OK, let me start by saying that, Yes, I did eat 3 out of my last 5 meals at the Waffle Shop on Blue Course Drive. My guys small group used to meet there weekly, and most of our other small groups frequented the WS for a season or 2. They know my order by heart, the food is always good, and the service is fast & great. Is 3 out of 5 too many? I don’t think so…
I read something in the Bible today that really grabbed me–two things, actually.. This church planter/apostle Paul is writing to a group of people in Corinth. He planted a church there, and was doing some long-distance coaching.
The first thing that stood out was this: Paul was facing lots of opposition, yet he looked on what was happening as a wide-open door of opportunity. That smacked me right in the mouth.
So many times, I equate easy with God’s blessing. It makes sense, in my dull-mind, that if God is in it, it should go smoothly. If I run into difficulty, if there’s kickback, if it’s not going well–lots of times I chalk that up to God saying, “See, I tried to tell you not to do that.” But Paul seems to be saying the opposite. In fact, if you read up on Paul’s life and journeys, it doesn’t take long to see that trouble and hardship followed this guy around everywhere he went. But he looked at the opposition to his mission as an opportunity for God to show up and do God-sized things. Instead of running from suffering and abuse, Paul walked into the fray with confidence, knowing that God was going to show up.
The second thing that jumped out at me was the unity Paul had with other people working to tell the Good News about Jesus. He mentions a whole bunch of other visiting speakers, and encourages the Corinthians to greet them with love, meet their needs, and submit to their teaching and leadership. There’s no apparent conflict of interest with Paul. He isn’t the slightest bit worried that somebody else might be the more popular teacher, that other people might get the press or recognition. He has a Kingdom of God mentality that turns the spotlight of himself, and onto the One these teachers are pointing to. He’s glad to have other people working alongside him in the effort.
Neither one of these things is normal, is it? Not from where I’m sitting, at least. I feel the opposition and want to turn around, change my plans, accommodate. When the going gets tough, it’s easier to move on, to find somewhere else I need to be. And when someone else is getting the atta-boys, I tend to get a little put-off. I don’t want anyone else stealing my thunder (or anything else that’s mine, thank you.)
Paul discovered the power of perspective, of seeing things from the Kingdom view. It’s working its way into my soul, too. I’m feeling greatly challenged and encouraged. When God changes our hearts, he changes our natures. What used to be normal doesn’t fit anymore. It’s as if the old way of living has gone to the death, and a new life has risen from the grave; different, changed, re-prioritized.
That’s the man I want to be, in all aspects of my life. Transformed by the power of God…and eating omelets with my friends at the Waffle Shop.
Anybody want to join me?
1 Comment
Beth Wygonik :-) · April 1, 2010 at 8:51 am
Thanks Stac for putting this into words 🙂
I think God hit me with something like this last summer. He challenged me a lot in the ways I define, quantify, and even think about success. Forgive me if you know this story well, but it well illustrates the lack of human reasoning necessary in God’s version of success:
In reading Judges 19 & 20, I was awed at how God instructed the Israelites to go to war against their brother tribe, they obey, and on the first day of battle, 22,000 guys get slaughtered.
In my book, that would look a little like defeat and not much like success at all.
But the Israelites did not abandon the Lord. Ch. 20 v.23 says, “But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, “Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?”
Hmmmmm. They stuck with God, asking for more direction. I am sure that some (or all) of them wondered if they heard God correctly. I cannot imagine facing that destruction and wanting to go back. Yet, they did. AND THEN, on the second day, 18,000 more men died.
Whoa. Here, I would be pretty gun shy, if I was even around at all. I think I would question if I heard God correctly, because similarly to what you stated, if things are difficult or we run into resistance, we either doubt that we are following God’s will, or we just don’t really want to stay in the rough places.
Yet, the Israelites wept, fasted, prayed, and inquired of the LORD again. He told them to go to battle again, because on the 3rd try, He would give them victory… and He did.
This whole thing made me wonder if I would have made it to the 3rd day still seeking God when I witnessed 40,000 deaths. Death seems like failure to us, too. (Isn’t the cross amazing, btw?) But in God’s realm, it isn’t. Life is not necessarily success, either. So, what then is success in God’s realm?
Loving God by obeying Him, trusting Him, seeking His will over our own, seeking His wisdom over our own logic, and following wherever and to whatever He leads. (And yes, loving others is part of obeying Him.)
Eh- sorry for the lengthly post. At least, that is a little of what God taught me in the arena of failure and success.
p.s. I shared this whole concept at a staff/counselor meeting last summer. While I spoke, I was standing in front of a few tables where people were seated, because there were no more seats at the tables… and the zipper on my pants was down the entire time. How is that for a little success story irony?!? God has quite a sense of humor 🙂