Rubber orange arm floaties. They weren't the most chic accessory ever. The point may have been to keep toddlers from drowning, but perhaps I was a disproportionate three-year-old. To me they presented the unavoidable dilemma of restricting vital arm motions and encouraging me to face- plant into the chlorine rather than remain upright. I hated them and avoided them at all cost.
One slight problem. If I told you how old I was when I finally learned to swim, you'd laugh in my face. So I won't. But trust me, it was ridiculous. Going sans floatie was seriously living on the edge for a little kid. I had a secret weapon though. Dad.
The deep end, with it's enticingly azure water was so much more intriguing than the shallow end of the pool where I usually lingered near the steps and the stainless steel railing. Inch by inch I would step along until the little shelf where the floor began to drop farther away from the surface. It was over my head and my feet didn't like the feeling of losing the texture of cement below.
One day as I sat pool side, tiny feet dangling in the deep end, Dad said the iconic words "Jump in. I'll catch you."
"YES, please!" Was my first thought, but then something along the lines of "Heck, NO" quickly followed. I mean, what if he missed? I didn't know how long it would take before I drowned, but it had to be something like three seconds...that's quite a gamble.
Deliberation and fear eventually gave way to curiosity. I stepped back a few feet to get a good running start (which you should never do at a pool kids) and then I jumped. The wind rushed against my face and I was suspended in mid-air for what felt like ages. Then feet hit the water...and I didn't feel his hands. I was down, the water rushed over my head and the certainty that the end was near overwhelmed me like the force of the water. And then, I felt his hands. As quickly as I had gone under I was pulled back to the surface and into his arms. In the deep end of danger, I was safe.
And this, my friends, is how I feel about life. There is a deep end, and it beckons with the invitation to adventure. But far more importantly, the deep end offers the opportunity to experience the sufficiency of God to both call us to jump and to catch our full weight when decide to trust Him.
Today I leave for Southeast Asia. No, I'm not scared. What's to be scared of? This is another small opportunity to jump in the deep end and swim around. I'll be out and drying off again in two-ish weeks. This is just a swimming pool. One day, I'll be jumping in the ocean baby, and swimming out to be lost at sea.
And that's enough water-related metaphor for now. Ciao. Peace. Love.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
a series of mini-lives
Transformation. How many times can it happen in one lifetime?
People often say things that are wistful and tinged with regret. It is easy to look back and miss what once was. It's easy because time has a way of fading the edges of pain. They say hindsight is 20/20 and in some ways I suppose we are able to look back and get more of a bird's eye view of past life events. Hopefully we dissect the past enough to learn from it once the raw emotion has faded. But I think as a human race we are more inclined to look backwards with sentimentality. The good 'ol days don't really exist, you know. Even Mayberry had its issues.
But I digress. What I meant to say is that I am daily astonished to remember that I live in Virginia. This life is so very different from the one I had anticipated for myself. In fact, when I look back, what I see so far is a series of mini-lives. It's as though I were the same character in a bewildering variety of settings. My life hasn't been that long really. I'm what, a third of the way through an average (American) life-span? But I haven't lived one life, I've lived many. One day we should get a big cup of coffee and talk about our mini-lives together. There are good stories there just waiting to be told.
Perpetual life-change inspires me to see that I am not stuck in one life pattern. I will always be becoming. Each season of life, each set of experiences and relationships, brings out and refines a new element of my character. Sometimes a mini-life is characterized by success. Sometimes it resonates with the theme of failure. But what others see as failure has begun to look like freedom to me. Every failure was birthed out of risk. Fears that are faced are fears that lose their power. Whether we succeed or fail, we grow more free with each attempt to reach outside our predefined lives.
We are all dynamic characters. You can't live any sort of life as a static, one-dimensional archetype. It's just not possible. We're fluid, we rotate in and out of roles, and most of the time we don't see it happening. Yet life has a strange continuity in its diversity. I am who I have always been, but I am also becoming who I was always meant to be, who God created me to be.
People often say things that are wistful and tinged with regret. It is easy to look back and miss what once was. It's easy because time has a way of fading the edges of pain. They say hindsight is 20/20 and in some ways I suppose we are able to look back and get more of a bird's eye view of past life events. Hopefully we dissect the past enough to learn from it once the raw emotion has faded. But I think as a human race we are more inclined to look backwards with sentimentality. The good 'ol days don't really exist, you know. Even Mayberry had its issues.
