Shooting the Breeze

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an “easy button” to push in life?  Wouldn’t it be nice if everything had a simple and easy solution to it?

Push the “easy button” after losing your job and you immediately get a new one.

Push the “easy button” after your spouse leaves you and immediately you are reconciled.

Push the “easy button” after your child is diagnosed with cancer and immediately they are healed.

The problem is, there is no “easy button” to push in life! Life’s dark and difficult moments don’t have easy and simple solutions to them.

But here’s the good news:  There are no easy solutions but there is hope because there is a cross! Instead of answers, God gives us something better.  He offers us a solution.  He offers us the cross.

Because of Jesus, suffering is never the last word. We’re promised if we put our trust in Him, there will be a day when He “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and there will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain, because all the old ways are gone” (Rev 21:4).

That’s the promise.  That’s the last word – that ultimately God will defeat the pain and heartbreak of this world.  That He’s already defeated it, but we’re just living out the aftermath of the battle.  That there will be a day when all is restored.

Here is where faith comes into play in the middle of a situation you probably didn’t choose.

Faith is saying I choose to believe in you, God, more than this or that tragedy.  I throw myself in utter dependence on you – you alone, a God who specializes in resurrections, a God who brings hope to the hopeless, a God who is a father to the fatherless, a God who was willing to send your Son to a cross to prove that you are more powerful than the worst thing evil could do” Pete Wilson “Plan B” (pg. 219).

Although there is no “easy button” to push in life, we do have a cross.  A cross that communicates how much God loves us and how far He’ll go to begin the reconciliation to our world through the shedding of His Son’s blood.

The cross is proof that God does not always change the circumstance, but that He works every circumstance to His purpose.  He will never let go of us.  His cross will be an anchor of hope for us (pg. 224).

How do you respond in life’s difficult and dark moments?

This is a continuation to my book club discussions of Pete Wilson’s book “Plan B”. This week I read Chapter 14: The Bow. If you have a response, please add it below and add to the discussion. Whether you’ve read the chapter or not, please share your thoughts!

For me, there is nothing worse than feeling like what I am doing means nothing.  Feeling like I am just going through the motions.  Feeling like if I stopped doing what I was doing, nobody would even notice and it wouldn’t even matter.

Pete Wilson in his book “Plan B” shares this quote from Henri Nouwen that speaks powerfully to this issue:

One of the most obvious characteristics of our daily lives is that we are busy.  We experience our days as filled with things to do, people to meet, projects to finish, letters to write, calls to make, and appointments to keep.

Our lives seem liked over-packed suitcases bursting at the seams.  In fact, we are almost always aware of being behind schedule.  There is a nagging sense that there are unfinished tasks, unfulfilled promises, and unrealized proposals.

There is always something else that we should have remembered, done or said.  There are always people we did not speak to, write to, or visit.  Thus, although we are very busy, we have lingering feelings of never really fulfilling our obligations.

… Beneath our worrying lives, however, something else is going on.  While our minds and hearts are filled with many things, and we wonder how we can live up to the expectations imposed upon by ourselves and others, we have deep sense of unfulfillment.

While busy with and worried about many things, we seldom feel truly satisfied, at peace, at home.  A gnawing sense of being unfulfilled underlies our filled lives … The paradox of our time is that many are busy and bored at the same time.

While running from one event to the next, we wonder in our innermost selves if anything is really happening.  While we can hardly keep up with our many tasks and obligations, we are not so sure that it would make any difference if we did nothing at all.

While people keep pushing us in all directions, we doubt if anyone really cares.  In short, while our lives are full we are unfulfilled. pg. 23-24 Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life

I have had seasons of life where I have felt this way.  I have felt unfulfilled.  I have felt “busy and bored at the same time.”

When I begin to feel this way it has forces me to do some soul searching and evaluation of what I am doing and why I am doing it.

I want to know that what I am doing is actually making a difference – that it matters not just for the here and now but for eternity.

What are your thoughts on this quote?  What resonated with you?

This is a continuation to my book club discussions of Pete Wilson’s book “Plan B”. This week I read Chapter 13: Transformation through tragedy. If you have a response, please add it below and add to the discussion. Whether you’ve read the chapter or not, please share your thoughts!

I think we all have experienced times in our lives when things just seemed hopeless. Sometimes our situations feel so out of control and we can’t believe what is happening.

We can’t believe that our parent died at such a young age.
We can’t believe that our spouse walked out on us.
We can’t believe that we have just been diagnosed with cancer.

When we come to this point in our lives, it feels like there is no way past our problems. We’re convinced that life will never be the same again. We feel like there is no hope.

When we find ourselves in this place, we have to remember that we are not the first people who have ever felt this way. Millions of people throughout the ages have felt these exact same feelings.

Jesus’ disciples felt this way the day He was crucified.

Hope had died in the hearts of Jesus’ most loyal friends and followers the day He died on the cross. They felt more powerless, more hopeless than they had ever felt in their lives.

The problem was, the disciples were only seeing part of the message. “Christ defeated” was all they knew. But then on the third day the fog of disappointment and misunderstanding lifted, and they (and the world) received the complete message: “Christ defeated death!”

Defeat was turned into victory; death was turned into life!  In a matter of hours, the disciples journeyed from hopeless to hope-filled.  From powerless to powerful.

This is good news for all of us in who are in desperate need of hope today!

