Today's reflections on life
I say "today's" because as we have different moods, experiencing the ebbs and flows of life our take on it all morphs, giving us different perspectives on our meaning, purpose, significance. Not to say that the foundation for our lives changes. I believe we're here to give our lives in worship of our Creator. This is done through our surrender to Him and our following Jesus' as our primary example/standard for life. Crazy to wrap it all up in one sentence like that...but consider it the thesis statement which could be expanded through the rest of the essay.
Anyway...life. I remember having conversations that started like this with a Bible study class I taught back in TX. Don't know if they were into those conversations or if they just rolled their eyes (unbeknownst to me) and thought "here he goes again". But sometimes I just get reflective and begin to think about the big picture, my/our existence on this big chunk of rock.
Life's hard...really hard, isn't it? I mean sometimes you just think "how can I do this?". Sometimes the stress and pressure is so overwhelming that it just doesn't seem like it should be this way. I find myself evaluating the decisions I've made which have brought me to this place, trying to determine if I've messed up somewhere along the way or if this is just the way it has to be. In those times I think about whether or not I've truly followed God's desires for my life. Boy is that a big can of questions!
The questions really focus on one word...a word which I really don't like very much. Will. Specifically, God's will. I don't like that word because I spent many years of my life (as if I'm that old) thinking that if you make a choice which is out of God's will then you're done...game over. That understanding of God's will was definitely one-dimensional. You either do this or you're not in My will (says God). It's tough to live with that kind of pressure and honestly I've come to believe that this is not really the message that was taught through Scripture (which should be our standard, right?).
Instead of the 1-D approach, I've come to see much of life as multiple choice. Providing we are really following Christ - longing to give everything we've got to serve and worship Him - then there are many times that we are presented with multiple options which all fit into this thing called God's will. He will be pleased with any of the choices we make because they are all in line with His character, they all bring honor and glory to Him, they give us opportunities to live out our relationship and show others that they can experience Life as well. It's sort of like those "choose your own ending" books we read as kids. There are definite pieces that are sort of concrete but others which are in flux as we are given the opportunity to stretch our proverbial muscles and make wise decisions for ourselves without having to worry constantly about veering off course and getting spiritually thumped on the head by the Mighty Disciplinarian.
Of course this is not to say that we're going to have it easy...even when we're in God's will. Just pick up a copy of the latest revision of Fox's Book of Martyrs and you can see that following God will not always have an earthly happy ending. That's definitely a misnomer that modern evangelism has perpetrated on many (follow Christ and everything will be magically better).
What's the point, Shattuck? I guess it's this. Life is hard, no matter. But just as I blogged the other day about the first "beatitude", God is there with us in big proportion when we feel like we're at the end of our rope. I really have got to learn, though, that He doesn't just push or pull us up. He supports us as we climb. Man do I have trouble with that. I'd rather just go limp and let Him do the work. But when I do that I just fall off the rope completely and then have to work that much harder to get back to the place from where I fell!
See, I'm doing it. Just being reflective and typing. Better stop now while there's at least one set of eyes reading (thanks mom, haha). I pray that each of you has a great day with Jesus today. I pray that you draw so near to Him in order to hear His every word that you can feel the breath of His whisper on your ear. And in doing so, that when you come to the point of desperation...when you feel the bristled end of the rope brushing against your palm, you will not have to look far for your Rescuer.
Anyway...life. I remember having conversations that started like this with a Bible study class I taught back in TX. Don't know if they were into those conversations or if they just rolled their eyes (unbeknownst to me) and thought "here he goes again". But sometimes I just get reflective and begin to think about the big picture, my/our existence on this big chunk of rock.
Life's hard...really hard, isn't it? I mean sometimes you just think "how can I do this?". Sometimes the stress and pressure is so overwhelming that it just doesn't seem like it should be this way. I find myself evaluating the decisions I've made which have brought me to this place, trying to determine if I've messed up somewhere along the way or if this is just the way it has to be. In those times I think about whether or not I've truly followed God's desires for my life. Boy is that a big can of questions!
The questions really focus on one word...a word which I really don't like very much. Will. Specifically, God's will. I don't like that word because I spent many years of my life (as if I'm that old) thinking that if you make a choice which is out of God's will then you're done...game over. That understanding of God's will was definitely one-dimensional. You either do this or you're not in My will (says God). It's tough to live with that kind of pressure and honestly I've come to believe that this is not really the message that was taught through Scripture (which should be our standard, right?).
Instead of the 1-D approach, I've come to see much of life as multiple choice. Providing we are really following Christ - longing to give everything we've got to serve and worship Him - then there are many times that we are presented with multiple options which all fit into this thing called God's will. He will be pleased with any of the choices we make because they are all in line with His character, they all bring honor and glory to Him, they give us opportunities to live out our relationship and show others that they can experience Life as well. It's sort of like those "choose your own ending" books we read as kids. There are definite pieces that are sort of concrete but others which are in flux as we are given the opportunity to stretch our proverbial muscles and make wise decisions for ourselves without having to worry constantly about veering off course and getting spiritually thumped on the head by the Mighty Disciplinarian.
Of course this is not to say that we're going to have it easy...even when we're in God's will. Just pick up a copy of the latest revision of Fox's Book of Martyrs and you can see that following God will not always have an earthly happy ending. That's definitely a misnomer that modern evangelism has perpetrated on many (follow Christ and everything will be magically better).
What's the point, Shattuck? I guess it's this. Life is hard, no matter. But just as I blogged the other day about the first "beatitude", God is there with us in big proportion when we feel like we're at the end of our rope. I really have got to learn, though, that He doesn't just push or pull us up. He supports us as we climb. Man do I have trouble with that. I'd rather just go limp and let Him do the work. But when I do that I just fall off the rope completely and then have to work that much harder to get back to the place from where I fell!
See, I'm doing it. Just being reflective and typing. Better stop now while there's at least one set of eyes reading (thanks mom, haha). I pray that each of you has a great day with Jesus today. I pray that you draw so near to Him in order to hear His every word that you can feel the breath of His whisper on your ear. And in doing so, that when you come to the point of desperation...when you feel the bristled end of the rope brushing against your palm, you will not have to look far for your Rescuer.
posted by Michael Shattuck at
1:45 AM
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