Have you ever come across someone who was already very talented at something, but needed a little extra guidance to make them unstoppable?
In the book of Acts (chapter 18, verses 24-28) we encounter a Jewish fellow with an odd combination of knowledge. He had extensively studied the Old Testament and was very familiar with what it prophesied about the coming Messiah, but he was also a follower of John the Baptist’s teachings. That might not seem so strange, but the teachings of John the Baptist were the limit of this guy’s New Testament experience. He lacked a complete understanding of the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the Church as God’s new witness people.
His name was Apollos.
Apollos was unusually skilled in debate and public speaking. He arrived in the city of Ephesus and started accurately teaching in the synagogue what he knew about the Messiah. He eventually attracted the attention of two well-known followers of Christ, Aquila and Priscilla. This pair recognized that Apollos’ understanding of the situation was incomplete, so they pulled him aside and brought him up to speed, giving him a more full understanding of Jesus and His role in God’s plan.
Armed with a more robust understanding of “The Way,” Apollos then went on to “vigorously refute the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:28). Apollos went on to become a very prominent teacher in the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:12), and his knowledge and skills were so great, Paul wanted him to use him in different cities (1 Corinthians 16:12).
Apollos was a man that became a powerful tool of God’s Church, but before all that, when he first arrived on the scene, he wasn’t yet ready to be the full version of what he would later become. It took the husband/wife team of Aquila and Priscilla, a faithful Christian couple, to mentor and disciple him. This was an ordinary, faithful couple who saw a need and filled it. As a result of their faithful behavior, they helped enable Apollos’ ministry for years to come.
Faithful service to the Lord doesn’t always involve flashy events. More often than not, it’s quiet, unseen efforts with lasting effects. In what ways can you use your gifts to enable someone else for greater success in the Kingdom of God? Is there someone you know who could benefit from your Christian mentorship?
Lord, people have been following Your teachings for just about two thousand years now. So much of that has come from the passing of knowledge and teachings from one Christian generation to another. Please help me/us as we look to be taught by, as well as mentor, other Christians. Praise You for helping Your followers thrive even in the unlikeliest places. Amen.
I’m going to build a little on last week’s post. In that post I talked about how sometimes it feels like spreading the Gospel can seem like it’s having no effect or is falling on deaf ears. The post also highlighted the encouragement found in the parable of the sower, which teaches that all sowers (people spreading the Gospel) are fruitful to some degree.
I’ve been writing articles for this blog for some time now. Last month was the blog’s seven-year anniversary. I’ve written on some of the inspiring things I’ve seen, some of the weird things I’ve done, and some of the mundane things I’ve been a part of (and a whole lot of other stuff, too). If every person has a story to tell, this blog is the most centralized record of my story.
In the months leading up to starting this site, it was something I had to wrestle with. I felt led to start blindly sending these little anecdotes from my life out into cyberspace. “But why, God? I mean sure, I know You can use it, but…me? What do I have to say that others haven’t already said?”
I’m an introvert who gets drained by interaction with lots of people, but I still have a lot to say. It turns out the practice of putting these posts online is almost like God saying to me “Look, I know you. I know what’s too much for you, and I know what will break you. There’s a reason you’ve done the things you’ve done and lived the life you’ve lived, and this is Me asking you to turn those experiences into illustrations for people I want to hear something you’ve learned. At the same time, I’m allowing you to do it in a way that suits who you are. You’re not doing speaking engagements. You’re not on the road away from your family, doing events where you’re shaking lots of hands and pretending like you’re going to remember everybody’s name. You’re writing these posts from the comfort of your own home. I’ll tell you what…you just keep going until I let you know it’s time to stop. In the meantime, I’ll bring the people I want to the specific post I want them to see.”
