Day 13: Mark 3:20-21

Jesus’ own family didn’t even believe in him at first. They couldn’t understand how this boy they had grown up with could be anything more than what he had always been: a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a carpenter’s son. The people closest to him doubted who he was called to be and what he was called to do. 

Unfortunately, that is often the case. Sometimes it is the people who are closest to us that don’t understand when God is calling us to something different. As I look back at the big life-defining moments in my own life, I’m often struck by how some of the people that I loved and looked up to the most didn’t support the decisions that we made. That’s hard to walk through. It’s hard to be resolute in what you know God has called you to do when your own family is questioning you. It’s disheartening when people that you look up to begin to doubt whether or not you truly have heard from God. But stay the course. Don’t let the opinions of others keep you from following God. Don’t let how someone else defines you trump the way that your Creator defines you.

Eventually Jesus’ family came around. His brother James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem and wrote a letter that is included in the New Testament. His other brother Jude wrote another book of the Bible. And I’ve found that this is true as well. When you continue to steadfastly follow the direction of God in your life, those people will have no choice but to accept it eventually. It will be too obvious. So don’t give up, don’t give in! Stick to it and you will see God begin to change the minds and hearts of those around you.