But I digress. What I meant to say is that I am daily astonished to remember that I live in Virginia. This life is so very different from the one I had anticipated for myself. In fact, when I look back, what I see so far is a series of mini-lives. It's as though I were the same character in a bewildering variety of settings. My life hasn't been that long really. I'm what, a third of the way through an average (American) life-span? But I haven't lived one life, I've lived many. One day we should get a big cup of coffee and talk about our mini-lives together. There are good stories there just waiting to be told.
Perpetual life-change inspires me to see that I am not stuck in one life pattern. I will always be becoming. Each season of life, each set of experiences and relationships, brings out and refines a new element of my character. Sometimes a mini-life is characterized by success. Sometimes it resonates with the theme of failure. But what others see as failure has begun to look like freedom to me. Every failure was birthed out of risk. Fears that are faced are fears that lose their power. Whether we succeed or fail, we grow more free with each attempt to reach outside our predefined lives.
We are all dynamic characters. You can't live any sort of life as a static, one-dimensional archetype. It's just not possible. We're fluid, we rotate in and out of roles, and most of the time we don't see it happening. Yet life has a strange continuity in its diversity. I am who I have always been, but I am also becoming who I was always meant to be, who God created me to be.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
a penny is only worth .006 of a cent anyway.
Following Christ is not a prayer we pray so that we might reap a temporal life of earthly comfort. It is a recognition of a truth so transforming that we can find no more appropriate response than laying down our lives in gratitude.
When the cost of following Jesus seems too high a price to pay we ought to remember this: we were bought with the price of His life. He surrendered His perfection on our behalf. We were enslaved to death, imprisoned by fear. There was no underground railroad to which we could run, no way out of our bondage. There would be no emancipation for our souls, no reparations for our suffering. We would die. The fear of that death drove us to fill this life with all manner of sensual pleasure and attempts at building a legacy on this earth in order to render our memory, if not our soul, immortally enshrined in the minds of men. There was no other way towards significance or fulfillment, and we intensely desired to matter, to live.
Can the cost be too great when we realize the price of our freedom not just to choose, not just to become the best possible version of ourselves, but even more fundamentally, to LIVE and to live forever? The blood-debt we owe Him is one we can never repay, and so joyfully we enslave ourselves to Him because we are at last truly free to choose our own master and there is none so gracious and generous as He.
Rather than bemoaning the cost of discipleship, rather than begging Him to spare us the hardship or save us from the difficulty we ought to plead for the opportunity to go. Reveling in the great joy of our rescue we should find ourselves petitioning God to send workers out with his message of freedom and truth: liberty to those held captive by death! More than asking Him to send others, we should answer the call of Heaven "whom shall I send and who will go for us?" by shouting and leaping in a frenzy of desire to be chosen for the task, "ME! I WILL GO! PICK ME! CHOOSE ME! SEND ME!"
God should not have to coax, cajole or bribe us into proclaiming hope to our neighbors and to the nations. We ought to be like finely-tuned racehorses in the Triple Crown, foaming and anxious to run, stopped from all-out pursuit of His kingdom only by the closed gate in front of us and the reins of the Holy Spirit holding us back until the time He has chosen to fire the pistol and let us spring into action.
The cost of surrendering everything we own, our dreams for ourselves and even our physical life is mere pennies in comparison with the bottomless treasure of eternity.
When the cost of following Jesus seems too high a price to pay we ought to remember this: we were bought with the price of His life. He surrendered His perfection on our behalf. We were enslaved to death, imprisoned by fear. There was no underground railroad to which we could run, no way out of our bondage. There would be no emancipation for our souls, no reparations for our suffering. We would die. The fear of that death drove us to fill this life with all manner of sensual pleasure and attempts at building a legacy on this earth in order to render our memory, if not our soul, immortally enshrined in the minds of men. There was no other way towards significance or fulfillment, and we intensely desired to matter, to live.
Can the cost be too great when we realize the price of our freedom not just to choose, not just to become the best possible version of ourselves, but even more fundamentally, to LIVE and to live forever? The blood-debt we owe Him is one we can never repay, and so joyfully we enslave ourselves to Him because we are at last truly free to choose our own master and there is none so gracious and generous as He.
Rather than bemoaning the cost of discipleship, rather than begging Him to spare us the hardship or save us from the difficulty we ought to plead for the opportunity to go. Reveling in the great joy of our rescue we should find ourselves petitioning God to send workers out with his message of freedom and truth: liberty to those held captive by death! More than asking Him to send others, we should answer the call of Heaven "whom shall I send and who will go for us?" by shouting and leaping in a frenzy of desire to be chosen for the task, "ME! I WILL GO! PICK ME! CHOOSE ME! SEND ME!"
