HCLM BLOG

I’m just having one of those days.  Every now and then, I just get this inkling that I’ve gotten off track.  It didn’t happen fast and there isn’t one thing I can point to, but somewhere I’ve gone off the path.

I preached about investing the other week, and it really made me evaluate my own life and the things that I’ve invested in.  And quite honestly, I’m feeling a little convicted.  If someone were to look at my life from the outside, they’d think I was doing alright.  I’m not trying to brag, just trying to realistically evaluate my life.  I’m 27 years old, graduated with a Masters degree, doing what I love to do while at the same time making a good amount of money with my internet business.  I’m married to a healthy, beautiful wife and have one amazing son with another one on the way.  I just bought a house that is huge and beautiful, drive a car that is relatively new, have numerous great friends and a loving family. I can eat whatever and wherever I want, have bought some of the latest technology, and so on and so on.

But something about me isn’t satisfied.  In fact, something inside me thinks that all of this stuff is worthless.  I know there are people that are hurting out there but I’m much more content driving home and closing the garage, turning on one of my LCD TV’s that I own sitting in one of my La-Z-Boy’s that I own and just watching football.

You may think I’m being hard on myself.  But the truth of it is, I’m ready for a change.  None of the stuff God has given to me is wrong.  But what has happened is that slowly, I’m being comforted by the things in my life and I’d rather go after one of them than pursue God.  They have my heart rather than God.  I’d rather watch football than spend some quality time with God.  I’d rather look at Best Buy to see what’s new than explore God’s Word to see what’s something new I might learn about my Creator.

I don’t think I’m alone.  I think there are people in our church who aren’t satisfied either.  People who know they were created for something more.  I want God to have my heart.   If you want God to have your heart, what are you going to do about it?  I’m anxious to hear from you.  I personally am thinking about how I can be more giving and generous with what God has given to me.  I don’t want the stuff that I have to own me and right now it does.  If you are in the same boat as me, then try this from Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, “Jesus, I need to give myself up.  I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own.  I can’t do it, and I need You.  I need You deeply and desperately.  I believe you are worth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next.  I want You.  And when I don’t, I want to want You.  Be all in me.  Take all of me.  Have Your way with me.”

God, have your way with our church, and help us not find our safety, comfort, and security in the things of this world, but only in You and Your grace!

God does have a sense of humor (see previous post if you haven't done so already). Seat 11D. Sitting next to me is a couple, evidentially not having a very good day. As is usually the case in flights to Orlando, there are children on board. Excited children, even at 7:30a. The occupants in 11E and 11F aren’t so excited. Not that I am a fan of loud kids on a flight but in my opinion, this has been very tame. The young child behind us asked questions of his mom like, “how fast are we going?” and “how high are we?” along with comments like “wow” and “the plane is shaking.” I have heard them complain for almost an hour, certainly worth a blog post. What I found amusing about this chance encounter is that what has bothered me is not the child’s color commentary but rather the constant complaining. Now maybe “constant” is a stretch but after every word out of the child’s mouth comes something like, “stupid kids…they should be forced to be in the back of the plane…their parents need to tell them to shut up” And my new personal favorite, “they are SO annoying.” So annoying? Really? I would like to nominate two for that title. Pause. So God, how can I be a witness it this situation?

FAITH  

Now, I know, faith, like "sin" or "self-esteem" is one of those super vague words that we throw around all the time but don't really know that it means, but I had a friend one time tell me a simple story that made the meaning of this word crystal clear and really practical for me:

You're standing on one side of a bridge which stretches across a canyon to the other side.  You need to get to the other side.  Now, you can believe that the bridge is going to hold you up when you walk across it, and you can keep believing that for as long as you want, but believing alone isn't going to get you anywhere, right?  So what is faith?  In this situation, it would be walking across the bridge; simply acting on what you believe!  

That simple story totally "demystified" the idea of what faith actually is and the role it had in my life.  When you realize that faith is simply "acting on what you believe", you suddenly realize that we use faith all the time, even non-Christians.  Why do you turn the key in your car in the morning?  Some might say, "well, that's how you start the motor".  That's true, but I think everyone has, at least once, gotten in their car, turned the key, and the engine doesn't start, right?  So there is a possibility for failure; why do we keep turning the key.  We turn the key out of faith; acting on a belief that the car will start, even if we're not consciously aware of it.  There are even simpler acts of faith of which we're even less aware.  How do we know that when we walk on the sidewalk, the ground won't cave in underneath us and swallow us up?  Hey, with earthquakes and volcanic activity, it could happen and on occasion does, right?  We walk down the street because--even if it is only unconsciously--we believe that it will not cave in, so walking down the street is an act of faith!  In fact, if you think of pretty much anything we do--brushing our teeth, going to work, doing homework, going out on a date--you can ultimately trace it back to an underlying belief that is being acted upon, which makes them all acts of faith!  No matter who you are, faith defines every aspect of your life!  (I've found that it's really hard to distinguish faith from another word that we often use, which is trust)

There is one problem with all of these acts of faith that I've mentioned, however.  As we noted before, some people's cars don't start when they turn the key, though the were acting on the belief that it would.  Some people do occasionally get swallowed up by a freak earthquake while walking down the street, though--through simply walking--they were acting on an unconscious belief that they wouldn't be.  Some people brush their teeth out of the belief that if they do, they won't get cavities, but some will get cavities anyway.  Do these people not have enough faith?  Is that why what they believed would happen didn't?

By now it should be apparent that faith is more of an on/off switch rather than a continuum; you either act on a belief or you don't.  So the problem that these people have is not that they don't have enough faith, it was that these beliefs weren't worthy of the faith they put into them.  It's not how much faith you have, it's what you put your faith in that makes it great!

The good news?  "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8.  You could paraphrase this to say, "Cars sometimes don't start, and jobs aren't always secure, but God always is."  The great thing about God is that He is always faithful.  We can always put our faith in Him without any hesitation.  It is when we put our faith in Him that it becomes great.