Challenge of the Sand Dollar

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”

                                                            Ecclesiastes 9:10

Have you ever sat in an airport or a baseball stadium watching all the people passing by you? I mean, imagine thousands and thousands of people walking past you and you wonder how you could ever meet them all.

The truth is that is impossible. There is a rule called the Dunbar principal. It states that in reality you can only really know 150 at a time. I think what they mean is to build close relationships.  You can't really know everyone.

I will tell you as a believer in Christ it is hard to hear that we have limitations. I mean aren't there those voices that tell you to do everything, be everywhere, and don't miss any opportunity to be into everything. Society pushes it but it's even an issue in the body of Christ. Sometimes, whether its internal or external, there is that drive to be involved in many good things with many good people.

When I feel a little guilty for not trying to save the world all by myself, I think about the boy and the sand dollars. Do you know that story? One day a man was walking on the seashore after a bad storm. He observed a little boy picking up live sand dollars and throwing them back into the sea. The problem was the sand was full of them. He told the boy that he would never save them all and all his effort didn't make a difference. The boy picked up a sand dollar and looked at it, then back to the man. He simply said, "It makes difference for this one."  He tossed it back to the sea and kept going.

We are not meant to do it all. The challenge of reaching out to people in life is not a one man or woman job. What we can do it what Gods puts in our path. It doesn't have to be a stressful thing to do good in this world. I really feel that it is our ever-present enemy who will use even good intentions against us. He tries to run us through with guilt.

While society is ramping up and wearing themselves out, we should take time to put worth and value in what we do. Consider pouring your life and encouragement into the ones the Lord has placed you among. Search out opportunities to show love to everyone but give your best to those few who you feel God has sent your way.

Remember, when you touch one life for eternity they in turn will reach others. Stop and help them back up with dignity so they will find in Christ. Because it will make a difference for this one, and this one, and this one...

Running on MPT

         Yep, the gas tank light is flickering. I am honestly trying to push it to make it home. It's probably not the smartest thing to do but I am running late. I could stop and loose a few minutes however, I may not make my next appointment.

         That is a mind set that I am always trying to fight. I push it and run close to  empty too often and I suffer for it. Well, I do as well as those around me.

         Yet, there are times when I am doing what I am called to do in the daily grind of things and I get depleted. I think we are meant to spend ourselves in this life. We are designed to work and be used up. I imagine it's just worth it if what I am doing is worth the draining.

         It's so much better than the alternative: It's about me and I don't give out of myself. I am the Dead Sea and I take in but never have an outlet to life around me. I look alive yet, nothing lives in me.  I have it all but have nothing.

         Yikes!

         Thank the Lord that He knows how to refill my tank. Even better is He doesn't put in the cheap stuff when He refills. The Lord uses a fuel to replenish His people that's out of this world...really.

         So, don't be afraid to be spent, work hard, get into a worthwhile struggle. Don't over do it and wear yourself out but, in His grace find the balance. I think our life, our vehicle changes each time there is less of me and more of Him to fill up.

        

When I am empty, I can function not on my own. I have My Personal Theos.

Praisamistic

“Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion: And to You the vow shall be performed.”

                                                                                    Psalm 65:1

            There are people who are very positive and always have something good to say. We call them of course, optimistic folks. You know, the glass is half full.  They see the bring side to every situation and rarely say a bad word against others,

            Yet, this isn't always the case. No one can be positive all the time. Now this isn't playing the pessimist. I am just agreeing that bad things happen. We do need to respond to these things as God intended. There are times when we are realistic and say things as they are. It doesn't mean that our positives have dipped into the realm of negativism.

            So, I propose a new term to describe how the people of God could respond to the world at large with all its problems and joys. It's a attitude that we can be assured does glorify God. It is the right response for any situation.

            They have an attitude of praise. They see whatever God brings into their lives as good and good for them. If it appears bad, know that God has a purpose for it beneath its lethally crusty surface.

            We see pain. God sees growth. We see hardship. The Lord sees our need for fellowship. We don't have to face it alone.

I run from an enemy when He says a heart can change if I face them, in love and not hatred. It seems like all that is intended to destroy us, under the Lord's hand makes us ready for eternity. The reality is this is how things really are. It's all a change in perspective and attitude not situations.

            So I want to call these people "Praisamistic" or you could say they have a "prasitive" attitude. They see the glass as a blessing and the water inside as grace. Whatever we are poured out in life we take with gratitude. If it is sweet water we enjoy. If it is the bitter dregs we drink it slowly and thoughtfully. (It might be as thick as cowboy coffee but it has its purpose).