And so here we are. This is post number 400 for DareGreatlyNow.com. That’s a big, round number, and a milestone worthy of reflection. I’m completely oblivious to what kind of impact all those posts (or sometimes individual posts) are having. I’ll only find out the full story after I’ve taken my last breath. I know the site has hosted visitors from almost every country in the world at some point or another, but don’t know the extent to which those readers agree with whatever they’re reading, or if it even has an effect on their thinking at all. It can be a little maddening in that sense. Sometimes I have to remind myself of the attitude I should be having. I picture God saying “Hey…eyes on Me. You don’t work for them, you work for Me, you understand? You just keep going until I let you know it’s time to stop, and I’ll take care of everything else. You’ve been very faithful with this so far, don’t think I haven’t seen it. I’m using your stuff in something I’m working on, so don’t give up now. Keep going. We’ll talk more about it later.”
Sometimes I take a look at what posts have been read in the last month, and it can be surprising. Something I thought would have been a great post gets minimal hits, while some unexpected little ditty from years ago is in the top 10. I guess that’s God bringing the people He wants to the post He wants them to see.
I heard a leadership speaker recently say something you don’t often hear: “Great leadership is boring. You don’t have to be the best to be a great leader, you just have to be consistent.” Then he threw this math equation out there, and it’s one that resonated with me. He said (Consistency + Faithfulness) x Time = Lasting Impact. That was an encouragement as well, because that’s the model I try to bring to DareGreatlyNow.com. Someday I’ll find out the whole story.
So with this milestone, thank you so much to those who have shown support over the years. I appreciate you reading some of my posts!
Lord I thank You and praise You for knowing me better than I know myself, and for a calling that is custom-designed to be one I can embrace. The consistent work on this effort, using what You’ve given me, is what I consider my version of “a living sacrifice,” and I offer it to You as an act of worship and dedication. Thank you that I don’t have to worry about finding the person who’s supposed to read something, knowing You’ll take care of that need. Thank You for providing such a wide variety of experiences to draw from, and for safety (mostly) during them all. I ask that these efforts will be a blessing to someone, and that You’d use at least one of them to grow or otherwise benefit Your Kingdom. With sincere gratitude, Amen.
Very few people know this about me (or remember it), but I had an odd way of trying to make extra money once upon a time. After college I moved back in with Mom and Dad and my main job was working in construction while I paid back student loans. The money was good, but the job usually only went until about 3 pm and I had some extra time and energy as a young 20-something, so I went looking for a side hustle. Oddly enough, there was a brief chapter in my life where I was a telemarketer.
Now you have to understand, I hate when telemarketers call me, so it was an interesting development. This was more than 20 years ago; back then it wasn’t robo-calls, it was actual pick-up-the-phone-and-call-someone stuff. I got a huge list of phone numbers, broken down by Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. I didn’t have names, just phone numbers. To provide privacy to our home phone number, the system was set up so I’d call and log into it, and then I’d be able to dial other phone numbers from there.
I had a script to use for pitching the product. Truth be told, I don’t even remember what I was trying to sell, or who I worked for. I called so many phone numbers. Hardly anybody answered. It would be some ridiculous ratio like, call 10 numbers to get someone who picks up, but only one in 10 people you talk to would even listen to your whole pitch, so you’d have to make like, a hundred calls before you even get a glimmer of hope. (And that’s probably being generous.) Between all those calls and tying up Mom and Dad’s phone line, it didn’t take me long to figure out that this wasn’t worth the effort for me. I quit without ever making a sale.
Not to discourage anybody, but it can kinda feel like that sometimes with spreading the Gospel. You can have tons of conversations, you can scatter that seed far and wide, and you can live your life in a way that people know there’s something different about you, but sometimes you wonder if you’re making a difference for the Kingdom of Christ.
