how often do we walk around wondering where God is? i feel like there are so many times when im just going through the motions, stuck in boredom, stagnant, wondering where in the heck God is and why in the heck i cant seem to feel or see Him working in my life. i drive myself crazy when i cant seem to grasp what He is doing which is of course incredibly ignorant because i am fully aware (and have been fully aware for that matter) that our God works in ways that are beyond my comprehension.
but let me tell you this...
for some reason or another, God has consistently put me in places where His glory surrounds me. i just forget to open my eyes most of the time. this morning, i heard a song by george strait that he has titled "i saw God today." now im not much of a country music fan at all so i am tempted to label this as divine intervention, but the bottom line is that this song helped remind me of God's presence in our everyday, casual lives. and even though his theology might be a bit off (hopefully you see that is not my primary concern at all - ever!), let me give you part of the lyrics:
Just walked down the street to the coffee shop
Had to take a break
I'd been by her side for 18 hours straight
Saw a flower growin' in the middle of the sidewalk
Pushin' up through the concrete
Like it was planted right there for me to see
The flashin' lights
The honkin' horns
All seemed to fade away
In the shadow of that hospital at 5:08
I saw God today
I've been to church
I've read the book
I know He's here
But I don't look
Near as often as I should
Yeah, I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today.
when i heard this song i was captivated. it was really weird. i sat back and thought of the big things that i everyday take for granted. for those of you who dont know or have forgotten, i go to school on top of a mountain. lookout mountain to be exact. people travel from across the country to see this place. i dont. i live there. from my room i can see mountains all the way to the smokies (thanks to some strategic branch cutting) and almost every evening i witness a breathtakingly beautiful work of art as the clouds and sky are painted with a stroke of perfection. i think we refer to this as a sunset. and theres more... just a couple weeks ago i was blessed to have the opportunity to visit lake tahoe in cali. along the way, we were able to visit sacramento and san francisco. i played on the golden gate bridge and teased downtown from my 36th floor room in the downtown hilton with the bay resting in the background. i bounced around fishermans wharf and shared a bread bowl of chowder with close friends along the waterfront. i talked to people with accents i had never heard and watched over a hundred sailboats mosey around aimlessly on the massive bay. in tahoe i saw mountains that immediately took my breath away. i saw a lake that looked like an ocean and again spoke and interacted with people from places i had never been. i had a five and a half foot base of snow with a hot tub that sat directly beneath the 10,000 plus foot peak of the mountain and friends with whom to share it all. yet still, even as i sometimes remembered that it was all there because of our sovereign God, i sat there as if i was king; as if this stuff was there because of me; as if this stuff was there by chance. and still more, i now sit in downtown st simons island on easter break with the sun beaming down on me from above. the ocean is just down the street providing a breeze sweet enough to drink. trees hang low over the roads giving shade while sidewalks follow the roads with the feet of families and couples and kids and friends.
point being, His glory, His work, His sovereignty, His love, His grace and mercy, His majesty - they surround us. they surround me. it can be as simple as a flower coming through the concrete or as big as 10,000 ft mountain. God's creation is designed to bring glory to Him; creation isnt designed to glorify itself. so as im thinking about that... i remember that im also part of that magnificent creation. simply put, im here to glorify Him; im not here to be glorified.
so for the time being, im not wondering what God is doing in my life, im not wondering if He is at work and im not wondering how He is working because i finally opened my eyes. and it really is a beautiful thing. if you havent opened your eyes in a while, beware bc it will consume you and it will force you into a surrender - im still gasping for air.
one other thing --> the surrender is beautiful and full of joy so prepare your voices to sing!
ps. i just landed a job with youthworks for the summer as a site director where i will serve as the main liaison bt youthworks and the community as well as the team manager of my yet to be assigned site. this will involve a lot of interaction with people and will place me in a position of leadership that should not be taken lightly. please pray that i will not be lackadaisical in my preparation for the summer. please be in prayer as i complete the necessary requirements for the job to start. and finally, give thanks with me for this wonderful opportunity to share in the growth of God's Kingdom through my time this summer as an employee of youthworks.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
God of what?
first, let me just tell you im still having to convince myself im not God.
and before i forget, my apologies for being so lazy in my posts... honestly i hate computers and the less time i can spend on them the better and with school being the way it is right now in this beautiful spring... yeah... you get the picture.
anyway, back to me being or not being God, i was reading the other day about applying the Gospel to our lives (i know im such a wonderful Christian) and something really jumped out at me. the author commented on how our perception of God impacts our walk through the way we believe God interacts with us. i began thinking about how i viewed God along with whether or not i really agreed with the above statement. ultimately, i think i do agree with that statement and as i thought more about how i viewed God - the God of love, the God of wrath - i realized that there really are serious implications drawn from my perception of the Almighty. it also occurred to me that because we are all going to create our own God in our own mind to some extent, that there really isnt much room for me to be critical of someone else's interpretation of the Gospel. obvioulsy i can offer my opinion and obviously i can speak against heresy, but i need to be extremely careful in how i define heresy and what my motivations are in calling that person out. and even this - this confrontation, this "calling a person out" - will be carried out in a manner reflective of my own perception of God and how i believe He would handle the situation as Christ here on earth.
so basically im advocating a state of mind that is a little more open than to what i'm traditionally been accustomed. in no way am i saying that i believe every interpretation is accurate or even acceptable, but i am saying that if we look close enough there is probably going to be some truth in the interpretation - no matter who it comes from.