            There is something to consider as the world becomes darker and harsh. How much more a single, small light shines brightly in a dark, dark place. May I quote Willy Wonka, who once said of Charlie, a little boy who had so little but did have what did matter:  "So, shines a good deed in a dark and weary world."

40 to the 3rd power (40x40x40)

“Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

                                            Psalm 55:22

Timing is everything. Being at the right place at the right time is good but being the RIGHT person at the right place is even more important.

I have come to understand that maturity doesn't always come with age. Everyone matures differently and being a real adult is not always age-related. Even though I was getting married at thirty didn't mean I was really ready for that commitment.

The Lord took me to South Korea for a year in order to really grow my character and faith. I looked grown up on the outside but He knew I wasn't on the inside.

The Lord can make a wilderness out of any experience we face. It has the purpose of removing those things that have hindered our maturity and growing us up in faith. When I think of someone who knew the benefits of doing wilderness time I think of Moses. He thought he was ready but God knew the timing in his life better than he did.

He was a man who tried to be God's hand of justice for His people. At forty years old he was a Prince of Egypt and had all the world says one needs to be somebody. He was a man physically but he wasn't ready to be God's man yet. He needed forty years of wilderness training before he could have the right heart.

So, when things fell out Moses went live in the wilderness for forty more years. His issues were broken down and he was a rebuilt man by the time he heard the Lord’s call again.

If you do the math he was eighty years old when God called him out. Okay, that’s when most people are retired and thinking about slowing down, Mo was getting cranked up. Was this a cruel joke? Did he wait too late? Was Moses past his prime?

The Lord knows a few things that we do not. Everything in His creation has a different length of maturity. Have you ever seen people you know who have made major changes later on in life? That could be that it has taken that long for them to come into bloom.  He knows the time, place, people, circumstances, and timing we are designed for. Just because a dream hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't later.  Don’t loose heart if things are taking longer than you planned.

At almost forty-seven year old I feel The Lord is prepping me for something I was called to do for the rest of my life. You might think I am crazy but I am pacing myself for another fifty or so years. I feel like, if The Lord does not come soon, that I have a lot of work yet to do.

The thing is, it is the Lord's strength, direction, and purpose that powers these dreams. He has his timing and The Lord can keep a man or woman strong as long as He needs them to be.

Just a final footnote. Moses wasn't done at eight, or even a hundred. Because of extenuating circumstances and an entire stubborn generation, Moses lived a third set of forty years tramping in the wilderness.  40 x 3=120. When God uses a person He gets his money and time out if them.

We only have one life to live it might as well be lived to the fullest. Are you gearing up for the rest of your life?

(For you math people I know the title doesn’t add up. “Forty to the third power” is actually 40x40x40 which equals 640. Look at it this way: Forty times three which represents the Trinity, which equals a life changed for eternity. It may not be perfect math but somehow it’s still a good equation.)

Blessed are the Messed Up

1-02-11

"Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy me, for I am desolate and afflicted."

                                                             Psalm 25:16

Here we are at the beginning of a new year. Wow, 2013. It does cause us all to think about the past and where we would like to hopefully go in the future.

I had a good discussion with a friend about the past and the mistakes we all make. When you a tendency toward trying to do everything perfectly, its easy to beat yourself up when you don't. Our past loves to beat up the present and threaten to clobber the future with reminders of who we are.

The Lord reminds me that we all mess up. We are all have issues and aren't going to do even easy things right all the time. He doesn't wag it in our face, God is just stating facts. Those facts don't destroy me as much as remind me where I am lacking.

That lacking shows I have a need for Him in everything I do. If I didn't see my need I would put the whole of life on my shoulders and whoa is me, how heavy life becomes.  Yet. The Lord uses my mistakes, like he uses my success, for good. That is an awesome reminder that my mess ups were already added into the equation. Its part of the whole plan.

It's not just that we endure or survive our shortcomings. We are meant to bloom from these trials. The book of James in the Bible talks about suffering as a joy and the way our faith grows. Without understanding that this is part of our maturing process, those are a mad man's ramblings. Yet, how much does our character in Christ, our trust in the Lord beyond our changing and temporary circumstances, develop once we step out of ourselves; out of our comfort zone.

So, I want to encourage you to step up and out from those clouds of the past. Look at  all the messed up things without and within you life as doors for the Lord to grow you. Don't beat yourself up let the Lord build you up for whatever lies ahead.