For those of you who may feel this way, I’d like to point you to the parable of the sower, found in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. As Jesus explained the parable to them, He explained that some people who heard the Gospel received it with gladness but then rejected it at the first sign of trouble, or how others had the Good News choked out by worry or wealth. Finally though, He talked about the good soil. Matthew 13:23 says “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
This is very heartening news! Although there will be varying degrees of fruitfulness, this verse is saying that all Christians will be fruitful to some degree. Nobody’s wasting their time. Don’t quit spreading the Good News. You might not be there when someone “crosses the threshold,” but your efforts can be part of the collective body of work that it takes to get them to that threshold. Think of a tree branch that snaps under the weight of snow in a snowstorm. On their own, each individual snowflake doesn’t do much, but at the direction of the Holy Spirit, the collective weight of all of them brings them to the point where something big happens.
So keep spreading the news with gladness wherever you are and in whatever role you find yourself. You’ll only find out the full story of your impact in Heaven.
One nice thing about having very young kids is having the freedom to vacation without being at the mercy of the school calendar. Before our kids were old enough to start school, we took them for a beach vacation the week of Labor Day, when rates dropped but the weather was still warm.
The Labor Day weekend was packed, of course, with lots of people wanting to cram in one last beach trip for the summer. Once Tuesday rolled around, though, we had the beach to ourselves. Even the lifeguards stopped working. The kids could chase seagulls all they wanted without worrying about anyone else on the beach.
While the kids ran around on the sand, I noticed a guy who was probably in his 50s standing in the dunes, just kind of keeping an eye on us. He was almost, I don’t know, disapproving in the way he watched us. After awhile he came walking across the sand to speak to me. He wanted to remind me that there would be no lifeguards on duty at all that day, and that “even he” wasn’t going to stick around much longer. In my mind I thought “dude, if you left, I’d probably be more at ease. Don’t stick around on my account.” He added something like “it would be a real shame” if we let the kids get too close to the water and something happened to them. Thanks buddy, we drove all this way to come to the beach and not watch the 3-year-old and the almost-2-year-old. I just assumed he was some kind of senior lifeguard switching off summer mode, but without introducing himself, the whole “even he” statement and his “helpful” advice landed in a way he probably didn’t intend. I believe he meant well, but without even introducing himself or stating his role, you can imagine that he just kind of came across as a little condescending.
Have you ever tried to tell people about Christ without taking the time to “read the room” first? Even if you have the purest of motives, people don’t often take kindly to folks who jump into a conversation with them and tell them how they should be living their lives. I’m not saying God can’t use the encounter, but it seems prudent to consider how the people you’re engaging perceive your entry into the conversation. Maybe at least try a little chit chat to demonstrate your willingness to listen to their perspective before hitting them with fire and brimstone or “sinners in the hand of an angry God.”
I’ll concede, though, that if it comes down to a choice between having a curt discussion about the need for Christ and saying nothing at all, being curt takes priority. The Gospel doesn’t get spread without people spreading it. My point here is simply that when you’re about to tell people they’re destined for eternal punishment because they’re living life apart from Jesus Christ, it’s best to have a little empathy because making people defensive right off the bat tends to help them reject what you’re saying.
Going back to the guy on the beach, nothing he said was incorrect. I even think he meant well. It was his attitude and delivery that overshadowed his message and made me want to tell him to buzz off, and I want to prevent anything like that from getting in the way of someone’s acceptance of Christ as their Savior.Lord, I know You call us all to spread the message. Even if I don’t feel well-practiced, give me the words and the boldness to jump in when I feel you calling me to do it. Help me remember that even though I could obsess over not “doing it right,” You can build poor attempts into something magnificent, and are pleased by my obedience.
Ever hear of a sloppy, unrehearsed presentation trouncing a very polished one?
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve written about the urgency of our situation as Christ-followers. We’re not recommended…we’re commanded…to go out and make disciples of all nations. That can be tough. What’s that look like?
