Bet you thought I was going to write about love, didn't you? Gotcha, I set up your expectations and then crushed them (or maybe relieved them). Expectations are some of the easiest feelings to create; for example, I can say "At some point in this blog post, you will have an opportunity to earn $1 (I'm broke, Australia took all my money)" and you WILL expect that to be true. Whether or not I follow through on that is entirely up to me, but whether or not you believe I will follow through, I have created expectations to some degree.
Even a few snowflakes sets expectations in my mind that can be very hard to break. A few nights ago it snowed here in Oklahoma, and to me that instantly switches my mind into snow day preparation mode (Aka stay up late with friends). Imagine my disdain and surprise when it turned out that Oklahoma had toughened up since I'd last been here and 1" of snow was no longer enough to cancel school...
Anyways, I think the concept of expectations has been clearly illustrated. What I've been thinking about lately though is how dangerous expectations can be, but how necessary they are to life. If we never expect anything to happen, we will never be prepared for anything, but at the same time, if we put too much stock in our expectations, we'll all end up like me on Monday morning; tired and disappointed. If I have learned anything about the way God works in my life it's that if I expect him to move in a certain way, he won't, but then almost the exact INSTANT I stop trusting in my expectations, He does what I thought he was going to. That is definitely not universally applicable, it's not like every time I expect anything to happen God throws me a curve ball, I guess just when I assume I know what's going on.
Sort of in relation to my last post, I think the reason it always seems that God brings the blessings when I least expect them is because of his perspective. The time is probably never right when what I want is for God to give me something instead of JUST God. I'll rephrase that. When God sees that something has taken his place as the object of my desire, or the goal I'm working towards, He never lets me have it. At least that's what I think. It's always when I give up trying or move on to something else that He gives me what I thought was so important as if to remind me of his importance and what place he should take in my life.
The first person to tell me how old I was when I first watched the Colorado Rockies play gets $1 (unless you're my parents).
So in conclusion (been writing lots of papers lately) what I have realized is that even THOUGHTS war against God for the throne of my heart. Expectations can become so big that they consume me and I don't leave enough room for God when I SHOULD be taking all of these things I'm hoping or waiting for and giving them to Him.... I'm not very good at that though, I tend to take something that I think God wants me to pursue and let it replace Him, let it take my attention away from him. It might be a good thing, it might be a neutral thing, but all things that I allow to replace God are nothing but dead weight to me.
That said, it's a GREAT feeling when after letting go of things thought necessary and holding on to God, he eventually gives you some of the things you wanted to begin with...
Hope that made sense... Kind of a stream of consciousness tonight...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
West Isn't West to Everybody...
...Actually, yes it is, but not everything is the same to every person or even to the same person at a different place or time.
Perspective is extremely important, that's what has been on my mind for about the last 25 minutes. At Abilene Christian University, there is a statue called "Jacob's Ladder" and perspective is really important with it. There are a bunch of hidden cross shapes created by the negative space left by a bunch of seemingly randomly placed stones. If the viewer isn't standing at exactly the right place, the cross isn't visible and all that can be seen is a jumbled mess of rocks. Just as it is in art, perspective is unbelievably important in life; if we aren't in the right place, we can often completely miss what God is trying to show us.
Perspective can be gained and changed in many different ways. Travel often alters and expands our perspective, experiences, relationships, and conversations can all change perspective, even an encounter not longer than a few seconds can change perspective. These can all be effective perspective changers, but I think the single most consistently effective perspective changer is time. Of course, all of these other things fit inside of time, but sometimes perspective won't expand or change until a while after a particular encounter.
Right now is the point in my blog where I feel like I have typed a lot of words without really getting anywhere. So here it is; things that were once seemingly the end of the world, can be seen as the biggest blessings of our lives, IF we allow God to change and mold our perspectives. What if the curse becoming a blessing is not only applicable in SOME things but in ALL things? What if every thing that I have ever perceived as a "bad" experience has really been a blessing? I think if I were to "Count my many blessings" and "Name them one by one," people might think I was missing the point of the assignment when I started naming off fights I had lost, mistakes I had made, and bridges that had been burned. Truth is, I think negative experiences and mistakes I've made that God has allowed me to live through are often greater blessings than some of the unwarranted positives of my life. Here's how perspective fits into it; mistakes and other bad things foster growth in perspective, and perspective illuminates the positives that have come from the negatives.
God holds the ultimate point of perspective as He sees all time at once and knows all that has been and all that will be. I believe this is exactly what Paul meant when he wrote this to the Romans; "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." EVERY SINGLE THING that has EVER HAPPENED to me is being worked by the CREATOR OF ALL THINGS for MY GOOD. That is one powerful concept. It's also a concept that has been right in front of my face lately, even literally, like someone held "Romans 8:28" RIGHT in front of my face last week.
Now I understand what it means. It doesn't mean at ALL that everything that ever happens to me will be good, not even close. What it means is that God knows what he is doing and that even the things that seem so inescapably wrong and bad are probably happening so that God can bring us through to a better place. This is pretty massively outlined by the Israelite's trek from Egypt to Canaan and out of slavery. There were few of them who did not complain and wish to go back to how things were before in Egypt as slaves, but God brought them through the wilderness to the promised land. God did not want them to dwell on the past and what might have happened if they hadn't left Egypt, He wanted to show them that even though it might seem rough in the journey, He always has something better in mind.