God should not have to coax, cajole or bribe us into proclaiming hope to our neighbors and to the nations. We ought to be like finely-tuned racehorses in the Triple Crown, foaming and anxious to run, stopped from all-out pursuit of His kingdom only by the closed gate in front of us and the reins of the Holy Spirit holding us back until the time He has chosen to fire the pistol and let us spring into action.
The cost of surrendering everything we own, our dreams for ourselves and even our physical life is mere pennies in comparison with the bottomless treasure of eternity.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Come. Taste. See.
To stand on the precipice of my own wretchedness and see what fate lay before me had not I been snatched from the edge affects a more profound realization of grace than I can withstand.
There are times when doubt overtakes me and leaves me wallowing in a mire of despair from which I cannot pull myself free. Here my view of my own sin is overwhelming. It hangs on me like a heavy black cloak, a death shroud, and frantically I search for its hem that I might free myself from its suffocating weight. I grieve for the wrongs that I have done, that I seem unable to avoid doing. Perfection beckons, and I would attain it, but my feet are like stones and my will so deeply rooted in my flesh that the cause seems hopeless.
Then you in your radiance and perfection pass by and I cannot bear to be so near your holiness. How much darker my sins seem in your presence! How much more desperately I long to have them removed from me, that I should desire them no more and pursue only righteousness! Like Isaiah I hear my own voice drawn from my chest, "I am a man of unclean lips!"
I would run and hide from you, as Adam and Eve in the garden, for I cannot bear your face upon my sin. But you bid me come and linger. "Come, be cleansed, have the bloodguilt washed from your hands and see through new eyes, think through a renewed mind, feel through a restored heart. Taste and see," you say to me, "For I make all things new. Enter into my courts where one day is infinitely more sweet than lifetimes elsewhere."
What is this grace that does not cast us aside when we falter and stray? Rather than abandon it pursues, knowing that we in our poverty could never attain the rescue of our own souls, nor perfect them when in the light of that glorious rescue we stand. From our lips pour forth praise and our feet will not be stilled from dancing in your throne room. You are our Redeemer! And we cannot help but proclaim your freedom to the nations for you, our God, have shown yourself to be the Hope of all mankind!
There are times when doubt overtakes me and leaves me wallowing in a mire of despair from which I cannot pull myself free. Here my view of my own sin is overwhelming. It hangs on me like a heavy black cloak, a death shroud, and frantically I search for its hem that I might free myself from its suffocating weight. I grieve for the wrongs that I have done, that I seem unable to avoid doing. Perfection beckons, and I would attain it, but my feet are like stones and my will so deeply rooted in my flesh that the cause seems hopeless.
Then you in your radiance and perfection pass by and I cannot bear to be so near your holiness. How much darker my sins seem in your presence! How much more desperately I long to have them removed from me, that I should desire them no more and pursue only righteousness! Like Isaiah I hear my own voice drawn from my chest, "I am a man of unclean lips!"
I would run and hide from you, as Adam and Eve in the garden, for I cannot bear your face upon my sin. But you bid me come and linger. "Come, be cleansed, have the bloodguilt washed from your hands and see through new eyes, think through a renewed mind, feel through a restored heart. Taste and see," you say to me, "For I make all things new. Enter into my courts where one day is infinitely more sweet than lifetimes elsewhere."
What is this grace that does not cast us aside when we falter and stray? Rather than abandon it pursues, knowing that we in our poverty could never attain the rescue of our own souls, nor perfect them when in the light of that glorious rescue we stand. From our lips pour forth praise and our feet will not be stilled from dancing in your throne room. You are our Redeemer! And we cannot help but proclaim your freedom to the nations for you, our God, have shown yourself to be the Hope of all mankind!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
compelled.
Sometimes placing one foot in front of the other day in and day out is the most fearless way to live. We do not achieve lives of greatness by seeking out adventure, by catapulting ourselves headlong into risk, cost uncounted. There is nothing wrong with risk. It is, in fact, required of us if we would live for the cause of Christ. There is nothing bad about adventure. On the contrary, if we live as we were designed to we will find ourselves immersed in an adventure of epic proportions. But we do not live for these things. Nor do we live for greatness, accomplishment or personal fulfillment. We live for Christ and in Christ and through Christ and because of Christ.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 cor. 5:14-15)
I do not lie awake at night dreaming dreams for myself. I lie awake because my heart is heavy with the burden of mourning and the weight of joy. Because I see around me death yet I feel within me life and daily I desire more to find a way to bridge this disconnect.
