For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him.  For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? – Ecclesiastes 8:6-7 (ESV)

 

Solomon… If ever there was a man who had it all, it was Solomon.  He sought God’s wisdom, and received it in great abundance.  He was blessed by God to be chosen to build the temple – an honor his father, David, had been denied. 

 

The Lord set Solomon in a high place indeed, as king of Israel.  And it is good to be king!  God not only blessed Solomon with great wisdom, but great earthly wealth as well.  His annual income in gold has been estimated at over $1,000,000,000 (yes, that’s billion with a “b”).  He received gold by the boatload (literally).  Do you remember the TV show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”?  Chump change compared to Solomon.

 

And women… One thousand of them.  700 wives and 300 concubines. And the Bible tells us Solomon loved all his wives.  (Men, go ask your wives what they think of that.  Better yet, don’t.)

 

Solomon had it all.  Right?

 

In the end, it all had him.  All this wealth, all these women, all this earthly pleasure seems to have lulled and dulled the wisest man who ever lived into a somnambulist.

 

A sleepwalker.

 

And the results were dire.  Among Solomon’s wives were women from other nations who worshipped other gods.  This included the daughter of Pharoah – a fact that, considering their understanding of the Exodus, should have rung loud alarm bells to Solomon that something was amiss in his life.  “And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 11:3b-4, ESV).

 

Now, here is the part that should put a cold chill down your spine:

⁹ And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice ¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. ¹² Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”

¹⁴ And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon…

 

I’m no genius.  But even I know that, when you’ve stirred up God’s wrath to the point that He rises up an enemy against you, this isn’t going to be pretty. 

 

Or comfortable.

 

Indeed, Solomon’s folly led to Israel’s downfall.  He led his people to destruction.

 

Here is my point:  Today is a great day to stop a moment and take stock of your life. 

 

Today.

 

Now.

 

None of us knows how many days we have on this earth.  Don’t spend them in a fog, sleepwalking through life, so engrossed in the details and minutae of work and home and school and kids and soccer schedules and bills to pay and football and trivial stuff that God gets shuffled to the background.  We are called to seek God and His will and His path for our lives first and foremost.  Nothing is more important.

 

Nothing is more important.

 

Nothing.

 

One day all this world will be gone.

 

Don’t let the junk of this life weigh you down.  Let nothing come between you and the Lord.  “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9, ESV).

 

As Solomon wrote, after the wages of his sin had begun rolling in, “The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good” (Ecclesiastes 9:17-18, ESV).

 

 

The heart of man plans his way, but The Lord establishes his steps. – Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

I am truly getting a deeper sense if just have debilitating perfectionism can be. I realize that, without a solid plan and some assurance of success, it is really really – really – difficult to launch and see to fruition any project.

Really.

Most mornings I get out of bed and head downstairs for my morning jolt of caffeine. As I descend the stairs in the predawn dark, I try to be conscious of where the landing is. Like the old saying goes, be careful of that last step. It’s a dooooozy!

Most mornings I succeed in not overshooting (or underestimating) that last step. I have been known to step out one step too soon with painful, noisy and humbling results. Yesterday my foot blindly landed on a very disgusting little gift our dog created – evidently not more than a few minutes prior to my unpleasant discovery.

Life is like this. We are walking in the dark, unsure of what is just ahead of us. We may think we know. We may feel very sure of what will come next. We have planned every step meticulously. We have counted each footfall as we go downstairs in the dark.

What we didn’t count for was what the dog did in our path.

When we step in the unexpected, we can yell and bark and be disgusted and shame the dog. Or we can stop, clean up the mess, wash our feet and continue.

Life should come with these instructions: plan loosely. Proceed. Mess up. Clean up. Learn. Apply. Repeat.

You don’t have to know the outcome. God has that covered: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV).

Don’t let uncertainty lull you into inactivity. Go. Do. Trust God. Remember: perfection is way out of our pay grade.

(C) 2014 by Chris Courtney. All rights reserved. Please feel free to share this piece of encouragement with anybody who you feel would be blessed by it.

