Picture this: a chair. A chair that is used to bring glory to God and freedom to His people.
At the beginning of the race, team Hope invented the declaration chair. The chair would be used to combat lies and declare truths over our team. The first time we used the chair was when our squad was celebrating the Jewish new year. We ate apples & honey as a symbol of the sweetness that was to come in the next season of life, and then we got down to business with the chair. That night, the chair was used to fight lies from the enemy and proclaim truth and freedom that we find in the Lord. Lies were replaced with truth. Some things we declared freedom in were:
- Being unwanted and unneeded as a part of the squad —> God called us each here and has a specific role for us. All of us belong together and love each other.
- Fighting comparison in a group of 40 girls and feeling not pretty enough, not thin enough, not holy enough —> We were each made in His image. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. and we are all fully loved and forgiven.
- There are deep wounds that will cause turmoil throughout the year and take away from growth that could otherwise happen —> The Lord loves us too much to leave us where we are. He will bring up issues that need to be worked out if we let Him and He will never leave us tangled in pain.
Tears were shed as we rejoiced as a team in the freedom we were choosing to believe. This night started a culture of us being able to be honest about where we’re at, and being open to hearing and declaring what He says is true, even if and when we don’t believe it ourselves.
Fast forward a few months & we’re back to the declaration chair. This time, we used the chair to declare victories we’ve experienced and celebrate all that the Lord has brought us through as individuals and as a team. We worshipped and prayed and whenever someone had something they wanted to celebrate, they marched their way on over to the chair and got to point out the ways they’ve seen redemption and growth take over our team. Some victories we got to celebrate were:
- Re: “There’s no shame in looking like a fool” – Head to the Heart x United Pursuit. We have fully lived these lyrics out. Whether it’s speaking spanish despite the fact we don’t know it or dancing to choreographies we’ve hardly got a grasp on, we’ve decided to give our all even when we’re lookin’ like fools.
- We’ve gone from a team of people who shake at the mention of feedback, to a team who struggles with passive aggressiveness, to a team who has healthy communication and can have hard conversations which ultimately leads to living in true harmony.
- We’ve all had times where our ministry isn’t what we wanted or expected, but we’ve chosen joy anyway and gone at it with a good attitude. From that, we’ve built great relationships and seen the Lord work in really cool ways.
- Learning that emotions have a purpose, and it’s okay to feel them. It’s okay not to be okay, and it’s okay if it takes a really long time to actually believe that.
Celebrating these things was a God-glorifying way to see all the progress we’ve made as a team and see the fruit of what He is doing here when sometimes we don’t notice it. We get to see how God isn’t only impacting the people around us who we serve, but He’s actually changing our hearts and our lives as well.
I challenge you to consider making your own declaration chair. There’s something powerful about speaking something out loud. So go into your kitchen, grab a chair & a friend, and kill those lies and celebrate every. dang. victory.
We’re going from glory to glory to glory & that deserves some praise!!!
I’d love to hear what you’re struggling with and what you’re celebrating. Please reach out to me!