So, one foot in front of the other. Slow and steady, pressing forward. One brick upon another to build a life of character and integrity. Piece by piece stripping away the trappings of success and expectation to learn the heart of servanthood, the humility of surrender. It is here in seeking God's face, in straining our ear to hear his voice, in inclining our lives toward Him that we find all our desires fulfilled in the most unlikely way.
For I have counted the cost and have determined that though the cost be greater than I can pay, it is worth more than I can give. I would rather "waste" the sum of my days on the name of Jesus than indulge them on the pleasures of this life.
I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance, in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger, in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 cor. 6:2b-10)
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 cor. 5:14-15)
I do not lie awake at night dreaming dreams for myself. I lie awake because my heart is heavy with the burden of mourning and the weight of joy. Because I see around me death yet I feel within me life and daily I desire more to find a way to bridge this disconnect.
So, one foot in front of the other. Slow and steady, pressing forward. One brick upon another to build a life of character and integrity. Piece by piece stripping away the trappings of success and expectation to learn the heart of servanthood, the humility of surrender. It is here in seeking God's face, in straining our ear to hear his voice, in inclining our lives toward Him that we find all our desires fulfilled in the most unlikely way.
For I have counted the cost and have determined that though the cost be greater than I can pay, it is worth more than I can give. I would rather "waste" the sum of my days on the name of Jesus than indulge them on the pleasures of this life.
I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance, in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger, in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 cor. 6:2b-10)
Monday, November 8, 2010
Love, at War.
Love knows well the art of war. (1)
It is the battle cry of armies, the weapon of warriors and the prize claimed in victory.
Love brings the sword of Truth, (2) and with it peace.(3) Slicing through the lies that have intricately woven themselves into the fabric of existence, it severs bone from marrow.(4) Truth, where it is realized, separates father from son.(5) He who stands in Truth cannot be at peace with he who will not stand in it. What do light and darkness have in common?(7) Truth divides because it must.
Love, you see, can find no delight in what is evil; but it clings to what is True.(6) Love necessarily shuns everything that is not Love, for they cannot co-exist. Where there is pure black, can there be pure white? Can two things share the exact same space? Can the positive and negative poles of a magnet not repel each other? Where there is evil, there is not Love. That which is not Love can have no part in Love.
Like a Samurai with the patience to train, to endure the tedious and difficult, to reject that which will not perfect in pursuit of what will attain victory, Love discriminates because it must. It cannot embrace all that it is not and still remain all that it is, for Love is Truth. It is the very essence of that which really is.(8)
And yet, in an ironic twist, Love longs to embrace all. It fights to remove evil so that purity might reign, because in purity there is unity and in unity there is peace.(9) Love longs for unity, it desires peace.(10) Unwilling that any should perish,(11) Love fights so that all might live.(12)
But those who would marshal themselves against Love, those who refuse to surrender will find themselves vanquished, for Justice is the demand of Love. What would Love be if it were not Just? And as we have seen, that which is not part of Love is against it and it is this we call evil. Who would argue that evil must not be punished? Who would say that those who have committed the atrocities of murder, of genocide, of child slavery and countless other evils ought not be punished, ought not receive Justice? Do we not all hope for Justice in some form?
By what standard can evil be judged and Justice administered? By Truth. We hold it as self evident that there is Truth, do we not?(13) We claim rights based on Truth, and violations of these rights fall under the domain of Justice.(14) Only fully resting in Truth can there be genuine Justice, and only where there is Justice can there be peace.
So, Love, in pursuit of Justice and under the banner of Truth, is waging a Just War of epic proportions. It spans the centuries of time. It is the war to end all wars. It is the war that will finally result in overarching, eternal peace. Until all humankind are enveloped in this peace that passes all understanding, the peace that emanates from Love, Love is at war.
(1) Certainly all we might term "war" is not born of genuine love. And yet the principle remains constant. We are speaking metaphorically here.
(2) For Christ did not come to bring immediate peace as man would understand peace. Matthew 10:34.
(3) But He came to provide the way to peace through Himself. John 16:33.
(4) And this sword of truth is the very Word of God. Hebrews 4:27.
(5) Matthew 10:35-38.
(6) I Corinthians 13:6.