Follow Chris at http://www.bouvillediarist.wordpress.com

Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.  I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war! – Psalm 120:6-7 (ESV)

Being a Christian in this world isn’t always easy.  Talking about your faith, and your Savior, can be even tougher.

I recently watched Billy Graham’s My Hope, his latest (and, presumably, last) message.  In it, the comment was made – and it’s a comment I’ve heard before and I’m sure you have to – that people are generally ok when one mentions God.  But, the minute you bring Jesus into the conversation… suddenly your talk has become offensive.

You see, it is one thing to talk of God in abstract terms.  Most people can accept that there must be a Higher Power Who created the world and the universe and all nature around us.  Even scientists acknowledge the existence of “intelligent design” (hence an Intelligent Designer).

But, once Jesus enters the conversation, things change.  The grand professions and ideas and theories of who this nebulous “God” must be now has a face.  A voice.  Flesh and bone.

And when one looks at Jesus and says, “Hey!  My God doesn’t look like that”, let the trouble begin.

You see, one cannot truly look upon Jesus without facing some absolute truths.  One thing Jesus never did was equivocate.  He walked this earth speaking truth and a lot of folks didn’t like it.  His truth wrecked their ideas and ideals.  “It’s the way we’ve always done it” was no longer an acceptable answer.

He faced sinners where they were and turned their lives around (and upside down).

He faced the religiously rigid and exposed their hypocrisy.

He faced the world and spoke truth.  “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32, ESV).  The world does not stand for truth.  Nor can it stand against it. 

And when the sinful world is confronted by the pure, undefiled Truth, all the dirty ick of this world – the shameful acts, the selfish ambition, the painful consequences of sin – are exposed, laid bare to those who choose to see through the eyes of Truth. 

And the world gets offended, because it’s money tables get up-ended.  The human ideals are discredited.  The notion of sliding truth (“what’s true for me may not be true for you”) solidifies and becomes absolute (and absolutely definable).  Truth leads to life, not an imitation thereof.  The world’s ways – sin – lead only to death.

And if you are looking for Truth, look no farther than Jesus Christ.  God’s Truth – the only absolute Truth there is – is right there in His Word.  Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, ESV). 

Take heart.  If you face opposition in your stand for Christ, you are not alone.  Don’t be afraid to introduce Jesus into the conversation.  Be bold for God!  Remember… when you proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ to the world, you have the full backing of Truth behind you.  Let the scoffers scoff and the mockers mock.  Sometimes people will hear what Jesus has to say.  And sometimes you just have to walk away, shaking the dust from your sandals as you go.

© 2013 by Chris Courtney.  All rights reserved.  Please feel free to share this message with anyone who might be blessed by it.  Please visit https://bouvillediarist.wordpress.com/ for more encouragement.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” – Romans 12:12 (ESV)

Everyone has junk in their lives – junk that threatens to drag us down.  Maybe your marriage is on the rocks or your kid is on your nerves.  Maybe you dread facing the job on Monday mornings.  Maybe your finances are causing you worry, or your health, or someone else’s health… You name it.  We all face difficulties.

But… have you ever noticed there are some people who just seem perpetually peppy?  Life never gets them down.  They are unflappable, despite circumstances.  Their hair could be on fire and, after extinguishing the flames and bandaging the burns, they would say, “Oh well, I was going bald anyway.”

Then there are some of us who get worked up at the littlest things.  Our nerves teeter on a knife’s edge.  A simple request at the dinner table to please pass the asparagus could elicit an undeserved response such as, “Give me this!  Give me that!  You always want something from me!”  (Of course, let’s be fair.  It’s asparagus.  Asparagus will put anyone in a foul mood.)

If you are finding yourself in a continual, repeated pattern of upset or anger or worry or anxiety or just feeling blue, consider this: maybe it is time for a priority adjustment.  Maybe the job / career is too important to you.  Maybe the discontent with your station in life is too strong.  Maybe your trying to hard to please someone else.  Maybe you need to stop trying to control every little facet of your life through micromanagement.  Maybe you just need to relax and trust God.