Pete Wilson in his book “Plan B” states that there are two types of hope in is this world:

One is hoping for something, and the other is hoping in someone. (pg. 169)

The problem is that everything that we hope in will one day eventually disappoint us.  Every circumstance, every situation, every relationship we put our hope in is eventually going to wear out, fall apart, give out and go away.

Pete goes on to say:

That’s the problem with hoping in something.  That’s why the only dependable hope is hope in someone.  Or, rather, Someone.  The entirety of Scripture points to one cross, one man, one God – not because he gives us everything we’re hoping for but because he is the One in whom we put our hope.  pg. 170

This is why I can find hope in the midst of any crisis I may face.  I can have hope when it feels like there is no reason to have hope.

I can have hope because my hope is based on a powerful, in-control God who can do and will do the impossible.

My hope is based on a God who has defeated death itself!

This same hope is available to you as well.

When everything seems hopeless we need to remember:

Even though life is uncertain, God is not.  While our power is limited, God is limitless.  He still has the whole world in his hands.

Your world may feel chaotic and hopeless right now but remember God is still in control!

Does your life feel out of control and hopeless right now?

This is a continuation to my book club discussions of Pete Wilson’s book “Plan B”. This week I read Chapter 11: Power and Hope. If you have a response, please add it below and add to the discussion. Whether you’ve read the chapter or not, please share your thoughts!

An idol is simply to take something other than God and make it our ultimate focus. We make it the most important thing in our lives and pursue it at all costs.

Wealth can be an idol.

Popularity can be an idol.

Our career can be an idol.

Our family can even be an idol.

You may be thinking, “I don’t have an idol.  No way.”

Let’s think about this for a moment.  I believe all of us have at least one area of our lives where we’re tempted to pursue something other than God.

Pete Wilson in his book “Plan B” presents a a great tool that he learned from Louie Giglio to discover what we are pursuing in our lives (for good and for bad).

He suggests we have to follow the trails of our life.  Follow the trail of your …

Time - how you spend most of the hours of your day (working, watching TV, gardening, goofing off on the Internet)

Affections – what you care most about, what relationships you nurture (your spouse, your children, your pets, your church friends)

Energy – what you work and play hardest at (the gym, your job, hobbies, avocations, helping people)

Money – what your bank statement indicates about where your money goes (saving for the future, eating out, toys and entertainment, helping your children, tithing)

Allegiance - what you’re most loyal to (your church, your job, your family, yourself) [pg. 154]

We need to follow the trail of all these things because at the end of that trail we’ll find a throne and whatever – or whomever – is on that throne is what’s of highest value to us.

It’s our idol.

Most of us don’t walk around saying, “I worship my money.  I worship my possessions.  I worship my career.”  But here’s the hard truth: the trail never lies!

In the end our worship, our idolatry, is more about we do than what we say (pg. 154).

Ouch!  These are tough words to swallow but they are so true.

So we have a choice to make: Are we going to worship the things of this world  or are we going to worship the God who has created and authored these things?

This is the same choice that Joshua gave the people of Israel at the end of his life. He said:

Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

This is my prayer and desire for my life!

Where or what  are the trails leading to in your life right now?

This is a continuation to my book club discussions of Pete Wilson’s book “Plan B”. This week I read Chapter 10: The Anchor. If you have a response, please add it below and add to the discussion. Whether you’ve read the chapter or not, please share your thoughts!

Throughout our lives we are going to hit different walls. A wall usually comes as a result of a crisis. For me it was my medical leave in May of 2007. That was a serious crisis in my life.

For others:

It may be a divorce.

It may be a betrayal.

It may be a job loss.

It may be a death of a family member or a very close friend.

When we hit a wall, we question God, we question ourselves and we question the church and everybody else around us who call themselves Christians. And we always have more questions than answers.

The very foundation of our lives feels as if it’s being shaken and rocked.

We don’t know where God is.

We have no idea what He’s doing, where He’s going, when we’re going to get there, and, when this will be over.

When we are at the wall we are faced with a tough choice:

Will I continue to choose to believe that God is who He says He is?  Will I continue to worship God even through the tears?

This is not easy.

This will not come naturally.

In order for us to make this tough decision at the wall we need to have a systematic way of remembering God’s faithfulness in the past.

Pete Wilson in his book “Plan B” says:

If you don’t remember God’s past faithfulness, you’re going to have a hard time trusting him when you’re up against the wall (pg. 106).

We can be reminded of God’s faithfulness through a picture, or a particular verse, a journal entry or through a loved one.

A great way that I have been remembering God’s faithfulness lately is through participating in the Everyday Testimony Project.  The purpose of this project is summed up in two words: cultivating thankfulness.

When we hit a wall we need to continue to believe that God is who He says He is.  We need to continue to worship God!

“We’re called to be faithful to God even when it seems he hasn’t been faithful to us. We are called to love him even when we feel abandoned. We’re called to look for him even in the midst of the darkness. We’re called to worship him even through our tears.”  Pete Wilson Plan B” (pg. 117)

How do you respond when you hit a wall? How are you cultivating thankfulness into your life?

This is a continuation to my book club discussions of Pete Wilson’s book “Plan B”.   This week I read Chapter 8: Darkness.  If you have a response, please add it below and add to the discussion. Whether you’ve read the chapter or not, please share your thoughts!