Tag Archives: Paul

From routine to the edge of adventure

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Do you ever have the feeling like you are stuck in a routine, doing the same thing over and over, never really getting anywhere, but instead just running in circles, and just wasting your life away?

 

That was the plight of Bill Murray’s character in the movie, Groundhog Day. Every day he would wake up on Groundhog Day and everything would be the same as yesterday. The same pointless routines, the same meaningless dialog, and the same boring and unfulfilled existence.

 

Maybe you feel the same way. You look back at the past year and ask, “Where did time go?” You look back over a lifetime of toil and ask, “What happened to my goals and dreams?”   You’re stuck in a rut that seems like a grave with the ends dug out. You ask, “Is there a way out?”

 

Maybe today is the day to drive a stake in the ground or draw a line firmly in the wet concrete that proclaims, “I’m not going to waste my life. I am going to live a life of adventure with purpose and passion!”

 

What does it mean for a Christian to ditch the wasted routine and start living on the edge of adventure?

 

Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). He said it is like one who lost a treasure and gave up everything in order to find it.

 

It might look like Paul who considered everything he once sought to win as becoming like rubbish, worthless compared to knowing Jesus. Not just knowing more about Jesus, but knowing Him in such an intimate way that compels you to follow Him in everything you do. As the martyred Jim Elliot said,

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

 

Elliot’s fellow missionary, martyred by his side, summed it this way:

“I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy into it.”

 

Francis Schaefer said it is the life being visibly marked by the expression of God’s love for others. Like a mentor of mine when I was a youth said, “To have even your unconscious thoughts and desires bear the mark of Jesus.”

 

Maybe the question isn’t, “Am I ready to get out of a rut?” Maybe the question is, “Do I really want to bear the full mark of Jesus and live the ‘abundant life’ adventure of following Him?” The call is yours. Answer it today.

 

 

Don’t waste your suffering

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John Piper wrote a great little book called Don’t Waste Your Life, followed later by Don’t Waste Your Cancer. Both books spoke to me – before and during my experience with cancer. The premise is simple. Life is short so live it intentionally and live it well. Oh I know, when your journey is filled with suffering of all kinds, life seems to move slowly, like it may never end. A year and a half after achieving remission from cancer and after my stem cell transplant, I’m still asking my doctors, “When will I get stronger?” But even in the midst of all kinds of trials, life really is short compared to the eternity of time that awaits us. So, how do we respond?

 

“Don’t waste your suffering.”

 

Suffering seems to be wasteful in itself; it robs us of comfort, patience, strength, productivity, and so much more. Suffering leads us to experience indignities that we are sure are unnecessary to the human challenge. But suffering also is a worker, accomplishing in us that which we cannot accomplish ourselves. Consider Paul’s story:

 

“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.”  2 Corinthians 11:24-27

 

Whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, threatened by robbers and countrymen, surrounded by danger all around, sleepless, hungry, cold, and naked… I think you will agree that Paul knew suffering.  If anyone had reason to complain, it was him. But how did he perceive this tremendous distress?

 

” For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

 

He considers his trials light and momentary, insignificant compared to what? Compared to what they are achieving right now for eternal glory. Our sufferings are at work to purify us and build us up, even as we are sure they are only working to tear us down. And they are working also to build others up too:

 

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.” Philippians 1:12

 

None of us like to suffer and we don’t like watching others suffer. But in the midst of these, we are called to pray (for ourselves and others) and to stand firm. Don’t waste your suffering, knowing that our loving God will not waste an ounce of the pain you give to Him.

 

 

Who is in your path?

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I hope we all want to hear God’s voice. And He wants us to hear it too! He speaks through prayer, through His Word, and through circumstances. God also speaks to us through others. We have to be discerning if it is an eternal truth we seek because there are a lot of people in our path, representing a lot of contrary views, not all of which agree with what God has to say. Nonetheless, God will put people in our path for our benefit, sometimes to learn an eternal truth. Sometimes it is to learn a specialized skill, which could benefit us regardless of who is the teacher. I have made it a point in life to learn from people I disagree with! I genuinely feel sorry for people who can learn only from people who hold similar views.

God doesn’t always put people in our path just to teach us something. Sometimes He puts precious people there to share our load, to encourage us, to point the way, to show us a more helpful way of thinking, or to comfort us. (He also puts US in their path for the same reason!) When Jesus said, “You are the light of the world,” His message was one of letting our light shine so that His truth, love, and grace would be revealed.

We all need three people in our lives: a more mature “Paul” who can mentor us, a “Timothy” we can pour into, and a strong “Barnabas” who shares a walk similar to ours. Who is in your path in this season of your life?