Week Seven | Led By Example
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Week Seven | Get Out of Your Head Online Book Study
Reading Assignments – Ch. 15 & 16
Listen to the Audio version | Read time 3.5-minutes
One foot in front of another. Shuffle, shuffle, bump. Okay, not that way. “Root on the right!”
Had I told my mom that one of my favorite adventures during my first week attending church camp was the hike we took at night, in the woods, without flashlights… well I probably never would have returned all of those years, and eventually joined staff, and go on to serve as the Program Director for a season.
There’s just something about experiencing the same trails that we traipse during the day—at night, lit only by the stars and the occasional flash of a lightning bug. Your other senses heighten, allowing you to notice sounds and smells that you easily missed during the daylight hours.
Now before you begin to question my sanity, we don’t just let our campers loose in the woods at night. We form a single file line, arm extended, and hand resting on the shoulder of the person in front of us, with a counselor in the front and the rear of the line.
Slowly we make our way down the trail, shuffling our feet, allowing our sense of touch to become our sight. As our eyes adjust to the dark, we learn that we’re not as blind as we originally thought in the night. And before we know it, we’ve realigned our trust in the leader as they send whispered directions and warnings back the line.
Night hikes are exciting adventures, but they’re also beautiful illustrations of our faith.
One foot in front of another. Shuffle, shuffle, bump. Okay, not that way.
Jennie Allen has been our trusty leader these last seven-weeks as we’ve used her course-correction techniques in, Get Out of Your Head, to realign our thoughts and therefore our reactions. We may have tripped up, even with the whispered instructions, but it’s okay because there’s grace and the community has been close by to catch you and guide you back to the right path.
Just like our eyesight shifts in the darkness,
“When we shift from the thoughts that distract and choose to fix our thoughts single-mindedly on Him, everything else shifts.”
jennie Allen, get out of your head (pg. 220)
Friends, we often stumble blindly through life, eyes darting to and fro, trying to find our way in the darkness. But we know now that we have a choice. We can fix our eyes on Christ, and find that our way forward is not as treacherous or as anxiety-inducing as we originally thought.
“When Christ is our prize and heaven is our home, we get less anxious because we know our mission, our hope, our God cannot be taken from us.”
jennie Allen, get out of your head (pg. 220)
No matter where your thoughts take you, your decisions lead, and your life lands, God will not lose sight of you. Go back and read the list of Scriptures that Jennie shares in chapter 15 (pg. 214 & 215) that tell of God’s goodness and what He feels about you.
“When we think on Christ, we live on the foundation of Christ, our gaze fixed immovably on Him. Wind? What wind? Waves? What waves? We step. We walk. We make it across that sea.”
jennie Allen, get out of your head (pg. 220)
Because we belong to Christ, we can look to Christ.
Because we can look to Christ, we can trust that He will lead us to freedom.
We just have to make the choice.
COMMUNITY CHAT
Identify – In this week’s reading assignment, Jennie talks about fixing our eyes on Christ and having a singular focus. When we align our sights on Jesus, everything else falls into place.
Join the Discussion – What has changed in your relationship with Christ, as you have learned to realign your thoughts to His truth?
