Between Me and You

What keeps you awake at night?

In this season of life, I keep hearing the song Between Me and You by Brandon Flowers. This song has come to represent this time in life with the lyrics, “These hours I’m working ain’t nearly enough And chasing every dollar girl is this what I was born to do?”

Those lyrics sum up what keeps me awake at night. Between Me and You encapsulates my healthy and unhealthy motivations to be a great Dad, husband, and pastor. Like many of you, I have dreams and ambitions while also attempting to give to my family. I ask myself – do I have enough?

Deep down, we have these questions. High schoolers wonder about the college they’ll attend, or if that boy or girl will know their name. College keeps us awake of the anxiety of picking the right major and hoping to get a job. Then we face adulthood in our twenties with the bombardment of responsibility and change. Marriage and parenting invite us to worry about our role and then the well-being of our spouses. Lastly, we come to the empty nest and retirement asking – what’s next?

When we consider the thoughts and questions that keep us awake at night, I don’t think Christianity is meant to resolve the specific issues, but rather shine a light on why these issues matter to us.

Yesterday, I shared a message on 1 John 1:5-10. No matter what season of life, this passage invites us to experience the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection, in freedom. John describes our encounter with Jesus as walking in the light and truth (1 John 1:5-7) and otherwise we walk in darkness and the lies.

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

What does John say to us? Confession is the practice of walking in the light with God and others. To walk in the light means to know Jesus as our Savior and to recognize our brokenness.

It means to see our total dependence on him rather than trying to hold together an image of ourselves. True fellowship with God others results from us walking in the light – asking Jesus to surface our motivations and desires and then to confess one to another.

Brandon Flowers in Between Me and You says this, “There’s a power of letting go.” Those lyrics have become a confession to me. The Gospel gives me the power to let go of the image I have for myself in ambition, pride, and success and to walk in the light of finding my identity in Jesus.

I challenge you today to walk in the light. What keeps you awake at night and why does it occupy so much of your thoughts? What would happen if you brought it to the light of the Gospel in Jesus and confessing it to others?

You can watch or listen to the message I shared from yesterday by clicking the links below.

August 26 | Message from Browncroft Community Church on Vimeo.

Photo by Naqi Shahid