The most important thing is that we try. Making an honest attempt equates to obedience here, and obedience is one of the things God wants from us. Although a well-rehearsed, logical presentation of the Gospel is something to work toward, lack of a prepared version is not a good excuse for skipping the attempt. No matter how prepared you are for the pitch, you’re not the one who gets to decide if it penetrates the heart:
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. –John 6:63
God can use a fumbling and bumbling version of a Gospel presentation just as much as He can use a highly stylized, well-practiced delivery. Jesus is pretty particular in reminding us about this. Later in the same chapter, Peter started speaking a little pretentiously, and implied that he and the “true disciples” had somehow acquired superior insight, and as a result of this insight, had decided to believe. Jesus was quick to correct him about who did the choosing:
Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. –John 6:69-70
God expects us to obey, but He doesn’t expect us to be rock stars at evangelism. Picture a dad playing with his young kids and a ball. “Throw Daddy the ball!” All the kiddo has to do is get it close, and Daddy will make the catch and complete the play. Same thing here. Just obey, and get it close. If it’s part of His plan, God will take it from there.
This leads to an important point. Not everyone who hears the Gospel will respond to it, especially the first time they hear it. That means there needs to be more presentations of the Gospel than there are acceptances. That’s where you come in. You don’t have to be successful, you just need to be obedient. Obedience is your responsibility; outcome is God’s responsibility. He won’t be disappointed in you for obeying what He told you to do.
I understand it’s a scary thing, and we’ve been conditioned not to talk about God in the workplace. Let’s start small and you can grow from there. If you’re not going to go out and tell people about God, use the times He brings people to you. The next time a solicitor knocks on your door, guess what? They’re not going to complain to HR about you discussing God with them. They came to you. They’re on your turf. Just because they have something to offer you doesn’t mean it’s a one-way street. I guarantee what you have to offer them is far more valuable than what they’re offering you. Don’t pretend you’re not home.
Not sure what structure to follow? There are a ton out there, and some methods lend themselves to different personalities or levels of memorization. As long as you’re covering these three areas, you’re sharing the Gospel. 1. Why we must be saved. 2. How Jesus can save us. 3. What we must do to be saved.
The Pray and Say – More people than you’d think are open to having you pray for them. Try articulating the Gospel during a prayer with them.
The Roman Road – Using five different verses in the book of Romans, you walk folks through the need for Jesus. Think you can memorize five verses?
The 1-minute Gospel – Some people reject the Bible because it’s the Bible. No Bible verses required for this one.
The Billy Graham Method – It worked for millions of people, and is pretty simple.
The Five-Finger Method – Five fingers help you remember five points to make.
Ultimately, you’re the best judge of the method you should use…these are just some ideas to get you started and work with complete strangers. You’re welcome to use these, or any other method, on strangers, people you know casually, or people who are very important to you.
I encourage you to check out the link. We (Christians) are here for a reason, and the enemy doesn’t want you to follow through on it. Remind yourself that you don’t have to present the Gospel perfectly, you just need to present it, and it gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to do some big stuff in a person’s life.
Lord, help me remember what’s truly important in this life and to be willing to follow through with what You’ve called me to do. When the time comes, give me the words to say, and may You be glorified through me. Amen.
Well, another school year has come and gone. More than any of his report cards or achievements in extracurricular activities that came this year, I’d like to celebrate one of my son’s accomplishments.
A middle school lunchroom is not a fun place to be. It’s bustling, it’s loud, and I probably picture a little bit of a prison chow hall when I think of one. One day this past school year, a kid sitting near my son started choking on his food. The obvious look of distress on his face gave it away. My son asked him if he was choking, and the kid nodded with wide open eyes.
“Stand up.” My son walked behind him and did the Heimlich once or twice, dislodging the problematic food chunk. The kid was able to breathe normally after that, thankfully. During the whole episode, which probably lasted 30 seconds or less, no teachers or lunch proctors noticed. My son said only about three or four kids in the immediate area realized what was going on and witnessed the event.
I’m not sure where he learned the Heimlich Maneuver, but I’m glad he did. Way to go, Pal! I’m proud of you!
