NUMBERS OF VALUE

Keeping Your Head Up – (Birdy)

THE STORY:

I remember being in a meeting… I was in a meeting at work and I could feel my phone on vibrate in my left pocket of my jeans, I could feel the vibration pattern and I knew right away it was a phone call. I checked it quickly and it was another unknown number calling me, the third one of the week, but I knew who it was, but more important I knew what this person needed…and for the first time I am not referring to my past life here. I wanted so badly to walk out of that meeting and answer the call because I never knew when that call would come again or if it would ever come again…sometimes you just never know…and the things you never know sometimes can be worth everything to you. The call I was about to miss from the unknown number was one of my best friends calling me from the inside of a prison, serving 2 years…

In my blog post from a few weeks ago called The Passenger I talked about how I could still remember one of my best friends from the street I grew up on and how I could not only remember his home phone number, but I could even remember the sounds it made on the dial…These were the days before cell phones. But even today other than that number and literally a handful of other phone numbers, I honestly don’t have any memorized. With everyone having a cell phone and the ability to store numbers we have started to train our brains to not really worry about knowing them. Well what if you were in a situation today, let’s say an emergency (life and death), and your cell phone wiped all of your numbers. Let’s even say 911 did not work. Who could you call? Do you really remember anyone’s number? For me it’s very hard to think about. And where did these phone number even come from? When phone numbers were first used, they were only about 3 digits…I can imagine things would be easier in those days (Easy as 1-2-3). All of the digits in our numbers today can seem pretty random, but in fact they contain the information necessary to uniquely identify us as a contact (and I will explain why I am including this later in the answer section).

Sometimes it’s so cool how you can start to see God’s plan working out…it’s like watching a really good movie and that feeling you get when everything comes together at the end. The whole movie you may be wondering why this or why that is happening, but in the end you see the whole and big picture…well if you haven’t figured it out by now throughout my entire blog this is exactly how God’s mysterious plans work…they are not always good at times in our life…but if you just have faith and rely on God then in the end everything will be complete. Here is how I saw one of God’s plans come to light…My friend that was calling me from prison is one of my closest friends…From the day I met him he had this unique ability. He was a guy I was immediately drawn to be his friend, I looked up to him…all the time and I always wondered why guys like him would want to be friends with me but we became best friends and it was for a reason. Here’s how you know you have a real friend: when they forgive you. He is one of those friends…He was also gifted with the ability to remember phone numbers. He could sit there and list out numbers all the time, right off the top of his head…and I would always make fun of him for doing that. I would tell him, “Man look you don’t have to ever memorize mine if it’s in your phone?!” I would always think when would he ever need to use my memorized number or anyone else’s?? I thought it was so pointless and that my number wasn’t really worth anything at all. Well it turns out my number did mean something to him…it wasn’t so pointless anymore…Over his 2 years he would call me when he could, when he needed to, and we would just talk… And I hated so much to miss his call that day at work…but so thankful he called again. In our conversations we would catch up, encourage each other, and at the end of every conversation he would say “love you brother, miss you man…” and I would say the same thing back followed by “just hang in there and keep your head up…”

THE QUESTION:

How important are the ones we love in our life…could we call them right now if we had a stranger’s phone? Do we value them the way we should? Does this God we keep discussing really know our value? Does he know everything we go through, does he know how easy it is to doubt our value and our identity sometimes?How do we keep our heads up when we are low down in dark places? Do you have a number of value right now?…

THE ANSWER:

“Everyone keeps a darker place, to lose control, you’re not alone. And when you come looking for embrace, I know your soul; I’ll be your home til you can breathe on your own, til you can breathe on your own. Hold tight; you’re slowly coming back to life, I’ll be keeping your head up and I won’t let you down.”

Birdy, is an English musician, singer and songwriter from Lymington, Hampshire, UK. Birdy is her stage name, but her real name is Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde. In 2008, when she was just 12 years old she won the Open Mic UK competition, which is often described as “one of the toughest competitions in the country.” In January 2016, Birdy released “Keeping Your Head Up”, the first single from her third album Beautiful Lies. The music video has been interpreted by some as a supernatural dream as she is surrounded by darkness and demons and then in the end raised to the light by angels…When asked about the meaning of this new single, Birdy said, “I hope the song is inspiring, it’s meant to feel powerful and uplifting…It’s about finding a light in the dark, having the strength to hold on to it and overcome the times when we feel completely lost.”

