The Human Race...

Have you ever thought about the human race? I watched a movie the other day called "The Switch" and the main character made a statement about the human race that caught my attention. He said "Look at us, running around, always rushed, always late. I guess that's why we call it the human race." I think that this statement was dead on. We are always running in this imaginary race towards the end... the end of what though? Grades, graduation, work, marriage, retirement. We strive to make these things the best they can be. We have our plans set in stone, we know where we want to live, where we want to work, people we want to date; but what if these plans got completely flipped upside down. What if our race turned into a steeple chase with a hurdles and a flood of water that greets us when we fail to clear the hurdle properly? Recently, it seems that I've fallen into that pool of water and all that I was running for has disappeared. So here I am stuck in the middle of a race with no idea where I'm going. All I know is that I am moving forward and when I get to a turn I turn left. And when I get to a hurdle I jump. And when I'm told to stop I'll stop. In Matthew 6:25-33 it says"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than the clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O YOU OF LITTLE FAITH? Therefore do not be anxious, saying 'what shall we eat?' or 'what shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. BUT SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU!" I absolutely love that passage and I think about it every time I hit the hurdle and I land face first in that gorge of water. We all worry about so many things, but really there is nothing to worry about. So what if I stumble. So what if I fall. Jesus was bruised and bloody for me when he left, and I am not greater then he, so why should I live a easy, carefree life. I think the best illustration of this is to have a group of people draw a picture together. No one is allowed to talk, and when they draw they can only make one mark at a time. The picture in the end will look nothing like the picture any of them expected at the beginning. And the reason is that sometimes there is a greater picture that we have yet to see, and that is what everything is working together to create! The actor in "The Switch" concludes the movie with the thought "Every once in awhile in all the randomness, something unexpected happens, and it pushes us all forward. And what I'm starting to think. And what I'm starting to feel is that maybe... the human race isn't a race at all." I think this sums up life in a statement. In the midst of all our struggles, the curve balls, the failures, something great will happen that God has planned. So why be anxious because God will propel us forward, and to this finish if only we keep running.

Power In Him

So I recently finished my book "Forgotten God" and it was a great book. It really got me thinking, and examining my life and my faith. I'm sure you know this, but examining your life sucks. You always see all the things that are wrong in your life, and it's so much easier looking at the flaws of other people, then looking at the flaws of yourself. Just the other day, I caught myself thinking about how I could not believe people would come to church and play on their phones and not pay attention. Then I realized I had spent the last 5 minutes daydreaming about how rude the people on their phones were and here I was practically doing that same thing. I was lost in thought and could not recall the last few points the preacher made. However, I think the worst part about examining your faith is all the planks that you find. The reason being when you figure out the ways you are sinning or things that the Bible says to live by, and we ignore those things, then we are falling further from Christ. And it's hard to pull a plank out of your eye. It hurts. I really don't think that Hollywood portrays this well because it seems like every war or action movie when someone gets stabbed or has something protruding from their skin, they just sternly rip it from their flesh and toss it aside. I wish I was this strong. Capable of simply ripping my daggers or planks from my flesh, tossing them aside, and continuing on my way. But instead, I'm a coward crying in the corner, holding onto my daggers, afraid to remove them because of the blood that might gush forth and the empty wound that would need tended to. I wish I was as strong as the apostles who threw away everything to follow Christ and believe. Or Zacchaeus who repaid all that he had stole and then some just to follow Christ. These people are true heroes in my eyes, who truly ripped out their daggers and filled their wounds with God. I have been a coward for practically all my life, avoiding the issues that I had, and that I partook in, and I was never sure how I would ever overcome these hindrances. But Francis Chan gave me a little insight on how we can get through. Chan encouraged the reading of John 14-16, and a verse that really stuck out to me was John 14:15-18. It says, "If you love me you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AS ORPHANS; I WILL COME TO YOU." I just find this passage so comforting. It tells me go ahead pull these daggers out because you are not alone. My Helper is within me and he will take care of me as I spend time here on Earth. But the last part just gives me goosebumps when I read it. It just shows that no matter what we do, we are never alone or rejected, but instead God is here, WITH ME. Your average male. Not rich. Not poor. Not sick. No extraordinary works or deeds. Just your everyday person, and God chooses to be with me, watching me, in me, involved in everything I do. Why? It's simple. He loves me. Whether I rebuke him or ignore him. Spit in his face or shame him, he will always love me and be with me. And that is truly remarkable. Now, I know that God can do miraculous deeds and I believe that he can work through me or anyone who allows him. Just like Elijah's sacrifice being lit from heaven, we can all do great things through him. So my prayer today comes from Elijah in 1 Kings. "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be know this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that these people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back." THE LORD, HE IS GOD. THE LORD, HE IS GOD