“I never dreamed I would….”

“I am so glad I….”

“I didn’t plan to….”

“I wish I wouldn’t have….”

Life is a series of surprises we never planned for. 

As I reflect on mine, I see a wandering odyssey mostly taken without a plan, purpose or destination. Planning for this, but doing that.   Hoping to be here, but ending up there.  

How can we know the course of our lives, how can we plan our lives when we have no idea what will unfold tomorrow or even this evening?

Life is lived with moments to experience.   Right now I can choose this, do that, go here and from that moment other moments happen.   Where will we end up? How will it all unfold?  Will I be successful, happy, fulfilled, rewarded, content?   Honestly, only God knows.

As I look back I have made decisions that have made me extremely happy.  Things could not have worked out better if I had written the ending results myself.  To be honest,  there have been some decisions that have ended in a series of regrets.   And yet, in the regrets of my choices I see the amazing grace of God working on my behalf.   There are choices to make, that’s clear, but the results of those choices are not always clear to us in the moment. All we can see right now is the moment. For me this all comes down to a simple idea that I think describes my own odyssey of wandering.

“Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?”                                                                                                                                                                                 Proverbs 20:24

So, as we each wander through the twists and turns of life and choices, know that God is directing our destinations.  We won’t figure it all out.  We need to simply trust Him to get us where He wants us to be.

This is a great comfort to me… because as I wander… God has wonderful things for me to learn in this thing called life.

Coaching Boys Varsity Basketball against Findlay

I screamed that as a statement as opposed to the question it ended up being.   Truth be told,  I wasn’t looking for a response.  To be exact,  I should have just yelled out… “You are Blind!!!”  That would have been more appropriate for the situation.  Either way… I made my point and then he made his.   He stopped the game and he came ever so close to giving me my first technical foul of my career.  He walked calmly over to me and asked me if I would kindly sit and keep my comments to myself.  For the record, in over 10 years of coaching I had never received a technical foul.  That is not to say I probably didn’t deserve one… I am sure I did. This story is a confirmation of the fact that I should have received one.

As I look back at that time in my life, I am amazed that I really reacted like that.   Some twenty years after I coached my last high school game,  I am convinced that I took it way too serious.  In truth, I wanted to win so bad that at times my heart hurt when we lost.  Looking back, I think it was way more important to me  than it was for the kids.  A few minutes after the game they would be laughing and being teenagers and I was still so ramped up that I would get angry at their lack of concern of losing the game.   I was a fool and there are a few memories that still haunt me to this day.   

There are times I wish I could go back and show them the proper way to react to a loss.  I  would love to show them that the greatest lessons in life were those I learned when I failed.  To be sure… I am not the man I used to be.  God has a way humbling those that need it and He wasted no time in putting me in my place as I sojourned my way through this life.  The truth is that I have learned that none of that ever mattered and some of the very events in my life that I thought were so critical to success in this life are so insignificant.

In the grand scheme of things, to be honest, “your life” is not even an event on the timeline of eternity.  It’s a blip.  Not even a ripple on the vast ocean of time.  An almost insignificant dimple on the page of history.   But much like the vision of the basketball official,  our vision is so limited, we only see “now” and fail to focus on some amazing things that are truly important to our lives.   We need to focus our sight on things that truly matter.

Frankly, we all need glasses.   Most of the people I know are badly near-sighted.   Their vision is only able to focus on “here” and “now”.   Their decisions and desires are all based on this life….taking care of retirement, saving for “the future” and making decisions to “make them happy.”    Their vision is on an amazingly small part of eternity that is called “life”.   Everything they do, every decision they make and even how they spend their time is based on their near-sighted focus on “life” and “now” as it relates to their time here on earth.   God makes it very clear in His Word that our lives we are short in light of eternity.

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.   James 4:14

There is a better way…

Our vision of God is so blurry because we rarely try to focus solely on Him.   It’s hard for us to get this most amazing God in focus and so for most of us our vision is quite blurry about who He is, what He’s like, what He thinks about me.  We are too focused on our own issues that we miss the opportunities to get to know Him.  Having the focus on ourselves will make it hard for us to focus on anything else beyond our near-sighted world.   It will make it hard for us to see what our life could be.

The desire of my heart is to now focus on eternity.  Most people have no clue as to what “eternity” really means.  We simply can’t imagine it.  It’s just so….eternal!  Forever and ever.   I think that’s why it’s so blurry to our vision.  I want the right kind of spiritual glasses so that I can focus on eternal things.

Here’s the part of this that must come into focus for all of us.  What we do with Christ in this life will determine our eternal destiny.   We have this “blip” of a life to make decisions about Him and those decisions will determine our eternity ahead.   The very reason Jesus became a man was to provide a solution for our eternal problem.  He said, “God loves you so much that He sent me to die for your sins. If you will believe in me I will give you eternal life.”  

The implication is clear,  if you don’t believe in Him (trust Him for salvation) then you have what every man has apart from faith in Christ – eternal death.   It is the most important thing we could possibly do with our lives, the most important decision we will ever make and yet our focus is on “now” and “happiness” and “our needs.”