Have you ever been in a setting where you assumed you were there for one reason, but in reality your presence ended up being pivotal for something different? Don’t make the mistake of thinking God can only do one thing at a time through you. God can use you, His beloved, to walk, chew gum, and do yo-yo tricks all at the same time.
You limit what God can accomplish through you when you restrict your willingness to do the different things He calls you to. If that’s something you’re doing, God’s not the limiting factor…you are.
As an enlisted troop in the Air Force, I picked up on some of the nuances of performance appraisals from a friendly Captain. I’m not sure how much things have changed since then, but at the time, it seemed customary to not say anything bad about the person being evaluated.
How do you distinguish between a troop that’s outstanding and a troop that’s sub-par? According to this Captain, it was all in the nuance.
“If you’ve got a troop who’s absolutely amazing, can do no wrong, and you think should be promoted immediately, you say things like ‘they walk on water,’ or ‘they stand head and shoulders above the rest.’ If, on the other hand, you’ve got somebody who still needs to do some learning, you talk about how much ‘potential’ they have.”
I protested a bit. “But isn’t ‘potential’ a good thing?”
“It is, but it means it’s not yet realized. ‘Potential’ refers to untapped talent that has yet to be harnessed.”
I was thankful for this little glimpse into the art of politely distinguishing between the skill levels of subordinates, and in a way, I believe it applies to Christ-followers today. You see, at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts to Believers. He calls us to use those gifts for His glory, but He doesn’t often compel us to use them. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, our potential as Christians is absolutely through the roof, and we each individually decide how much we want to allow God to have His way in our lives. The more the better, as we’ll see when we get that final performance appraisal from the Lord.
(As far as I know, Simon Peter is the only guy other than Jesus who could have a performance appraisal claiming a literal ability to “walk on water,” at least for a little while.)
It’s not possible for us to be “too” good at using those spiritual gifts. Don’t worry, God will put a cap on what He wants out of our employment of those gifts. It’s the minimum ability we should be focused on. Our goal? By the time we take our last breath, we should have no remaining untapped potential to use our spiritual gifts.
My family was recently driving along when we encountered a dangerous situation. We passed through an intersection just as a four-car accident occurred. We weren’t involved, thankfully, but it’s not often you’re so close as something so serious happens.
Without getting into drawing pictures, there were two cars waiting in the turn lane to turn right, when a third car came up behind them and slammed into one of the cars. There was a screech of brakes right before it happened, but the car was going pretty fast, and still hit the car in front of it probably between 20 and 30 mph. The car that got hit had its back end picked up and tossed, and the offending vehicle spun a bit too, and ended up striking a car in the next lane. The vehicle that got hit hard struck the vehicle in front of it. This all happened as our family was approaching the intersection from the opposite direction, turning left and driving directly in front of where all the cars were pointing; those lanes of traffic were at a red light as our family crossed in front of them.
We were in a position to quickly get to each of the vehicles, so we stopped and my wife and I got out; we were the first people on the scene who were not involved in the mishap. Two of the cars’ occupants were totally fine (and one of them was already talking with 911 and checking on the people in the other cars). The guy in the offending vehicle seemed okay, but he was kind of acting in ways that didn’t make sense, like he was disoriented. I don’t know if that had any bearing on his failure to slow down in time, but by the time I got close to him he had been through an impact, the car’s airbags had gone off, and the car was facing a different direction than when he last had control of it, so that could have altered his mental state.
The last vehicle, the one who got hit hard from behind, had a driver inside who was hurting pretty bad. He stayed inside the car for awhile, writhing in pain. The guy on the phone with 911 was in there with him. The hurt dude stayed in his seat for a bit, but eventually decided to get out of the car. I should have tried to get him to stay in the vehicle. He struggled to stand on his own, so I helped him over to the grass, where he laid down and rolled around on the ground, his back and neck in serious pain. Thankfully it didn’t take long for fire, police, and ambulance to arrive on the scene. I have no idea what became of any of those folks, but that one guy’s going to be hurting for a long time, and may never walk without pain again.