I write these things because I’ve been there.  I’ve had the time in my life when my wife didn’t know which husband she was going to get when I got home from work: the happy one or the one who was angry at the entire world.  (Mind you, I never had the asparagus scenario play out at our dinner table.  You’d never find the asparagus close enough to me to need to pass it.)

Listen, I am a human being.  I struggle with perfectionism and acceptance.  I goof up, make mistakes and kick myself for miles afterward.  I worry too much, which causes me to think too little, which leads to anxiety which, when it goes unchecked, can be the on ramp to a very, very long trip.

I understand.  I know.  That’s why I write what I write.  I don’t want you getting on that road.

I want you to be joyful.  I want you to be peaceful.  I want you to be happy.

Yes, I said happy.  Don’t let anyone tell you happiness is a useless pursuit.

And, trust me, I understand all too well that sometimes the issues we face are the result of a brain that just doesn’t produce the serotonin it should, meaning one may need medicine.  Not every malady is the result of Satan winning a battle against you.  We live in an imperfect, fallen world.  Accept that and stop giving the devil so much credit.

If Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you have hope – not just for heaven but here and now.  That doesn’t mean your circumstances will improve. They may.  And they may not.  What it does mean is that God will strengthen you for whatever you face, and whatever you face has not the last word.  You have hope in Christ because, ultimately, you will be saved!  It’s like the song says: sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometimes He calms His child.

This is why we need to be patient in tribulation.  God will use the lousiest, most down and difficult times in our lives to build us up, as well as those around us.  When people see you calmly facing a hard time – no matter how uncomfortable it is – and we give God the glory for our peace, know He will rescue as at just the right time… well, that gives others hope in Christ as well.  It takes what some may consider the abstract idea of faith in Jesus and turns it into concrete, undeniable reality.

However, as I said, it can be tough.  That is why we need to be constant in prayer.  We are commanded to “pray without “(1 Thessalonians 5:17).  That means to always be in an attitude of prayer, ever-mindful of God’s constant loving presence and ready to pray at the drop of a hat.  It means keeping our minds focused squarely on God through Jesus Christ.  It means truly resting in the Lord, knowing He can handle any situation.

That means the results are not ours to worry about.  The only judgment that matters is that of God alone.

That means you can leave the troubles at work when you go home at night.  In fact, you don’t have to carry the troubles around at work, in the car, at home, at church… You have the Lord! 

So, tonight I want to encourage you to look at your life.  What’s bugging you?  Is there something eating away at you?  What’s worrying you, or frustrating you, or just plain making you mad?  What is robbing you of your peace?  Give your cares to God.  Trust the Lord with every minute outcome of your life.  Face life with the joy, peace and confidence that comes only from faith in Jesus, from relinquishing control and keeping your eyes on Christ at all times.

Tonight, change direction.  Correct course.  Adjust your priorities so that you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), knowing He will take care of your needs.

Sleep well, dear friends.  Be filled with joy and peace in Christ.  And rest easy in the strength of the Lord.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

– Romans 8:31 (ESV)

One day in 1740, the Anglican pastor (and later founder of Methodism) John Wesley stood before his congregants in a chapel in Bristol, England.  He delivered his simply titled “Sermon 128,” better known today as “Free Grace.” Using Romans 8:32 as his text, Wesley wonderfully proclaimed: "(The) assurance of faith which these enjoy excludes all doubt and fear, It excludes all kinds of doubt and fear concerning their future perseverance; though it is not properly, as was said before, an assurance of what is future, but only of what now is."

That is a pretty audacious statement to make.  We are expected, as believers who have the assurance of faith, to not be bothered by anything past, present, or future.  No worry.  No doubt.  It is a claim one cannot make without understanding the verse before Wesley’s base passage for this sermon.

If God is for us, who can be against us?  If one digs into the Greek words in this verse, we find what Paul is saying here is this: if God – Who Is high above us and far beyond our grasp – loves us so much as to stand for us, who can make a charge against us that will stick?