when thinking of an open-mind, naturally i think of a child as they are typically the most care-free, knowledge hungry people around. if we, as adults, as teenagers, as whatever we are, can somehow maintain this open-mindedness we will actually challenge what we believe; we will listen to others rather than jump to conclusions; we will no longer see demons in the interpretations of others; we will no longer be content to side with people simply because they agree with us. i believe this to be true because i believe that an open mind shifts the focus away from us and back to Him. i mean, who really cares if people agree with us and our own theology? we do. and a step further, can theology save us? _____ . you fill in the blank. in my mind these thoughts are selfish and stem from a perception of God that is at its core completely inaccurate. our God is a God of love. we all know that. but do we really believe it?
all of these thoughts have also changed my view of the church. when thinking of the church, i now think of a community of faith where people are joined together to worship one name - and here is the change - and hold one another accountable through and by their own faith in the enduring love of the Father. and as i read that it seems like there is a little too much emphasis on us, but what im trying to communicate is that through all of our different interpretations and different levels of faith, we are able to see God on a much larger scale than we ever would have alone. this is a change in thinking because ive always thought of the church as the body that comes together between walls and behind doors with everyone sharing the same biblical principles, ideas of God, understanding of Scripture, and knowledge of reformed doctrine. but this isnt the church. this isnt the church at all. God cannot be limited to one definition because He is the definition - He defines us! but when we look at Him alone, apart from our family, we inevitably limit Him as consequence of our own interpretation through our self guided eye. the church does not exist to create a mission; the church exists because there is a mission. our church extends far beyond the walls and doors of some agreed doctrine or theology. we are part of a community of faith that works together for a greater understanding and a greater image of God - one that we will never be able to fully comprehend which actually gives me such an overwhelming peace. i mean, what if we knew exactly the depth and density of our King? i really dont think we could handle it.
so as we everyday seek the Kingdom of God, (the protector, the lover, the just, the gracious, the merciful, the omnipotent, the whatever it is we see...) lets all take a second to examine our own interpretation of God. lets forget about ourselves and lets see how we believe He interacts with us. then, and this gets tricky, lets actually listen to those around us. i think we'll be humbled.
(which is of course always a good thing here.)
and before i forget, my apologies for being so lazy in my posts... honestly i hate computers and the less time i can spend on them the better and with school being the way it is right now in this beautiful spring... yeah... you get the picture.
anyway, back to me being or not being God, i was reading the other day about applying the Gospel to our lives (i know im such a wonderful Christian) and something really jumped out at me. the author commented on how our perception of God impacts our walk through the way we believe God interacts with us. i began thinking about how i viewed God along with whether or not i really agreed with the above statement. ultimately, i think i do agree with that statement and as i thought more about how i viewed God - the God of love, the God of wrath - i realized that there really are serious implications drawn from my perception of the Almighty. it also occurred to me that because we are all going to create our own God in our own mind to some extent, that there really isnt much room for me to be critical of someone else's interpretation of the Gospel. obvioulsy i can offer my opinion and obviously i can speak against heresy, but i need to be extremely careful in how i define heresy and what my motivations are in calling that person out. and even this - this confrontation, this "calling a person out" - will be carried out in a manner reflective of my own perception of God and how i believe He would handle the situation as Christ here on earth.
so basically im advocating a state of mind that is a little more open than to what i'm traditionally been accustomed. in no way am i saying that i believe every interpretation is accurate or even acceptable, but i am saying that if we look close enough there is probably going to be some truth in the interpretation - no matter who it comes from.
when thinking of an open-mind, naturally i think of a child as they are typically the most care-free, knowledge hungry people around. if we, as adults, as teenagers, as whatever we are, can somehow maintain this open-mindedness we will actually challenge what we believe; we will listen to others rather than jump to conclusions; we will no longer see demons in the interpretations of others; we will no longer be content to side with people simply because they agree with us. i believe this to be true because i believe that an open mind shifts the focus away from us and back to Him. i mean, who really cares if people agree with us and our own theology? we do. and a step further, can theology save us? _____ . you fill in the blank. in my mind these thoughts are selfish and stem from a perception of God that is at its core completely inaccurate. our God is a God of love. we all know that. but do we really believe it?
all of these thoughts have also changed my view of the church. when thinking of the church, i now think of a community of faith where people are joined together to worship one name - and here is the change - and hold one another accountable through and by their own faith in the enduring love of the Father. and as i read that it seems like there is a little too much emphasis on us, but what im trying to communicate is that through all of our different interpretations and different levels of faith, we are able to see God on a much larger scale than we ever would have alone. this is a change in thinking because ive always thought of the church as the body that comes together between walls and behind doors with everyone sharing the same biblical principles, ideas of God, understanding of Scripture, and knowledge of reformed doctrine. but this isnt the church. this isnt the church at all. God cannot be limited to one definition because He is the definition - He defines us! but when we look at Him alone, apart from our family, we inevitably limit Him as consequence of our own interpretation through our self guided eye. the church does not exist to create a mission; the church exists because there is a mission. our church extends far beyond the walls and doors of some agreed doctrine or theology. we are part of a community of faith that works together for a greater understanding and a greater image of God - one that we will never be able to fully comprehend which actually gives me such an overwhelming peace. i mean, what if we knew exactly the depth and density of our King? i really dont think we could handle it.
so as we everyday seek the Kingdom of God, (the protector, the lover, the just, the gracious, the merciful, the omnipotent, the whatever it is we see...) lets all take a second to examine our own interpretation of God. lets forget about ourselves and lets see how we believe He interacts with us. then, and this gets tricky, lets actually listen to those around us. i think we'll be humbled.
(which is of course always a good thing here.)
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