I know, in my own life, I live most of my days with the distant horizon out of focus, but I’m praying for a vision for eternity, eyes that look into the days ahead and make decisions today because they will affect me for all of eternity.   I’m praying for eyes to see, so that I can make decisions for eternity and not just for today.

I so wish for you to focus your eyes on eternity and Jesus Christ for your Salvation.

Eternity awaits, all you have to do is focus…

We are such fearful little creatures on this tiny planet in the vast Universe.   This year will be fearful for many.   Make some noise and fear rises in our hearts.   Tell us there is crisis in the marketplace and panic  ensues.   As an election year many are afraid of what will happen in the Presidential race.  Almost everything we fear we have no control over and could not change the results even if we wanted to.

Like David, we all deal with fear.   We all know the world around us is not in our control.   We all live with imminent fear in our lives.  How do we respond?   What do we do when fear rises in our hearts?

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose Word I praise, In God I have put my trust;I shall not be afraid. What can mere  man do to me?”      Psalm 56:3-4

“I will put my trust in You.”   The solution to the fears we experience is someone, something big enough to calm them.   Someone able to resolve them.   David said that his first response to fear was to trust in God. We all run to something when fear rises in our hearts, what is it?   Do we run to the bank account?   Is our first response a call to a loved one?   Is our trust in the government?   Our job?   Our family?   When fear rises we need someone, something able to resolve that fear, calm our anxiety.   David trusted in God.   Who or in what do you place your trust?

So I sit in my car, waiting for the drive thru attendant prepare my cup of coffee.  I love to start the day with a good cup of coffee.  It is always worth the wait.  As I stare through the drive thru window, it occurs to me that this morning  the coffee shop is full of people.   Some are visiting, others are reading the morning paper.   It’s a social place.   Coffee is the catalyst and a place to sit and visit makes it the local club of their day.   Most of the people here know each other, it’s clear they are here often.   The baristas are addressing customers by name and everyone seems to be in good spirits.   It’s a community of moments and soon they will scatter to school, work or back to their homes.  

For a few moments community happens, laughter erupts, the din of voices of lives interacting fills the room.   I think it’s this sense of community that draws people to this place.   A place where anyone can come, get some coffee and be part of something.  Where everyone knows your name.

As I watch them through the window,  I’m thinking this is exactly what the church is supposed to be.  We are called to be a place where “anyone” can come and be part of the community.  Anyone.  A place where anyone can come and be part of something.  Where everyone knows your name.  Somehow we have made it an exclusive club that makes many in the world around us uncomfortable in our churches.  

Of all places the church should be a place where everyone is welcome, loved and cared for.   I wish we could recapture that idea of community rather than what the church at large has become.   How do we recapture the love of Christ that reaches out to the hurting, confused and struggling around us and make them feel at home in our church families?   How do we become a community that those without a place would be welcome in our midst?

Just a few rambling thoughts as I wait for my coffee.

It’s just another day.   A busy schedule lies ahead with lots to do.  

Many times the closest people around us are the greatest source of pain, hurt and resentment in our lives at one moment while in the next they are our richest blessing, joy and encouragement.  

Life can be a messy thing because of people. 

That’s why, when Jesus came with the message of the kingdom, He admonished us to focus on two things:

1.   Love one another.

and

2.   Forgive one another.

The truth is that both of these admonishments are vital parts of a healthy life.   We must decide to intentionally love and forgive those around us.   People are messy. We all have our hurts, wounds, baggage and struggles in tow as we encounter each other.  We all have our guards up from previous hurts.  We all have our ears tuned to listen for offense.   The cure is love and forgiveness.

As I write this I think of those who are in need of forgiveness.   I think of those that need to feel the love of other believers.

Love and forgiveness. 

Both are only done as we allow God to work through us.  The greatest miracles of your life will come as you love and forgive.  The greatest changes in lives around you will come because you love and forgive. They are the very heart of God, the very things we love about Jesus, the very things the world most needs, the two things those we encounter most need from us.

Let’s make 2012 a year of love and forgiveness to those we encounter in this journey we call life.

This morning, as I read Micah 6, I once more come to these simple instructions,

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

In my simple language,  I would instruct someone else with these directions, do what’s right, be nice and respond rightly to God.   It’s not all that hard.   Life comes down to some very simple instructions.    That helps a guy like me.

Jesus repeated these instructions and framed it in an even clearer way.  He said, “Love God and love each other.”   That’s Micah 6 in its simplest form.   Basically scripture tells us to focus on eternal things – God and people.   Those are the things, the relationships that will be eternal.   Everything else will waste away like rust, rot or be thrown away.

So today, I hope to focus on the eternal things – God and people.   I hope to respond to them as Micah describes, do what’s right, be nice and walk humbly with God.   I’m so glad this is simple.   It helps to know how easy this really is. 

The secret is this – it’s not about me, it’s about God first and others second.   It’s a life focused outward, focused not on the frantic scramble for security and for stuff, but on others and God.

Simple instructions…..for a simple man, do what’s right, be nice and walk humbly with God.

