lindsey, and co-planted Hill City Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. After pastoring at Hill City for two years, Luke and his wife moved to and currently live in Atlanta, Georgia where they helped lead The Alternative. Luke is a creative, dynamic preacher and teacher of God's Word with a palpable love for people. Luke's is currently working on his first book with Zondervan that is slated to come out in the fall off 2019. His sermons and writings have been shared thousands of times across many different platforms. Above all, he is passionate about seeing others come to know Jesus and make Him known.