This isn’t my first run-in with situations requiring emergency services. I can’t tell you why, but God has inserted me in a number of crisis situations where somebody called 911. I’ve already written about several of them (bakery blackout, swing swim, father-in-law fiasco, and highway hazard), and there’s at least one or two more I haven’t posted. Sometimes I’m the first person to arrive, other times I’m just another person able to be there to lend a hand. I haven’t been certified in any kind of CPR or first aid for about 20 years. I’m just an ordinary guy. Why does God keep steering me toward these predicaments? I have no idea. I can ask Him one day, but for now I just roll with it.
I wasn’t really sure which direction to take this post. I just wanted to write about an out-of-the-norm event that happened, but I’ll add some observations for you in the event you find yourself in a similar situation, where you might be able to help somebody’s bad day from being worse.
First and foremost, if you arrive on the scene of an emergency situation, make sure somebody has called 911. In scenarios where seconds count, minutes can seem like an eternity, so ensure those wheels have been set in motion. If you’re the one that calls 911, tell them your location and what kind of services you need so they can get the right people moving your way, and then fill in the details. Secondly, make sure you’re not going to make the situation worse by inserting yourself into it. It’s one thing to deal with an acceptable level of risk, but it’s another to recklessly complicate the situation for the trained responders. Only step in if you’re going to make things better. When first responders arrive, get out of their way.
In talking to other people who deal with a lot of emergency situations, I certainly haven’t seen it all, and there’s a lot I haven’t had to deal with. I have, however, noticed that there are a few reactions people commonly have when you show up at a time of great uncertainty. Here are a few I’ve noticed.
Some people are glad they’re no longer alone in facing their crisis. While it’s certainly nice if you know what you’re doing, sometimes they’re just so glad not to be alone that they don’t really care how helpful you can be. A little human warmth and compassion is a powerful force in shaping these folks’ outlook, so if there’s no immediate danger, that may be your best bet.
Other times people are so keyed up and full of adrenaline, they start doing something just for the sake of keeping busy, even if it doesn’t make sense. I’m sure EMTs can tell plenty of stories about showing up at someone’s house to see someone laying on the floor having a major problem while someone else in the house is organizing spices or sorting papers or something. You can help the situation by providing structure during times like these. If they’re obsessing in a way that’s counterproductive or that’s going to get in the way, give them a job that removes them from the picture. “Call 911 and tell them you need an ambulance at (insert address/location).” “Go wait for the ambulance and guide them in here.” “Go make sure the kids are okay and they don’t wander off.” “Help with crowd control.” “Write down a list of medications this person’s on.” Pointing someone in a purposeful direction by giving them something useful to do can make a difference when time is a factor.
Confusion and/or disorientation. Harrowing ordeals have a way of disrupting your brain’s ability to think rationally. Peoples’ threshold for this varies widely; you’d be surprised at how easily this can occur. On the flip side, sometimes you meet people that don’t seem fazed by anything. Regardless of what type they are, just try to make sure they’re safe and keep them from wandering off until first responders arrive.
The emotional and mental processing start to resolve themselves. You can often see people start to become overwhelmed when they realize what almost happened. They may be totally safe after a near-miss, but the adrenaline kicks in and there’s nothing for it to help with, so peoples’ muscles start trembling or they need to pace. You can talk in soothing tones and all that, but the adrenaline just needs to get burned off. It gets awkward sometimes. They’ll usually be pretty tired when it’s over.
Recounting what happened. I’ve seen and done lots of high-risk stuff, so I understand the desire to tell someone all about what took place. Not everyone realizes it should wait until after everybody involved is medically stable, though. Subtle hints usually don’t work during times like this, so you might need to be a little direct in telling people to pipe down while you focus on more important things.
Well hopefully you’ll never need to call 911 or encounter an emergency situation, but if you do, remember these things: Make sure help’s on the way first. Then make sure it’s safe for you to enter the scene. After that, use your best judgment on how to make the most serious thing less serious. Finally, help in whatever way seems best, but make sure you’re not getting in the way when the professionals arrive.
