Core Scripture: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Message: My life is a story.  A God story.  So is yours.  The highs, the lows, and everything in between, they are all uniquely woven into a tapestry that defines us.  What I have come to realize is that through my 49 years, the parts of my life where I have grown most are through the trials and struggles.  The coolest part?  God used those valleys for His good, living out His promise in Romans 8:28.

I am taken back to a simpler time in my life.  The year was 1989.  I was enjoying a beautiful childhood, surrounded by supportive family and friends, and my dad called me into the living room alongside my two younger brothers.  I still remember his attire.  White buttoned-down shirt with a tie.  Slacks and freshly polished dress shoes.  My dad religiously shined his shoes every Sunday.  I can still smell that potent aroma coming from the black polish as he scrubbed and buffed his shoes to perfection.

My mom was in the background, but my dad had the floor.  This was his moment.  When he told us we were moving, I bawled like a baby.  When you are in 6^th grade and you are stripped of everything familiar only to be planted somewhere new to start all over again, it hurts.  I had never known life outside Oak Park Elementary School.  And now I was moving across town to a different school?  A middle school?  Where I knew only two people in the entire building?  It sucked. 

The halls of Leawood Middle School were so HUGE!  I remember wondering how I would navigate my schedule, learn how to twist a locker combination, but most importantly, how could this shy, soft-spoken now 7^th grade boy make new friends in an unfamiliar domain?  Anxiety choked me.  I found that friend group after Tony asked me to sit with him at lunch the very first day.  Little did I know this group was a bunch of nerds.  I found that out pretty quickly, but I clung to Tony.  He was the only friend I knew!

Tony, Phil, Chad, Jean, Ryan.  They became my little inner bubble of friendship that was looked down upon by the cool kids.  Definitely mocked, ridiculed, and teased on a consistent basis.  What confused me was that I came from Shawnee Mission where elementary school was K-6.  I was now in Blue Valley where it was K-5, and middle school went from 6-8.  These popular kids had already endured a year of middle school where I was still stuck in the mindset of an elementary school kid.  Back when girls had cooties.

I always liked girls, even way back in kindergarten when I fell in love with Megan.  Then there was Katy, the adorable blonde that caught my eye, followed by Anne, my 6^th grade crush.  I never admitted to liking those girls.  My friends and I threw pencils at them and called them ugly, all while secretly admiring them from afar.  I brought that same mentality into middle school.  Bad choice.  Oh, if I could speak truth to that young, naïve 7^th grade boy that started telling other middle schoolers that girls were icky!

You can probably guess what happened next.  Not only was I ridiculed for the nerds I hung out with, but there was now fresh meat to feast on since I said I didn’t like girls.  All the boys called me gay, and it stung something awful.  Word spread that I was homosexual, a word I barely even knew at the time, and one day it all fell apart when two popular boys—I can still see their jeering faces mocking me—led me to break down and cry in front of my English class. 

It was as if all the hurt and pain had built up inside me exploded like an overstuffed vacuum cleaner.  The dam of tears burst down my cheeks like a waterfall.  Time stopped for a moment.  The two boys now sat straight as a board, facing front, as if they hadn’t done a thing.  Whispers came all around, and my teacher, God bless him, didn’t really know what to do or say.  I was a mess.  And then it came.  The comment that helped me save face, and to this day, I am not sure who said it.  It came in a hushed but audible whisper for all to hear.

“His grandma died.”

Truth be told, by Great Grandma Pauline had died earlier that week.  I was going to the funeral next weekend.  But she wasn’t the reason for my tears!  Nobody understood me, and when my teacher invited me into the hallway, offering me a tissue, even he was oblivious to the snide bullying that took place behind his back.  I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide.  I hated my 7^th grade school year, but I survived.  My friends helped me through it, and the Lord obviously had His loving hand on my life. 

Fast forward to 2004.  I am no longer the timid, dorky, pimple-faced 7^th grader that wandered the halls like an unwanted lost puppy.  I am now a teacher.  A 7^th grade English teacher to be exact, and my students were sitting down to write their personal narratives.  Stories from their lives.  Each story was unique.  A God story.  Some stories were happy.  Some were funny.  Some were sad.  I told them to expose themselves in an authentic story from their lives that defined who they were as a person. 

