Chad Norris - Your Mess is Your Message: How God Can Use Your Brokenness to Help Others

Copyright 2022Chad Norris

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

All emphasis within Scripture quotations is the authors own. Please note that Destiny Images publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

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ISBN 13 TP: 978-0-7684-6378-1
ISBN 13 eBook: 978-0-7684-6379-8

For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A.
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DEDICATION

W endy, after 25 years of marriage, I am more thankful for you now than Ive ever been. I love you deeply.

Sam, Ruthie, and Jack, your mom and I have done the best we can raising yall. Our biggest hope has been that each of you will love God with all of your hearts. We are sincerely proud of each of you. As your dad, I could not be more thankful for my children. I love all three of you. Go change the world.

Dad, thank you is not enough. You are a rock to our family. Kirby gave us what we needed. Go Dawgs.

Mom, Ive loved you my whole life. You are tough like your daddy was. You are also one of the funniest people I know.

Mama Jane, Ill see you when my assignment is over down here. I cant wait to hug you. Thank you for everything. Only God can be the one to show you the impact you had on Gabe, Bump, and me.

BB, you are an old soul and Wendy and I are more thankful for you as each season passes. You have no idea how much you light up our lives. We love you.

Abba, to quote Larry Fleet, I aint too good at prayin, but thanks for everything. You are my treasure. I am Yours throughout all eternity. Thank You for saving me from hell, myself, and only You know what else. Thank You for every single blessing in my life.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

S haun Tabatt, I am enjoying the brotherhood that God is growing. Fun to see so many prophetic words come to pass. Lets stay low and finish well. Hes worth it.

Susan Thompson, lets be honest, if not for you Id be in trouble. Big time. Thank you so much for making me a better writer than I really am.

Toni Bogart, thank you for speaking truth into me. All of those conversations were very helpful and Im sure down the road that I will thank you again. I was listening more than you think.

Hammer Team, my thanks to each of you for not judging me in my mess. Yall are some great human beings. Id be lost without yall.

INTRODUCTION

O ver the years, I have learned that not only does God want to heal us, He also highly values using our stories of healing to bless others because He is driven by both covenant and Kingdom. In covenant we find connection and intimacy with Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. But it doesnt stop there. Genuine covenant relationship with the Triune God leads to Kingdom building.

God loves to bless others with our stories as a way to build His kingdom on the earth. We all have a story, and that story is our message. Recently I heard Robin Roberts, a long-standing news anchor for ESPN, ABC, and other stations tell a story about how her mom told her that her mess would be her message. That statement rang inside of me like a loud bell. I dont know what your story is, but I do know that the Father wants to engage with it, and also use it to help many others get to know Him.

C.S. Lewis once said that God shouts to us in our pain. He certainly shouted to me in mine, in the most loving voice. In the darkest night of my soul, on my kitchen floor in a fetal position in the midst of prescription drug withdrawal, I found the Father. Coming off of years of high-powered anxiety and depression medications too quickly left me a physical and emotional disaster that threatened my literal sanity. Yet, here I am 20 years later, and as I look back on my journey with God, I am left to say one thingGod is so good.

Jesus could have chosen anyonethe best, the brightest, the most capable, yet He chose twelve humble fishermen to be His covenant kingdom builders. The stories of their often-messy lives became part of the message of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul boasted of two thingsbeing the chief of sinners, and the least of all apostles. Paul boasted in his weaknesses and maybe we should as well. Gods grace flows to the lowest places. It found me on the floor, a messy, broken person who didnt know how much I was loved by Father God.

Ive been a lead pastor for a long time and I have noticed over the years how many people dont realize just how powerful their own stories are. The world needs less polished superstar orators and more normal messy people who tell their stories. Your mess is your message. When Holy Spirit said, Chad, I dont want to waste your fetal position, I knew it was time to wrap my mind around the power of God in my mess and get out there with my story. God picked me up, cleaned me up, healed me up, and sent me out with my messy message so that you can get a glimpse of His glory through my mess. He wants do the same with you. God wants your mess to become your message.

Open your heart to Him as you read this book. Take a chance on being vulnerable with the God who already knows everything about you anyway. You may discover yourself finding an authentic connection with God on a level youve never experienced. God is not afraid of our messes so why should we be?

Father, help us

CHAPTER ONE

THE FATHER

I t has been many years since I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I have seen things straight out of the book of Actshealings, miracles, signs, and wonders. Yet here I am now years into walking in the Kingdom admitting that the only thing that truly matters to me is deep friendship with Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. This realization came into sharp focus for me after the death of a dear friend. It jarred me in a good way even though his passing took me by surprise. Having a good friend who is now standing in the presence of the God he so loves made my journey of faith so much more real. I was reminded afresh that our time here on earth is short. My friends death put a new urgency inside of me to deeply hunger for the Father. I left the funeral by myself and became quite emotional. From the bottom of my gut I cried out, Father, I just want to know you. I want deep friendship with you. In the weeks that followed, I began to ask myself some serious questions; to think deeply about what really matters in life. Since then, I have found that I have a clarity of thought that is bringing into focus why I am on this earth. The Fathers heart is showing me that I am here to build deep friendship with Him, and to bring as many others as possible into deep relationship with Him. That whats family looks like in the Kingdom.