Jesus > Reframing

Since the beginning of the year my brothers and I have been working to build our parents a small house on our property.  You know the deal, money is tight and labor and materials are expensive.   We knew we had to accomplish much of the work ourselves in order to meet our budget. 

Though we have a lot of individual skills in carpentry, none of us have ever built a foundation from scratch.  We need it built properly so we are reaching out to professionals to find someone willing to tackle this project.    

I think secretly we are hoping it magically appears one day and we can get on to more entertaining parts of the process – like FRAMING!   

Back to the foundation though,  it’s not done yet.    But it’s worth the wait – knowing that any framing we do after this important step would possibly need to be redone if the foundation isn’t built to the correct specifications and design 

Today in our collective conversations we hear a lot about “Reframing”, i.e. the idea of helping adjust your mind map/pathways/thinking to deal with hard situations or circumstance by reconstructing your negative thoughts in such a way as to give you a new belief or motive.    

Oftentimes it’s the first thing someone will say to us when we share a hard story or painful season.   They will attempt to reframe it positively, out of a desire to help (at its best) or simply out of ignorance or awkwardness (at its worst).  

Now don’t get me wrong, reframing negative ideas or thoughts can be a powerful tool in positioning your heart and mind for a new trajectory.  But just like my family’s home building process, the framework must rest on something solid and immovable, measured with care and designed with intention.  Basically no amount of reframing can create a new foundation.  

As Jesus followers we have been born again, our previous foundations have been redesigned and formed with care to give us a stable and steady platform for life.   Our “renewing of the mind”  therefore, no longer becomes a positivity exercise, it is simply allowing ourselves to trust in this Jesus foundation through our thoughts and beliefs.  Our thought framework built on the foundation of Jesus might sound something like this in the midst of difficult situations:  

• He won’t mislead me
• He understands me
• He won’t mistreat me
• He knows how to care for me better than I do
• He knows my desires
• He is patient with me in my healing 
• He is smiling at me and He is quick to give me mercy 
• His thoughts for me carry truth and that truth can be known through Him
• And so much much more. 

Notice that there are no quick answers or cliche bathroom wall statements.   Every idea or thought sourced in Jesus.  

In this way, Jesus is greater than any amount of mental thought “reframing” or positivity exercise.   

To enter into this – we get to be like Peter when he responds to Jesus saying, “Where else would we go Lord?  You alone have the words of life”.    

He is inviting us to look into His eyes and allow ourselves to be drawn into a thick and substantial relationship with Him, much like a foundation for a home.  

He doesn’t simply say, “Have faith”, He says “have faith in ME”! 

Today, you are beloved and cherished and the renewal of your thoughts, your habits and practices, your daily living will find so much more meaning and hope if they are sourced in Jesus.   

Enjoy your time with Him as you and He build this born again life together!