As these kids wrote about vacations and getting puppies and losing grandparents and playing in the big game, I sat down alongside them.  I did the assignment, too.  What did I write about?  I wrote about that day in English class back in 7^th grade.  Seven and a half pages.  Every detail from the day I met Tony to the meltdown in the classroom.  And I shared that story with my students, reading it aloud to them on the last day.  Nobody else shared their story but me.  They didn’t have to.  I wanted to.  Change that … I needed to.

You see, I made a pledge to myself that I would do my best to never allow anything so horrendous to happen in my classroom, and if it did, I would fight for the underdog, lifting him or her up when they had fallen.  Did that ever happen?  Darn right it did.  Many times, I found myself rebuking those popular kids who thought less of the nerd crowd.  It quickly became known that Mr. Daniels did not tolerate bullying in his classroom.  The Lord put it on my heart to use Ohana teaching, treating everyone like family and building a classroom camaraderie deeper than the normal teacher/student connections. 

Reading the story brought it all back.  The feelings of inferiority.  The constant harassment.  The insecurities.  The feeling that nobody would ever get me.  I read that story to my class in 2004.  And 2005.  And 2006.  All twenty-two years of my teaching career, I read that story.  I am a man who wears my emotions on my sleeves, and I would allow watery tears to fill my eyes as I read the most touching parts.  Looking up, I always saw the same awestruck, jaw-dropped, aching, feeling-every-bit-of-my-pain looks from my students.  It never failed.

God used the worst school year of my life to bring hope to others, working every bit of it for His good.  I learned so many lessons through living out that story, not to mention through sharing it.  Never think you are better than anyone else.  Words hurt.  Let your tongue spread encouragement, not hate.  Stand up for the underdog.  If you are a bullying bystander, speak out.  Help the victim.  You may be the lone voice of reason amongst a group of kids who are too afraid to talk.  Most of all, don’t believe the lies people say about you.

There is a song being played on the radio a lot lately, and I lean on it for truth.  The song, a beautiful ballad from Megan Woods, is aptly titled “The Truth.”  Oh, how I wish my 7^th grade self could hear that song and know that heartfelt message!  Truth be told, those lies still come at me.  Sometimes I believe them to be true, but when I measure them against what God says about me, they dissolve like vapor into the air.  Why?  Because God’s Word says that I am a masterpiece of His creation (Ephesians 2:10), and He loves us with everlasting, unfailing kindness (Jeremiah 31:3).

That truth is all I have in order to combat Satan’s lies.  I still have my naysayers today.  No, they are not the two cool kids who bullied me back in middle school.  Today I have some people who have slandered me with hurtful tags much worse than being called gay.  I would rather keep those lies private, but I will say this … it hurts when you find out people are gossiping about you.  It still stings.  And that gossip has spread like a wildfire to numerous folks who might think less of me. 

What God has taught me is that people may be cruel, but Jesus prevails.  Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33) Satan will never stop trying to tell his lies, but we always have the choice whether or not to believe them.  If you pray to God, study His Word, and embrace His truth, that love will shield you from the fiery arrows of the devil. 

What lies are you believing about yourself?  Is it that you are not pretty enough?  Not as good as someone else?  Are you being called names you know are false?  Don’t let them get to you.  Listen to that song from Megan Woods, and allow it to bring you hope as it did me.

The truth is I am my Father’s child

I make Him proud and I make Him smile

I was made in the image of a perfect King

He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing

The truth is I am truly loved

By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough

I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You

And that’s the truth

Song application: “The Truth” by Megan Woods

Bible study: Journal about or discuss how each of the following scripture applies to this message …

• “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28)
• “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” (Proverbs 12:19)
• “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)

Just for fun: I used to have a coffee cup.  Key word there is USED TO.  It was one of my favorites.  Large and black and it recited God’s truth in 1 Corinthians 16:13: STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH!  Well, I was late for work one morning, which led me to take that cup in the car with me—Lord knows I need the caffeine as I head out at 1:00 am. 

Upon arriving home later that afternoon, I parked a bit too close to the lawnmower.  Long story short, while carrying that coffee cup, I gracefully tripped over the lawnmower cord, dropping my coffee cup and shattering shards of it everywhere.

Do you see the irony here?  The cup said to STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH.  I was not standing firm at all!  All I could do was take a picture of my precious cup before saying goodbye.

Prayer: Father, I know the lies will continue coming at me, but please fight for me!  Let me diffuse those lies with Your perfect truth!  Amen.