Matthew 10:29-31 | Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

What an amazing set of verses that may get overlooked at times…you see we all have value in God’s eyes. That means you too! Every single thing and every person created by God has value and significance to God, even the sparrow…He even knows the number of hairs on our head! There is in fact nothing about our lives that He doesn’t know…Sometimes we get put in dark places, sometimes the things we want the most in life don’t work according to our plans but we need to keep our heads up! We aren’t just a set of random numbers in somebody’s cell phone…we are all unique and valuable to God and His plans for our lives. Just like each part of our phone number identifies us as a contact, every single thing about you identifies you with God. I heard a preacher speak in Missouri when I was visiting my brother and in his sermon he said, “Sometimes it’s easy to get down on ourselves and wonder why bad things keep happening over and over…but it is God exposing our weaknesses so that we can learn to rely on Him for strength…not ourselves.”

My best friend is out of prison now after serving 2 years…I made the exact same mistakes he did and I’m not so sure I could ever be as strong as him but I am so thankful to God for him, his safety, his freedom, and that he is blessed to be seeing God’s plan unfold. Here are some of his own words (NOT MINE!) about his time, numbers of value, and how to keep your head up:

“I was very grateful for the #’s I have had in my head…662-255-34$@… I still got you man. My conversations whether short, long, frequent or seldom were very important to me. Moral is everything on the inside…If I was feeling down I would leave our conversations in a totally different mindset. I learned to do things that were beneficial and positive for myself. Look, the bible ought to be close to you. It is an incredible tool at your disposal. Pray, ask for peace, confess your sins and do all you can to turn from them. If you are hanging around guys that don’t care about your well being or your eternal soul then Be Careful! But if you say you love these lost souls ask God for the words to witness to them. You are constantly being watched…know that. Inside, outside, and everywhere you will ever go… And not only by people but by our creator. If you are not proud of what you are doing than why do you do it? One of my friends inside prison said think of your deepest darkest secret…the most embarrassing shameful sin that you commit. And now imagine yourself standing in Times Square…now look up on the TV screens and there’s you and your sin playing out for everyone to see… I found myself asking why I was doing things I wasn’t proud of…and I would ask God for guidance. Stay in constant communion with your maker. Just like staying in contact with your loved ones is a must for a healthy relationship, it is the same with God. We must simply rely and trust that God’s plan is at work. There is nothing and I repeat NOTHING that God cannot control or do. God had me in prison for 2 years for a reason…to respect this life that I have, to love to live, and to witness and show God’s love to others. I had to physically fight in nearly every facility I was put in…I won some and lost some…I was tested constantly…but God delivered me from every single situation… I say pray and ask for help… pray when you are happy, sad, angry, or frustrated. “Not my will but your will be done” is something that we should pray once an hour minimum. You will get through that next struggle…you will prevail. Trust and believe that there is more in this life and more after this life. God loves each and every one of us. Jesus was perfect so that we don’t have to be… Take advantage of that free gift that He has given. I love y’all…keep your heads up…keep on fighting the good fight because the reward is eternal life and happiness. May God bless you all…

Those were true and powerful words from my friend. Try and think about people today…people are important, they are important…they are important… Our friendships, families, our relationships…they are all important. They all need love…so don’t run away from them. Not everyone gets to have them… So if you do have them, hold on to them and tell them you love them. Scroll through those numbers that seem so random in your phone and make a call. Even reach out to the ones you may not feel you love as much..and whatever you do remember just hang in there and keep your head up…God will start to reveal His plan, rely on His love, His timing, have some faith, and everything in your life will start coming back to life…and coming back to = LOVE. Nothing is impossible…

Proverbs 4:25-26

25 Keep your head up, your eyes straight ahead, and your focus fixed on what is in front of you. 26 Take care you don’t stray from the straight path, the way of truth, and you will safely reach the end of your road.

(Listen below to Keeping Your Head Up by Birdy)