It’s a new morning.  The sun has risen.   No one ever is surprised by this.   Just like every other morning since the  creation of time the sun has risen.   We are used to it.   It’s pretty much expected by us, isn’t it?  

For many people it is just a matter of astronomy and science.  The earth just orbits around the sun while it spins on its axis.  Thus creating our days and nights.  To them it is as simple as that.  

For me, it is something a little more divine.  I understand the principles of science and the rotation around the sun.   But I also believe that the complexity and wonder of science is created by the very hand of God.  I am a creationist.  I believe that all things were created by Him.  Do I understand how He did everything?   No, but I do believe that God created all things and He did it with the complexity that has baffled scientists since the beginning of recorded history. 

I have been told that it is too easy to simply believe that God created everything.   They say that too many things need an explanation and reason for existence.   However, for me, that is why it is called faith.  Am I to believe that all of this happened by mere happenstance?  Just random matter bouncing off each other and it formed itself into the world we have today?  That takes way more trust than the faith I have that God created all things.   I believe and I don’t need an explanation on every detail on how it all works together.

Why? Because a faithful God is showing us how to trust Him.  Every morning the sun rises in the Eastern sky and His faithful nature is giving us the light of day.   It’s a constant reminder that we need to place our trust in God.  He is the same as He has always been, faithful to care for us, able to do so and do it lovingly.    

So, this morning, as I see the first glimmer of light over the horizon I’m thankful for God’s care, His love, His provision and His power to accomplish good things for us.

Thank You Lord for the sun today and as you promised… the sun will come up tomorrow.

Have you ever been thirsty?  I mean really thirsty…your mouth dry, lips parched, your tongue clinging to the roof of your mouth.     Have you have ever been so thirsty  that you long for just a sip of water?   Thirsty….it’s how we describe a need for something that is vital to life.   We cannot live without water.   If we went without it for even a few days our health would diminish quickly.   We must have water to live. 

In the Bible, David wrote of another kind of thirst.   He wrote in this Psalm of a thirst for God.  

“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.  I thirst for God, the living God.”      Psalm 42: 1-2

David has the craving for a close  relationship with his God, to have a presence that could only be equated to a thirsty deer in the wilderness looking for water.   We all have this thirst, this need for God.  The sad truth is that most people don’t realize it as need for God in their life.  Many try to quench their thirst for satisfaction with other things.  It may be material things or maybe they try to find it through the bottle or drugs.  

Like water to the body, God is the only thing that will really meet our thirst’s need.   Around me I watch a world looking for relief from their thirst in other ways, but the only one, the only water for the soul is God Himself.   Those who look for relief from other sources will never quench their thirst, they simply satisfy their thirst for a moment with things that don’t last.  

I feel that thirst in my life.   I want to know God and have Him be the focal point in my life.  I want to satisfy my thirsty soul with His presence.   It’s His face I need to seek, it’s His presence in my life that will quench my thirsty soul.

Like David, I thirst for God.  My hope is that is your prayer as well. 

The question is… are you thirsty?

 Bunni, Azgad, Bebal,         -Nehemiah 10:15

Hopefully, you’re smiling, aren’t you?  You are thinking how can this verse help me?  As I read this verse, among a list of other names, it struck me that in a world where we seem to disappear into the crowd of billions God still sees us.   God sees me.   He sees you.   He knows my name.

 I picked this verse from the many in this passage because here are three men you will never hear about in history or  literature.  We will never know more about them other than their names and these simple facts: 

• They lived during the difficult days of Nehemiah as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.
• They were leaders of the people.
  
• And, most important, they signed their names to the list of those who promised to follow and obey God.
  
• Now, for more than 3,000 years, their names are read and remembered by millions who have no idea who they were, but God knows.

 Paul wrote that all of scripture is profitable, so as I read a verse like this I wonder how this verse helps me, guides me, teaches me.   Here’s what I get from it….God sees.   He notices those who follow him.   He sees us.   Psalms says God is intimate with the righteous and here, among a list of 44 names, are three who decided to follow and obey God in difficult days.   Because of their faith, we will know their names.   They promised to follow and obey God.   We will know nothing more about them until we see the Lord, but we know this…  God knew them and He knows you and I.

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” -1 Thes. 5:18

Today is Thanksgiving day in our country. It started with a group of men and women pausing to thank God for his care and provision. It continues as a tradition that has lost much of its initial purpose.

Today it’s a day off, football, turkey, family, pumpkin pie, a nap…..

Today God will find only a brief mention for those who give thanks for the meal, but there is so much more to say.   All that we have, all that happens, all we experience gives us opportunity to thank the One who gave it from His great kindness.

I’m thankful for God’s great goodness to me, for the day, for sight, for health, for family, for a warm home, for salvation…oh how wonderful is that, for purpose, for hope, for love, for food, for clothing, for God’s love in my life, for his constant care, for feet that work, for grace to experience, for friends…oh what a blessing they are, for a God who hears when I pray, for my Bible…I so love God’s word, for my wonderful wife, for children I dearly love, for my grandson, for my parents, for life itself, for this moment to celebrate a good God, for stars that show me how grand God really is, for thousands of other things, moment by moment, I say thank you, God.