(7) I John 1:6, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
(8) 1 John 4:8. Exodus 34:6. 2 Samuel 7:28. 2 John 1:3. John 14:6. Exodus 3:14.
(9) Colossians 3.
(10) Zechariah 8:19-23.
(11) 2 Peter 3:9.
(12) 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.
(13) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Eights and that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." - The Declaration of Independence.
(14) Isaiah 59.
It is the battle cry of armies, the weapon of warriors and the prize claimed in victory.
Love brings the sword of Truth, (2) and with it peace.(3) Slicing through the lies that have intricately woven themselves into the fabric of existence, it severs bone from marrow.(4) Truth, where it is realized, separates father from son.(5) He who stands in Truth cannot be at peace with he who will not stand in it. What do light and darkness have in common?(7) Truth divides because it must.
Love, you see, can find no delight in what is evil; but it clings to what is True.(6) Love necessarily shuns everything that is not Love, for they cannot co-exist. Where there is pure black, can there be pure white? Can two things share the exact same space? Can the positive and negative poles of a magnet not repel each other? Where there is evil, there is not Love. That which is not Love can have no part in Love.
Like a Samurai with the patience to train, to endure the tedious and difficult, to reject that which will not perfect in pursuit of what will attain victory, Love discriminates because it must. It cannot embrace all that it is not and still remain all that it is, for Love is Truth. It is the very essence of that which really is.(8)
And yet, in an ironic twist, Love longs to embrace all. It fights to remove evil so that purity might reign, because in purity there is unity and in unity there is peace.(9) Love longs for unity, it desires peace.(10) Unwilling that any should perish,(11) Love fights so that all might live.(12)
But those who would marshal themselves against Love, those who refuse to surrender will find themselves vanquished, for Justice is the demand of Love. What would Love be if it were not Just? And as we have seen, that which is not part of Love is against it and it is this we call evil. Who would argue that evil must not be punished? Who would say that those who have committed the atrocities of murder, of genocide, of child slavery and countless other evils ought not be punished, ought not receive Justice? Do we not all hope for Justice in some form?
By what standard can evil be judged and Justice administered? By Truth. We hold it as self evident that there is Truth, do we not?(13) We claim rights based on Truth, and violations of these rights fall under the domain of Justice.(14) Only fully resting in Truth can there be genuine Justice, and only where there is Justice can there be peace.
So, Love, in pursuit of Justice and under the banner of Truth, is waging a Just War of epic proportions. It spans the centuries of time. It is the war to end all wars. It is the war that will finally result in overarching, eternal peace. Until all humankind are enveloped in this peace that passes all understanding, the peace that emanates from Love, Love is at war.
(1) Certainly all we might term "war" is not born of genuine love. And yet the principle remains constant. We are speaking metaphorically here.
(2) For Christ did not come to bring immediate peace as man would understand peace. Matthew 10:34.
(3) But He came to provide the way to peace through Himself. John 16:33.
(4) And this sword of truth is the very Word of God. Hebrews 4:27.
(5) Matthew 10:35-38.
(6) I Corinthians 13:6.
(7) I John 1:6, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
(8) 1 John 4:8. Exodus 34:6. 2 Samuel 7:28. 2 John 1:3. John 14:6. Exodus 3:14.
(9) Colossians 3.
(10) Zechariah 8:19-23.
(11) 2 Peter 3:9.
(12) 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.
(13) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Eights and that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." - The Declaration of Independence.
(14) Isaiah 59.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Jesus and Gravity
You know when people make that cliche' comment about muscles they didn't know they had being sore? I tried to find a better way to say that this weekend, but nada. Seriously, I think if you'd asked me yesterday I could have pointed specifically to every single one of the 640 muscles I have and said, "it hurts there." Although pointing might have been difficult considering half of those muscles had relegated themselves to a self-imposed time-out.
Why I initially thought it would be a good idea to bike with my dad's youth group (the lovely Fairfield Baptist of Centerville, TN. HOLLA!) across the state of Tennessee I'm not really sure. These things always sound awesome when they are not immediately imminent. I started out on track with my training. Found some new trails and bike paths in the Burg. All was well. Then I succeeded in busting up two bikes in rapid succession and finding myself in and out of sickness for three weeks. So much for training.
Honestly, I went this weekend thinking I might do one rotation and then just hang out, Tweet, and take a few pics. Unbeknownst to me, I got scheduled for three 15 mile rotations. I am SO out of shape, but when they call your name as "on deck," wimping out loses all appeal. I am not going to be the one who quits. And I'm wearing my padded bike shorts, so, game on.