Lord, we live in a broken world, and sometimes that fact becomes painfully obvious. If you call upon any of us to take part in any sort of crisis situation, please give us clarity of thought, excellent judgment, and supernatural wisdom to recognize what actions we should and should not take. Let us be your hands and feet, along with a ray of hope, to someone whose day just took a turn for the worse. I ask in Your name, amen.
I’m at the age now where I’m too old to do all the things I used to be able to do, but I’m not old enough to realize I should sometimes skip the attempt. I think it’s safe to say it’s a little late for me to start thinking about a career as a professional athlete.
The kids are getting quicker and I’m getting slower. Injuries and sore muscles take longer to overcome. I rest a little longer between sets when working out. I could push through the pain, but these days I put a lot more thought into whether or not that’s a good idea. It feels like every year gets a little shorter than the last one. In my mind I’m still in my mid-twenties, but the aches and stiffness in my joints tell a very different story. I blinked and it’s twenty years later.
I share this because I want to emphasize to you the idea that our time here is short. For our lives to have an eternal impact, we have to be doing productive things in the here and now, and the here and now is quickly passing us by. That means our time is precious and should be filled with purpose. Here on Earth, we’ve only got one lifetime to make a difference for those not currently headed to Heaven. Eternity hangs in the balance, and the stakes are the highest they could possibly be.
Got time for two and a half minutes of Christian motivation? Here’s one of my favorite quotes from this clip I hope you check out. “My life is too valuable, my calling too great, my God too good, to waste my life on things that do not last.”
Time is short. Live with a sense of urgency and intentionality. You have ONE life during which to make an eternal impact.
It’s funny just how much kids can teach you about God’s dealings with us.
I’ve got three kids; a girl, a boy, and another girl. They all have different approaches when they know it’s time to leave the house.
My oldest is very deliberate, and spends a lot of time planning to avoid feeling rushed. As long as she knows the departure time, she’ll work backwards from there to calculate time for clothes, time for hair, time for gathering necessities, etc.
My son doesn’t take much time to get ready. After years of urging him to prepare, get shoes on, and use the bathroom in preparation for departure, he’s demonstrated that as long as he knows what’s coming, there’s really no need to call him until we’re about 60 seconds from actually walking out the door.
My youngest is funny. We’ll warn her about our impending departure, but she’ll stay wrapped up in a book for as long as possible. When we tell her it’s time to get shoes on because we’re leaving, that’s when she goes and packs a snack and some water. We end up waiting for her because her idea of “time to go” doesn’t jive with ours.
Based on their three different personalities, we treat them differently when we know about a deadline or timeframe we want to adhere to. The three of them need different sets of guardrails to arrive at the same end state. Their approach might be to have all questions answered before formulating a detailed plan, agreeing to the task without having much information at all, or just bobbing along with whatever today brings.
Now, keeping that parenting analogy in mind, how great is it to be known by a Creator who understands us better than we do? He knows what motivates us, what overwhelms us, what inspires us, and what deflates us. He knows exactly what we need when it’s time to get us moving in a certain direction.
Similarly, we’re all offered different opportunities to take part in building Christ’s kingdom throughout our Christian lives. We’re not required to do them, but different sets of blessings and challenges come along with each one. God already knows which of those opportunities we’ll take part in and which of them we’ll decline. He offers us invitations that are easy to accept, and others which prove to be more difficult. I imagine that while He enjoys seeing us accept those easy ones, it brings Him genuine joy to see us choose to accept the hard ones.
So the next time you know God’s extending a challenge to you, even if it’s one you don’t want to accept, why don’t you take a closer look at taking Him up on it? He knows you better than you do, and He’s going to give you everything you need to take on that challenge. Either in this life or the next, there’s a special blessing for you on the other side of your obedience.