Look at Jesus.  His trials before the Jewish and Roman leaders was a kangaroo court.  He was unjustly tried, punished and executed – with great haste and no true sense of fairness.  The enemies of Jesus passed a guilty judgment against Him.

But God had the final word in the matter.  Three days after His death, Jesus Christ put pay to all of His promises, and all the Old Testament Scripture that was penned before – and pointed toward – Him. 

My point is this: the judgment of others does not matter. 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39 (ESV)

God has the final say, not your enemies.  God loves you, you are His child, and His love for you is never ending.  Do not let those who oppose you get in your way of doing what God has called you to do.  Do not let fear or worry or doubt cloud your vision or block your path.  Here is the great thing about fear: faith is its Achilles Heel.  If you stand up in faith and stare fear in the face, it will back down.  True authority is rooted in God, and His will and ways and Word.

Faith turns fear into soft butter.  So, today, whatever you are facing, don’t be swayed by the enemy.  Don’t let doubt creep in.  Do not weary in well doing.  Stand up straight and strong in faith on the mighty Word of the Lord.  Hold fast to your conviction that God is GOD and He has a plan and there is nothing – absolutely nothing – that will thwart that plan.

And remember that you are part of that plan.  Cling to God.  Let Him fight the battle.  You just need to stand strong and stay faithful.  The LORD is your strength, and when we are weak, He is strong!

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. – Psalm 139:13-16 (ESV)

What defines a person? Is it their job? Their past? The judgements of others? Is it the grades you get at school, your station in life? Is it status or wealth or genealogy? Answer this question: at the very core of my being, I am a ______________________.

How did you define yourself? Some will choose their employment position or title. Others their familial role. Still others will frame their identity with either a point of pride (or, the other end of the spectrum, failure).

The problem is that none of these identifying factors are complete – or completely accurate. In fact, they can often hold us back. Especially if we are branded by others with an unfair label.

Your work does not define you.

Your wealth does not define you.

Your title, status, achievements, failures… None of these things define you.

No other human being can define you.

Only God defines you. He created each and every one of us with a purpose. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, wired with a God bestowed purpose and destiny. What is your purpose in life? I have no idea. Ask God! He drew up the design, plotted out the plan, wired you to be you.

Trust in a God. He has wonderful designs for your life. Get up in the morning and say, “Good Morning Lord! Thank you for giving me another day to serve you and rest in your grace and love. How can I serve today?” Seek God first and foremost. And watch Him work amazingly through your life to bless others. Then you will find your true purpose. It is only in God through Jesus Christ that we find our true identity.

So, who are you? You are a child of the One True God, greatly loved, incredibly blessed, fearfully and wonderfully made!

(C) 2013 by Chris Courtney. All rights reserved. Please feel free to share this message with anyone who you think may be blessed by it!

Visit us on the web at: https://bouvillediarist.wordpress.com

https://bouvillediarist.wordpress.com

I do not believe in luck. Nothing happens by chance. We are where we are, when we are, because it is God’s will. The people in your life are there because God placed them there. A friend of mine recently Tweeted a very wise quote from the late pastor Chuck Smith: “Everything is preparation for something else.”

Everything has a purpose. You may never know it because it may be for someone else. There may be a lesson to learn. You may be the one who leads someone to Christ by your actions, never needing to speak a word.

Your life is not meaningless. You are not called to a hopeless existence. We have a job: to be salt and light before men, to let the light of Christ shine far brighter through us. We are called to share the light and love of Jesus. Today, as we head into the new week, let’ s do so with great joy, with great thanksgiving in our in hearts. We are called to love.

(C) 20013 by Chris Courtney. All rights reserved. Please feel free to send this to any friends who need a boost all in God’s ways of doing things.

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Ahhh… can you see it?  Look there, off in the distance.  Just beyond the horizon.  Shining, glimmering, calling out to you… If you can’t quite see it yet, wait until noon.  That’s when we crest the uphill climb every Wednesday and begin our descent into the always anticipated weekend.

