I’ve seen the Jonas Brothers now six times in concert. I also attended a softball game their band played at, I went to a Joe Jonas concert at Six Flags, and I saw Nick Jonas on Broadway. (I met Nick that day!) They were a staple of my teenage years and forever hold a special place in my heart. There’s a lot I could say, but for this part, I’m going to focus on 2023.
When the Jonas Brothers announced the “THE TOUR: Five Nights. One Album.” at a local and familiar arena, I was excited. But knowing the ways and prices of Ticketmaster, I wasn’t sure if this was something worthwhile. The skeptic in me contemplated if I should even try. Like any big decision, I gave it to God.
My prayers sounded something like this: “God, if You want me to be there, You have to make this process effortless and affordable. I want the Verified Fan sale and face value, good seats.” I gave God quite the list of things I wanted to happen and left them with Him. I could have gone either way about it.
And then I got the Verified Fan presale through Ticketmaster, which is supposedly hard to get.
I went to get tickets (while at work) and the craziest circumstances happened that allowed me an effortless process. I even clicked around and went back and forth before choosing my seats. They would be the perfect view of both stages at a reasonable price.
I prayed for a friend to go with. It was tough because friends kept canceling on me. But it worked out where my best friend from high school came with me. We hadn’t been in person together in years, so that was huge.
And as much as I wanted to upgrade my seats as the show got closer, I felt convicted to keep the ones I had. They were good – they were the second row of the upper level, on an aisle, right by the B stage. You could see the whole arena and all of the stage so clearly.
The day of, I made a couple jokes about the casino/arena, including that I’d become a high roller just to get the best (and free) seats for the Jonas Brothers. (Not really, though…I don’t like casinos.)
But what’s even funnier is that, when we go to our seats, we found out that the row in front of us was the high roller reserved seats…and nobody wanted them. That whole row was cleared except for a couple of ladies directly in front of us. They came to the show to eat their dinner and left shortly after it started. So we had front row of the balcony, right above the stage, with hardly anyone in our row. The perfect view of both stages.
Since we were closest to the B stage, we were up close for some of my favorite long-lost Jonas Brothers hits. They really performed five albums in a night, including my all-time favorites. To be that close and to have that perfect view was a dream come true.
And then, with parking, my plan was to get a rooftop spot in the garage because it’s easiest to park there and quite possibly an easy way to get in the line to leave. We got to the roof and scored the first spot by the elevators and the door to the inside. What I didn’t know is that it was also the best spot to get out. In this garage, you have to go all the way up to get out. I went down the ramp and landed on the highway within 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes a half hour!
So…besides these blessings, what did God reveal to me this time?
It’s all about my identity.
From where I was sitting and standing, I could see everything in the arena. I smiled at the seat I had for their tour in 2009 and the place I had in 2019.
I thought…This tour is something special, but was it always this good? And I have to say yes. I just hadn’t experienced a Jonas Brothers concert in a while. (And life for the past two years has been good, but also really challenging at times.)
It was as if God was drawing an arc from concert to concert, skipping over those “I don’t understand why this is happening” horrible moments, to remind me of my identity.
It was in those days, in the 2000s, when I developed my gift of being a tech person. It was through their concerts that I found my passion for video production. It was also when I recognized how much I appreciate knowing the inner workings of event planning. I enjoyed the set lists, the stage setup, how the confetti cannons were so carefully angled, even how the barricades were arranged. (For their 2009 world tour, we can’t forget the rain wall, the foam, or the lasers.) I appreciated when I could find out more – not just because I like the Jonas Brothers, but because God was truly revealing my gift of administration. Maybe that’s why I went to so many shows – I enjoyed their music, but the production itself intrigued me. All this time passed and I didn’t see it until now. God met me there and used those concerts to bring out the best of me.
I am not the things that happened to me. I am not the hard moments I faced. It’s easy to share my story by focusing on the negatives of what I’ve been through, especially to share the goodness of God in those seasons. But that’s not the best way to share who I am. And it’s not the only way to describe how God has moved in my life. Finding encouragement through our shared struggles is one thing, but it can be easy to lose our sense of value when it’s all we focus on.
This is who I am: a Jesus-loving Jonas Brothers fan with gifts of administration and production. I love to make new friends, even if it’s by randomly starting a conversation in line. I value experiences and memories, and my collection of photos and tour shirts reminds me of these days.
In 1 Peter 2:9-10, Peter reminds us of who we are in Christ:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
The enemy will try to destroy us (John 10:10). One way he does that is through messing with how we see ourselves.
But we are not defeated. We have been transformed by the gospel. We are victorious because Jesus has overcome (John 16:33).
Our identity is not marked by the bad things we do or the things done to us. God only sees us as His beloved children. Because of Jesus, God defines us by the best of who we are. We are chosen, forgiven, and free.
Consider the Joy 
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