We are creatures of change. Whether we resist it (like me) or embrace it, it is the truth of our existence. We're supposed to change, to be altered. Not only that, our world and our life are marked by changing seasons. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that your life is supposed to always have the same type of growth or production. A hard thing for Christians who are devoted to ministry to accept is the fact that there will come a season when you need to just stop. If the once fertile ground of your heart does not have this season of rest, the product will be less healthy, less bountiful, less strong...simply: less.
Maybe your full transition of seasons runs in a day: morning is your rest as you sit at Jesus' feet in communion; day is spent planting seeds; and in evening you see the fruit. But maybe your seasons are a bit longer. Make no mistake: there is always something to be done to further God's kingdom, but the worst type of poor stewardship is to assume that you are the one that constantly needs to be doing it. Your spirit and life is the first thing that God has given you to take care of, and he knows our limits.
I heard a speaker once describe seasons of the soul in this way: she took a cup half caked with muddy sludge and poured clear water into it to the top. Swirling it around, she likened the cup to our spiritual state. We are messy, but we are filled by God. She then poured out the muddy mixture and filled the cup again with clear water and again pour that mixture out. This time what was poured out was less cloudy. Each time she filled the cup with clear water and poured it out, the mud was less and less.
We are built to poured out for others in service to God, but we are also meant in the same cycle to be filled by God. The more we allow this change of seasons, this cycle, the cleaner - more Christ-like - we become. Don't neglect your season of filling. Don't mistake constant work for devotion. It's not the way we were designed. We were designed to be filled and emptied in turn; "I know I'm filled to be emptied again; the seed I've received I will sow."* Don't forget to rest in God so he can give you that seed.
*"Desert Song," Hillsong United
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Overarching Issue
I haven’t had a hard life; I have good parents and family; became a Christian at a young age; and have not faced the outward trials that many others have.
Inward, however, has been a different story for me. My battle has always been a war within myself and because it is not seen I wonder if sometimes I am broken enough to help others, to relate to them. I am beginning to discover an amazing ministry that God is opening up, however, in talking with people who have grown up with inner turmoil, like me.
I understand when people express their pain and it comes out jumbled and everything at once. Often we cannot separate one aspect of our lives from another; when we hurt in one we hurt in many. Especially when the framework we normally place our lives in – our God – is the thing that is shaking. Most of the time it is our own thoughts that poison us.
All those things are screaming around our minds and no matter what direction we look, we have lost hope. We have lost joy and peace. I do not want to oversimplify or invalidate what happens to us. However, the overarching issue is just one thing.
Freedom. We have been saved, but somehow we are captive still. And it’s time for that to change.
Inward, however, has been a different story for me. My battle has always been a war within myself and because it is not seen I wonder if sometimes I am broken enough to help others, to relate to them. I am beginning to discover an amazing ministry that God is opening up, however, in talking with people who have grown up with inner turmoil, like me.
I understand when people express their pain and it comes out jumbled and everything at once. Often we cannot separate one aspect of our lives from another; when we hurt in one we hurt in many. Especially when the framework we normally place our lives in – our God – is the thing that is shaking. Most of the time it is our own thoughts that poison us.
All those things are screaming around our minds and no matter what direction we look, we have lost hope. We have lost joy and peace. I do not want to oversimplify or invalidate what happens to us. However, the overarching issue is just one thing.
Freedom. We have been saved, but somehow we are captive still. And it’s time for that to change.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Called to Influence
"Leadership" is an intimidating word. It makes us think of the passionate, outspoken, on-stage spokesman who has vision and takes us where we want to go. John C. Maxwell authored a alternative view of leadership in his book "The 360 Degree Leader," however. Basically, it boils down to this: leadership = influence.
None of us are off the hook. If you exist, you are a leader. Your actions influence those around you, whether or not the idea of speaking a public word from the stage, or even just outloud in a small group, makes you break out in a cold sweat. It's one of the basic Biblical lessons for the Christ-follower: your actions say something and mean something to those around you, and people will respond to them in some way. God's design continues to be awesome and creative in the millions of different types of leaders that make up the body of Christ.
We are all called to influence. We are all leaders.
None of us are off the hook. If you exist, you are a leader. Your actions influence those around you, whether or not the idea of speaking a public word from the stage, or even just outloud in a small group, makes you break out in a cold sweat. It's one of the basic Biblical lessons for the Christ-follower: your actions say something and mean something to those around you, and people will respond to them in some way. God's design continues to be awesome and creative in the millions of different types of leaders that make up the body of Christ.
We are all called to influence. We are all leaders.
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