The weekend.  Most look forward to it.  Some live for it.  Some revel in it so much that, as the old joke goes, they have to go back to work on Monday to get some rest.

Today, I want to show you something to look forward to even more than the weekend.  If things are getting stressful or tough and you see no end in sight to whatever situation you are facing, remember: just like the workweek – and the weekend – nothing lasts forever.

Except, that is, eternity.  (I know… thanks for pointing out the obvious…)

Eternity.  That is exactly what I want to get you thinking about.  How wrapped up do we get in our own little lives?  How many trivialities eat away at our time, our finances, our nervous systems?  How much focus do we put on things that, in a year or two or twenty, will not matter?

Consider what the apostle James wrote:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. – James 4:13-14 (ESV)

A mist.  Here today.  Gone tomorrow.  And for what?

If that sounds depressing, it shouldn’t be.  Let’s face it: this life is tough.  Stress, sorrows, pain, disease, guilt, toil…

But – if you think about it – on average we are only on this earth for 67.2 years.  That is the world life expectancy as of 2010 (according to The CIA World Fact Book).  And that’s pretty impressive, considering the number was half that (or less) up until around a century ago.

But even that is a speck compared to eternity.  Eternity is hard to grasp because it is a dimension we finite, time-bound humans have never experienced.  To understand eternity is to understand what it is to live unshackled by clocks and calendars.  Eternity is… well… eternal!  It never began.  It never ends.

Eternity – that wonderful place outside of time – is where we will be.  And, for believers in Christ, we will spend that time in the presence of Almighty God, Eternal Creator of All (including eternity itself).  Now… seriously… stop and think about that.  Eternity.  Forever.  No end.

No pain.

No sorrow.

No sin.

No depression.

No boredom.

No heartache.

No killing.

No disease.

No bondage.

No bitterness.

No fear.

No worry.

No need to live for the weekend.

Eternity worshipping our loving God Who so graciously gave His Son so we can spend eternity with Him.

And, if you don’t believe in Jesus, I have one simple question for you: what have you got to lose?  If I’m wrong, you’ve lost nothing.  Your life’s end on this earth will be just what you believe.  But, if I’m right (and this is not a boast of anything to do with me, it is all God’s grace and mercy and all in His Word), you will still have to face eternity. 

And it won’t be nearly as pleasant.

I cannot imagine what eternity totally separated from God is like.  The thought makes me shudder.

And, trust me, eternity lasts a lot longer than the 50-some hour mid-hump-day slide into the weekend.

 

 

Driving south on I-35 this morning, a thought occurred to me.  “I need to exit at Lakeville.  But, what if I didn’t?  This freeway goes all the way to the Mexican border.  What if we just kept driving and, on a whim, went to Texas?  We could stop in Kansas City and grab a steak.  Later, we could stop at Oklahoma City to grab whatever it is one grabs in Oklahoma City.  When we get to Fort Worth, maybe we could take in a rodeo.  If we go as far as Laredo, at the end of the freeway, we could grab some authentic Tex-Mex before swinging back around and heading north again.

Needless to say, I did not discover what one would grab in Oklahoma City.  I exited at Lakeville as planned.

And we had a perfectly wonderful day.

All the same, it is part of my nature to want to divert from the plan, to leave the beaten path and check out the side roads (with my GPS on, of course).  There is something about being free and untethered that absolutely excites me.  My soul leaps at the idea of the fresh start, the new beginning… the new trail to blaze! 

I believe Christianity should be the same way.  We need to be willing and brave enough to chuck our own life map out the window and follow the GPS setting God has for us.  Freedom in Christ is freedom from the heavy burden of sin and shame.  But it isn’t simply a get-out-of-jail-free card.  We should do something with that freedom.

Freedom in Christ releases us from the bondage of sin, but places us in a position of being bondservants for Jesus.  After all,

…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,  for you were bought with a price. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20a (ESV)

And the chains of Christ do not enslave us, but free us to serve the LORD.  In fact, unlike the shackles of sin which imprison us and cause great anguish, the “bondage” of Christ is a great blessing!

