Scripture:
"Be on Guard...!" Luke 17:3
Observation:
Driving alone on a long trip has a way of lulling me into mindless trance. Initially when I set out on the journey I am alert. I notice everything. I am looking at signs, watching traffic, and checking my gauges. But before long the rhythmic noises of the highway put me into a trance. Suddenly, I find myself in a "the lights are on but no one is home" state of mind.
Then suddenly something will happen. A car pulls out in front of me. A cop behind a tree. A ringing of my phone. Or sometimes it is just the realization that I no longer no where the heck I am. Regardless of the source, something inevitably snaps me back into reality.
Application:
I find life is the same way. The daily grind of living life becomes just as rhythmic as driving down the interstate. Before long, I am not living life alert. I am just going through the motions. Inevitably, something will happen that snaps me back into attention. A scare with my kids. A failure at work. A close call with death. The loss of a friend. Snap! Life suddenly takes on a new meaning and I often recognize I am living with regrets.
The movie The Bucket List tells the story of two men who are trying to complete their list of dreams before they die. The world definitely offers a each person their own version of the bucket list. I have often been consumed by my own. Success. Trips. Experiences. As I read this chapter from Luke, I see another version of a bucket list. A bucket list that matters:
1. Forgive myself when I stumble and strive to not cause others to fall.
2. Offer forgiveness to anyone who asks, regardless of how many times they ask it.
3. Do the right thing because it is the right thing. Expect nothing in return. Live on the edge of my faith.
4. Realize that time and people are a precious gift. Make the most of both.
Prayer:
Stumbling blocks are everywhere and I am prone to fall. I have slipped many times and will slip still many more. I pray for forgiveness, but I never really let it go. Guilt carries these failures with me like a weight or burden. I ask tonight that You heal the hurt I carry and I pray that You guide my steps so that I may not cause anymore to stumble than I already have.
People are broken. We all are. Quite often, we end up hurting each other. Sometimes its accidental. Other times it is intentional. Regardless of the intent, I desire to be a person of forgiveness. I want to go to my grave with no contempt on my heart. You have forgiven me much and I long to do the same. Help me abandon my right to be offended and simply offer grace to those who ask it of me.
I want rewards. I desire recognition. I do not mind doing the right thing but I expect to profit from it. I recognize tonight the sin in that. Instead of gain, I ask that You create inside of me a sense of duty that is content to do the right thing regardless of the personal cost to me.
I take relationships and time for granted. This has caused me much regret. I have lived life for 33 years. It is hard to recount where all the time has gone, and it is easy to remember all the people I have lost. So much has of both have been lost. I don't want to lose anymore of either. I can never control the timing of things, but I can control the quality of life I life with others. Help me make the most out of each encounter I have with another person.
It is not possible for me to live out these four things. As simple as they sound, I will mess it up. I will fall down tomorrow. Someone will be lead astray by my actions or attitudes. My selfish ambitions will lead my good deeds. I will make assumptions about the amount of time I have with people and blow opportunities for impact. All these things are inevitable unless you intervene in my life.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
No Shortcuts
Scripture:
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble; You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me." Psalm 138:7
Observation:
There are a few things that jump out in this Psalm. David does not once ask for trouble to just go away. He does not ask for the situation to be removed from him. He claims the goodness of God, asks for strength and then proclaims the end result of his walking through trouble.
David did not pray pie-in-the-sky type prayers. This Psalm was grounded in the reality of his situation. He did not escape a magical solution that would pull him out of his circumstances. He simply focused on God and owned the fact that he had to face his circumstances and fight through what was before him.
Application:
Shortcuts. When I think of the world I live in today, that is what comes to mind. We are a people of shortcuts. Computers, calculators, cell phones, PDA's, self-check outs, book summaries, etc all are designed to make things run more efficiently and get what we want in a shorter period of time. I have trained myself to seek out a quick, easy, efficient and effective method to anything. Just yesterday my mother and I saw a spider that neither of us had ever seen. It was a really weird looking creature. I pulled out my iPhone, hit google, and in a matter of minutes knew that I was looking at Gastercantha, a spiny backed spider native to Florida. 15 years ago discovering that information would have taken weeks of research.
The thing with God is that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has not changed His methods with the evolution of the world. He has not upgraded His tools of communication. He does not have a facebook page. He does not text message. He did not setup a data base and give me a google tool to search it. And He does not offer a simplified plan for working out our faith. That is where my frustrations come to bear weight on me.
Prayer:
I ask You for forgiveness. I whine way too much about my circumstances. There are many times that I come to You seeking a solution to a problem; not to further my relationship with You. I have made an idol of circumstances and sought the god of easy solutions. I have acted foolishly in doing this.
I will no longer bow down to my circumstances. I will no longer seek shortcuts to problems. I desire to have my prayers shift their focus from escape and instead focus on my desperate need for Your strength to carry me as I walk through the problems of life.
I ask today that You magnify Your name in my life today. I pray the You prove the greatness of Your glory by the fruit made evident in the outcome of my choices. In the midst of my struggles, when I am at my weakest moments, I pray that you revive me, stretch forth Your hand before me, and carry me through by the power of Your right hand.
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble; You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me." Psalm 138:7
Observation:
There are a few things that jump out in this Psalm. David does not once ask for trouble to just go away. He does not ask for the situation to be removed from him. He claims the goodness of God, asks for strength and then proclaims the end result of his walking through trouble.
David did not pray pie-in-the-sky type prayers. This Psalm was grounded in the reality of his situation. He did not escape a magical solution that would pull him out of his circumstances. He simply focused on God and owned the fact that he had to face his circumstances and fight through what was before him.
Application:
Shortcuts. When I think of the world I live in today, that is what comes to mind. We are a people of shortcuts. Computers, calculators, cell phones, PDA's, self-check outs, book summaries, etc all are designed to make things run more efficiently and get what we want in a shorter period of time. I have trained myself to seek out a quick, easy, efficient and effective method to anything. Just yesterday my mother and I saw a spider that neither of us had ever seen. It was a really weird looking creature. I pulled out my iPhone, hit google, and in a matter of minutes knew that I was looking at Gastercantha, a spiny backed spider native to Florida. 15 years ago discovering that information would have taken weeks of research.
The thing with God is that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has not changed His methods with the evolution of the world. He has not upgraded His tools of communication. He does not have a facebook page. He does not text message. He did not setup a data base and give me a google tool to search it. And He does not offer a simplified plan for working out our faith. That is where my frustrations come to bear weight on me.
Prayer:
I ask You for forgiveness. I whine way too much about my circumstances. There are many times that I come to You seeking a solution to a problem; not to further my relationship with You. I have made an idol of circumstances and sought the god of easy solutions. I have acted foolishly in doing this.
I will no longer bow down to my circumstances. I will no longer seek shortcuts to problems. I desire to have my prayers shift their focus from escape and instead focus on my desperate need for Your strength to carry me as I walk through the problems of life.
I ask today that You magnify Your name in my life today. I pray the You prove the greatness of Your glory by the fruit made evident in the outcome of my choices. In the midst of my struggles, when I am at my weakest moments, I pray that you revive me, stretch forth Your hand before me, and carry me through by the power of Your right hand.
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