I Didn't Say "Fun"

Recently I was talking with a youth about some choices and how much more deeply satisfying it will be in their core to choose to honor God and love and serve others than anything they could do for themselves. After some thought the youth said, "But it won't be as much fun." I pointed out that I hadn't used the word "fun" and that they were right, it wouldn't be as much "fun," but that I was talking about something much more satisfying and lasting than temporary fun.

The world is right. There are a lot of things more "fun" for a moment than surrendering to God in that moment and loving or serving another person instead of yourself. I can't argue that the alternatives are a lot more fun than helping out a parent, or submitting to what someone else wants to do instead of you want to do, or doing an unpleasant job that needs doing but others are walking around. But I didn't say, "fun."

What I did say is that there is nothing we can do for ourselves that will match, at a level of deep satisfaction and lasting joy, what comes to us by choosing to love another more than we love ourselves, and to express that love in tangible acts of selflessness. To walk in the plans prepared for us by the Star Breather Himself when He created us—what greater honor or deeper joy could there be? To make God smile and to open up a flow of relationship with Him instead of quenching or grieving His Spirit—what higher goal could there be than this? To invest in things eternal instead of things that moths eat and rust destroys and thieves steal—what could rank higher than that? To say to God, "I love you" through our life and not just our words and songs—what louder voice could there be than that? To be conformed closer to God's image—what higher desire could there be for ourselves than that? And what an adventure and promise of clarity of God's voice it is to explore, through our obedience, the amazing words of Jesus in John 7:17 when He says, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority."!

No, I didn't say "fun." Didn't mention the word. I can't argue against fun for the moment. Curl up with a good book, or help someone unclog a toilet—I won't even try and say that the toilet wins over the book for "fun." But this isn't about fleeting fun that in the end has no lasting value—it's about finding the deepest level of satisfaction possible in living in the plans we were created for and expressing our love for our Creator through our obedience to Him and our laying ourselves down for another . . . and experiencing the closeness with Him and intimacy and fellowship that seems to often spring forth from simple acts of love and obedience.

And, you know what? I've often found that when I have obeyed and loved, often I'll sense the Spirit release me to have "fun" and He often prepares the way and blesses me in it far more than I could ever do for myself on my own. And it feels so much better to know He's given me the fun, than that I took it when my Spirit was nudging me to something else I turned away from.

Subtle Shift of View

When fighting a wildland fire we (our volunteer department, along with state agencies we work with and, I would imagine, all fire services) often post lookouts to keep an eye on the big picture of the fire around us. You get such tunnel vision when you are up in the flames and attacking the fire and adding lengths of hose and hot and tired that you might not even see the fire has jumped the line behind you, and is circling onto you or is cutting off your escape routes. The military faces similar problems when the intensity of the moment so narrowly focuses you that you miss the bigger picture happening around you. I am sure many, many other professions or situations face the same thing . . .

As Christians I have a sense that in our daily life we can often get so focused on the situation or person in front of us that we are dealing with that we can easily lose sight of the bigger picture as well. This can be dangerous, especially in causing us to give a home to unBiblical thoughts and attitudes that can rob our joy, cause us to feel defeated, start to live under burdens that God is not placing on us, give root to unGodly emotions, etc. I had the thought this morning as I reflected on the lives of many people I know, that there are three areas (these are just the ones that came to me almost immediately) that we might, with a subtle shift of perspective, dramatically bless our daily walk and faith. They are:

An Offering: What if, for example, we are dealing with a boss who is, simply, a jerk. We can as Christians look at them so much they fill our whole frame of view. We can become filled with the guilty back and forth in our heads, "I'm supposed to love them. I have to love them. I am supposed to submit to them, etc." We could repaint this example with any number of situations that similar thoughts might fill us with. No matter the scenario, if we simply let them fill our focus it becomes a miserable effort for us. But, what if we stepped back and said, "I can love them as my deeply personal offering to God. I can submit to them as my worship to the One who humbled Himself and died for me. Lord, I am going to love this person and I give you this love as my offering and worship. You, Father, who first loved me that I could love You. I love for You and it is a gift I joyously give You." I wonder how much of a difference it would make if we didn't make it about the person, but about Him? If we saw that love we were about to give as a gift wrapped up and as we begin to love we pictured ourselves handing that gift to Jesus on the throne, and Him taking it with His nail-scared hands?

Not the Enemy: Ephesians 6:10-12 encourages us and tells us, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (ESV) What if, instead of becomming so focused on the person causing us such pain, we could remember to see that they are not our real enemy but rather we are in a spiritual war? If we can direct our anger at the real source and recognize that the person in front of us is simply a part of the fallen world and the spiritual war we are in, it might really help us to see things properly and to let go of some of the hatred and anger in us toward them that cripples our walk, our faith, our relationship with God, etc. If we can keep the real enemy the real enemy it will, I believe, help prevent roots of bitterness and a lot of wasted effort and energy directed at something that isn't going to change anything.

Unto Jesus: In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus tells us of a future time. He says, "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' " (ESV) What if, instead of just seeing a need in front of us, we could see it as a chance to minister unto God Himself? What if, instead of one more thing calling on our already thin resources we could see that person and realize that what we do unto them Jesus receives as if it was done unto Him, Himself? Might it feel different to realize that what we do unto that person is seen, by God, as a personal ministry to Him?

These are just a few things that came to me in my reflections. I wanted to share them with you in the hopes they might bless you this day as well. If this concept of perspective being important in the daily Christian life speaks to you, you might also want to check out my Oct. 24, 2012 post: Taking a Step Back. I hope you have an amazing week, deeply aware of His love for you. Thanks for reading and sharing in my life.   —Erick

Inward or Outward?