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. – Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

Of all the places I want to go, of all the travels I would like to embark upon, none would be worth a single mile if I didn’t have Jesus Christ with me.  It is in the LORD that I find freedom.  It is in Him that I am saved, that I find salve for life’s wounds and the strength to face the day.  In fact, He promises to be with us always.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” – Hebrews 13:5-6 (ESV)

What could be better than having the LORD as a constant companion?  There is no earthly possession, no amount of wealth, that could possibly surpass the greatness of God – our hope, our salvation, our redeemer, our protector, our guide.  He promises to never abandon us, never leave us. 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah – Psalms 46:1-3 (ESV)

I love that word selah.  It means “pause a minute right here and ponder what you just read.  Marinate in the message.  Let it soak into your and burrow into your mind.  Let these words change your heart, calm your anxieties, minister to your soul.  Stop a moment and consider it.  This is reality.”

Pause just a moment and ask yourself, where am I going?  Where is this trip of life taking me?  Am I just cruising along for the ride?  Am I steering my own course (or, rather, do I like to think I am)?  Or am I prayerfully, faithfully, fearlessly, joyously following the path set before me by God? 

Remember… you are free to be who God designed to be.  Free to do what God has called you to do.  Free to serve as God has equipped you to serve.  Free to love as God says to love.  Ask!  Seek!  Knock!  Go!  DO!

“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” – Matthew 4:18-22 (ESV)

 

The moment of clarity.  For some believers it comes as soon as we come to Christ.  For others, it takes a while – the individual great awakening being more of a process than a flashpoint moment.  All the same, there comes that moment one day when something in our feeble little minds clicks.  Maybe it’s something read or heard – a conversation, a sermon, a memory, a movie…

The moment of clarity.  The moment we begin to see things as they really are.  The moment we begin to see God for Who He really is.  The moment we realize that the LORD isn’t just real – He is Reality, Existence Itself!  The moment we look at our lives and ask ourselves, “What on earth am I doing?”

For Peter, Andrew, James and John, the moment of clarity was swift.  “Immediately” they left their nets.  Immediately they abandoned their source of income.  Immediately they saw in Jesus Christ the reality of the situation: here was the LORD. Here was something more important than fishing, more important than the security of a profession and steady income.

The more I read these verses, the more astounded I am.  None of them said, “Gee, I dunno… I kinda like working all night, lugging these heavy nets and reeking of fish guts.  Let me pray on it and I’ll get back to you…”  They abandoned it all.  They abandoned the life they knew. 

Immediately.

The moment of clarity.  When they saw Jesus and said, “Yes!” in a most enthusiastic manner.

Now, do not misunderstand what I am saying.  I am not suggesting anybody act in an imprudent fashion.  Don’t march into the office tomorrow, quit your job and say, “OK, God… now what?”  He may just give you directions to the unemployment office.

But… if you sense a call of God on your life (and, dear ones, we each have a call of God on our lives) and you’re doing nothing about it, what’s stopping you?  What do you need to abandon?

Maybe doubt and fear are holding you back.  Maybe wrong priorities are eating away at your time and resources.  Maybe you just need to take that first step.

If it’s a sin you need to abandon, shuck it off.  If it’s a bad habit, break it.  If it’s a lack of enthusiasm, get fired up!  If it’s self-doubt, realize the results aren’t your responsibility (God will take care of that).  If it’s lack of clarity, pray for the LORD to give you clear direction and a vision to pursue.  Just seek God and His will and ways first and go for it.  Abandon whatever is holding you back.  Work hard.  Pray harder.  Find joy in the journey.

And pursue your God given mission with faithfulness.

With joy.

With abandon.

God bless!

 

© 2013 by Chris Courtney.  All rights reserved.  If you’d like to share this article, please feel free!  If you’d like to reprint / repost on your website or in your church bulletin or publication, please contact me at christophercourtney@comcast.net.  I would be honored to see these words used to God’s glory!