There have been many times that I've pushed myself to a physical limit, that's not really anything impressive. But this time, there was something remarkably different about the experience. This wasn't about me or anyone else on the team. We were all riding for something bigger than us. There are people in Hickman County Tennessee who desperately need the love of Jesus, and this little group of teenagers had found a way to create a place where they could help create those conversations. Passion is contagious. And when you can sense the power of God through prayer fueling you, it's like being unstoppable. The road was rising up to meet us, and we were eating it up.
By the time I reached my final 15 mile rotation I was working on about 2 hours of sleep after 36 hours on the road and had 30 miles under my pedals (not really that awesome when you consider those guys who went up the Cumberland Plateau or logged over 100 miles). Thank the Lord He made West Tennessee more flat than the East. Every little hill was like torture. A couple times I literally thought that if I went any slower I'd probably fall right over.
10 miles through that third ride (shortly after I decided to liven things up with my wreck), when every muscle was screaming that there was nothing left to give, I had an epiphany. This is what it's like to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and STRENGTH. You can do things in life out of selfish motives, or because of the everlasting love of God that has captivated and consumed you.
Paul says "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (2 Cor. 9)
Loving God with all our strength doesn't necessarily mean something extreme. It does mean that we lay whatever we can accomplish physically at His feet. We are unafraid to sacrifice our mortal bodies, even unto death, because we know there's something bigger than this life. And let me tell you, it's amazing how when you love God with your strength, your heart, soul and mind start to align (and that works in any order!).
That became totally sealed in my my mind when at the end of the 15 miles I spotted the rest of the team cheering us to the finish from the top of a massive hill. My knee was bleeding and throbbing from my wreck and my body said I didn't have that last hill in me, but my heart said, "Almost home. None of that matters. Now I can see the end. Just finish. It's worth it." And it was.
I leave you with this...
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor. 4)
Why I initially thought it would be a good idea to bike with my dad's youth group (the lovely Fairfield Baptist of Centerville, TN. HOLLA!) across the state of Tennessee I'm not really sure. These things always sound awesome when they are not immediately imminent. I started out on track with my training. Found some new trails and bike paths in the Burg. All was well. Then I succeeded in busting up two bikes in rapid succession and finding myself in and out of sickness for three weeks. So much for training.
Honestly, I went this weekend thinking I might do one rotation and then just hang out, Tweet, and take a few pics. Unbeknownst to me, I got scheduled for three 15 mile rotations. I am SO out of shape, but when they call your name as "on deck," wimping out loses all appeal. I am not going to be the one who quits. And I'm wearing my padded bike shorts, so, game on.
There have been many times that I've pushed myself to a physical limit, that's not really anything impressive. But this time, there was something remarkably different about the experience. This wasn't about me or anyone else on the team. We were all riding for something bigger than us. There are people in Hickman County Tennessee who desperately need the love of Jesus, and this little group of teenagers had found a way to create a place where they could help create those conversations. Passion is contagious. And when you can sense the power of God through prayer fueling you, it's like being unstoppable. The road was rising up to meet us, and we were eating it up.
By the time I reached my final 15 mile rotation I was working on about 2 hours of sleep after 36 hours on the road and had 30 miles under my pedals (not really that awesome when you consider those guys who went up the Cumberland Plateau or logged over 100 miles). Thank the Lord He made West Tennessee more flat than the East. Every little hill was like torture. A couple times I literally thought that if I went any slower I'd probably fall right over.
10 miles through that third ride (shortly after I decided to liven things up with my wreck), when every muscle was screaming that there was nothing left to give, I had an epiphany. This is what it's like to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and STRENGTH. You can do things in life out of selfish motives, or because of the everlasting love of God that has captivated and consumed you.
Paul says "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (2 Cor. 9)
Loving God with all our strength doesn't necessarily mean something extreme. It does mean that we lay whatever we can accomplish physically at His feet. We are unafraid to sacrifice our mortal bodies, even unto death, because we know there's something bigger than this life. And let me tell you, it's amazing how when you love God with your strength, your heart, soul and mind start to align (and that works in any order!).
That became totally sealed in my my mind when at the end of the 15 miles I spotted the rest of the team cheering us to the finish from the top of a massive hill. My knee was bleeding and throbbing from my wreck and my body said I didn't have that last hill in me, but my heart said, "Almost home. None of that matters. Now I can see the end. Just finish. It's worth it." And it was.
I leave you with this...
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor. 4)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)