Today I was sitting in a VA waiting room with a bunch of other vets waiting to be called for my routine physical. As I watched the nurses calling people and weighing them in one nurse seemed particularly rushed and even a little sour. One patient tried joking with her and she was obviously not appreciating it, and she was clearly not in a good mood (I need to say that this is the exception, not the rule, for all the people I have encountered in the VA system—the ones in the clinic I go to seem to truly care about vets and want to serve them).

As my time drew close to be called I thought, "I hope I don't get her!" Who'd want, after all, a grumpy nurse weighing you in and asking you questions and taking your blood pressure? But, almost immediately after that thought, I had this thought pop into my mind, "But what if she needs what you have?"

It was profound. In a mere second I saw my complete self-focus, desiring to make things easy for me, to have a cheerful nurse, etc. My eyes were completely focused on my self and my ease and comfort and pleasure. And in a moment, with a simply thought, it was as if the eyes of my heart spun 180-degrees and I saw myself as possibly there for her, and not for me. After all, I know the One who loves her and who brings hope and joy and peace and love into our lives. I carry His presence, and I bear His image. It was amazing how fast my entire focus shifted and I found myself excitedly saying, "God, if she needs what I have please give her to me as my nurse!" I was actually hoping to get her and eager to see what He was up to! It was incredible, actually, how quickly I went from being there to be served, to being there ready to serve. It was almost funny to think that maybe I'd been brought there not for me, but to do His business there.

I never did get her as my nurse, but I did get a real glimpse into my heart and into how quickly I can slip into a place of inward, self focus and forget just who I am in Christ and who goes with me and in me. I am worried about my own comfort and actually praying, without realizing it, that I might miss a divine appointment. Isn't it awesome how even in a place we go to in order to be served that we can find a place to be the server! May God open the eyes of our heart to see their inward focus and ignite in us a desire to be in the service of others, carrying His image and love and power to them!

Immanuel . . . In and Through Us

Note: I look forward to sharing more about the issue of Christian "rights" which I wrote on last time, but today I want to share something a little different. ("Rights" being those things/promises from God we can stand on in faith because God says that they are ours since we are His.)

Immanuel . . . Traditionally the day(s) right after Thanksgiving are when we take out our Christmas stuff. It is a time the girls, especially, look forward to—eagerly anticipating the movies and music and, when we are able to get it, the decorating of the tree. This year, however, a situation in the life of some friends caused us to put that off. We wanted to spend the bulk of those days helping them and our whole family participated. I felt like God shared with me a special way to talk to the girls about it, and I wanted to share it with you.

Friday morning I told the girls that we were going to begin celebrating Christmas that day (eyes wide, smiles big, excitement there, Christmas movies envisioned) . . . but, that it might not be the way they were thinking. I then asked them what one of the names of Jesus was, tied in to the Christmas story—a name that our family has used often to remind each other of God's presence. They answered "Immanuel" and, when asked what it meant, said "God with us." (Matthew 1:23)

I then talked with them about how, while Jesus was here on earth, God was with us in bodily form through Him. But, then, something amazing happened—He died and ascended to Heaven, and His Spirit came to dwell in believers! From being in one body at one time, to being in every Christian at the same time!

Through my asking them questions and drawing them to realizations, we talked about how, when a lady in our fellowship is serving as a nurse, it is really Jesus who is loving the people through her. We saw how, when someone else in our fellowship is loving someone else at their work place, it is really Jesus loving them through them. And then, how we were going to have the privilege to allow Jesus to love our friends through us as we allow ourselves to be His hands and feet.

It was amazing how the girls got it—that Christmas hasn't ended when Jesus died, just expanded! That now God (while present, certainly, around us at all times) is tangibly with us, living through us, as His children. Immanuel has the potential to be true in and around every believer at all times and, so, that miraculous aspect of Christmas continues and expands as believers surrender their lives and allow Him to live His life and love and serve others through them!

So, Merry Christmas! Immanuel! God is with you, believer . . . and He seeks to be with others through you! What an amazing comfort and privilege that is to know!

Feeding the Multitudes

I just finished reading an autobiography of Andre Vandernberg (A Nickle’s Worth of Hope). In the last chapter it is recounted about a time it seemed God was calling him to a new position and he was hesitant to go. He basically got alone with God and told God that there were other people with better qualifications (sounds like Moses!). God showed Andre in his mind the scene where Jesus was about to feed the 5,000 (Matthew 14 actually says that it was 5,000 men and we don’t know the number of women and children). God then asked him, “Do you think the boy who gave the five loaves and two fishes was the only one who had food with him?”

As Andre reflected he realized that out of those thousands there were, very likely, others who had some provisions with them—but the boy was the only one willing to give all he had. The Lord then impressed on Andre that while, indeed, there were others with more qualifications, He wanted him to be like that boy. He told Andre, “. . . it was because that boy was willing to give all that he had that My name was glorified and others were helped.”

We have probably heard the expression, “God doesn’t want our ability, but our availability.” There is a lot of truth to that (which doesn’t say He can’t or won’t use our ability as well!). I don’t know what God has placed on your heart, but I know that He simply wants all that you have. He is more than capable of making up the rest. Early on in my pastoring I struggled deeply with not having seminary, and felt there were others so much more versed in the Bible and Hebrew and Greek, etc. Since then, however, I have come to find that God has used me tremendously when I have simply given Him all I have. All my skill in the world means nothing if it is held in a tight fist, but God can come in and fill in an open hand in the most amazing ways!