So basically what I'm trying to say is this; if things seem wrong or off, or if you feel deserted by God, remember that God works ALL things for the good of those who love him. He doesn't make all good things happen to those who love him, but he makes ALL THINGS GOOD for those who love him.
All I can do is keep chasing him and pray that more negatives from my past will turn up positive just like they did tonight.
And I realize the title of this post won't make sense to 95% of you... deal with it.
Perspective is extremely important, that's what has been on my mind for about the last 25 minutes. At Abilene Christian University, there is a statue called "Jacob's Ladder" and perspective is really important with it. There are a bunch of hidden cross shapes created by the negative space left by a bunch of seemingly randomly placed stones. If the viewer isn't standing at exactly the right place, the cross isn't visible and all that can be seen is a jumbled mess of rocks. Just as it is in art, perspective is unbelievably important in life; if we aren't in the right place, we can often completely miss what God is trying to show us.
Perspective can be gained and changed in many different ways. Travel often alters and expands our perspective, experiences, relationships, and conversations can all change perspective, even an encounter not longer than a few seconds can change perspective. These can all be effective perspective changers, but I think the single most consistently effective perspective changer is time. Of course, all of these other things fit inside of time, but sometimes perspective won't expand or change until a while after a particular encounter.
Right now is the point in my blog where I feel like I have typed a lot of words without really getting anywhere. So here it is; things that were once seemingly the end of the world, can be seen as the biggest blessings of our lives, IF we allow God to change and mold our perspectives. What if the curse becoming a blessing is not only applicable in SOME things but in ALL things? What if every thing that I have ever perceived as a "bad" experience has really been a blessing? I think if I were to "Count my many blessings" and "Name them one by one," people might think I was missing the point of the assignment when I started naming off fights I had lost, mistakes I had made, and bridges that had been burned. Truth is, I think negative experiences and mistakes I've made that God has allowed me to live through are often greater blessings than some of the unwarranted positives of my life. Here's how perspective fits into it; mistakes and other bad things foster growth in perspective, and perspective illuminates the positives that have come from the negatives.
God holds the ultimate point of perspective as He sees all time at once and knows all that has been and all that will be. I believe this is exactly what Paul meant when he wrote this to the Romans; "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." EVERY SINGLE THING that has EVER HAPPENED to me is being worked by the CREATOR OF ALL THINGS for MY GOOD. That is one powerful concept. It's also a concept that has been right in front of my face lately, even literally, like someone held "Romans 8:28" RIGHT in front of my face last week.
Now I understand what it means. It doesn't mean at ALL that everything that ever happens to me will be good, not even close. What it means is that God knows what he is doing and that even the things that seem so inescapably wrong and bad are probably happening so that God can bring us through to a better place. This is pretty massively outlined by the Israelite's trek from Egypt to Canaan and out of slavery. There were few of them who did not complain and wish to go back to how things were before in Egypt as slaves, but God brought them through the wilderness to the promised land. God did not want them to dwell on the past and what might have happened if they hadn't left Egypt, He wanted to show them that even though it might seem rough in the journey, He always has something better in mind.
So basically what I'm trying to say is this; if things seem wrong or off, or if you feel deserted by God, remember that God works ALL things for the good of those who love him. He doesn't make all good things happen to those who love him, but he makes ALL THINGS GOOD for those who love him.
All I can do is keep chasing him and pray that more negatives from my past will turn up positive just like they did tonight.
And I realize the title of this post won't make sense to 95% of you... deal with it.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Decisions, Decisions....
Making decisions is one of my least favorite things to do in the world. Here's why; I am NEVER satisfied that the choice I made was the BEST choice. I always run through all the various hypotheticals for things that could have been better, or situations that would have resulted from a different choice, I also tend to look at the future outcomes of choices made with a slightly more negative outlook than is probably healthy. Right now I am examining why it is that I struggle so much to be at peace with the paths I take and the choices I make and the conclusion I have drawn is this; I am never going to make the right choice.
Making the right choice is absolutely impossible, this is because there is no right choice. Sure on matters like choosing whether or not to shoot a puppy, there is a right choice (don't shoot it), but how often does someone hold a puppy in front of me and ask me to decide whether or not to shoot it? In real life decisions, there are literally HUNDREDS of different choices that could be made at any given time, some of them are right-ish, some of them are wrong-ish. So I guess you could say that there are several right choices for each decision to be made, but more often there are just a bunch of right answers, and some are better for different purposes. For example; If I have the simple choice between going to the gym and running and playing Mario Kart, neither of those two options are bad or wrong. If I need to get in better shape (which I do) going to the gym would be the best choice, but if I am competing in a Mario Kart tournament next week whose outcome determines the fate of a herd of baby seals, then that would definitely be the better choice.
Of course that is a ridiculous example, but the point is that different situations, different stakes, and even different attitudes make different choices more or less right in any given situation. Where am I going with this? Here; "Unless Yahweh builds the house, it's builders labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." -Psalm 127:1. If God is not the focal point of any decision, the decision cannot ultimately be right, and if God watches over the choices we make, we will not go wrong. Psalm 121 depicts a man's struggle to conquer the mountain of obstacles in front of him, he looks up and sees the mountain ahead of him knowing his goal is the peak and says this;
I'm not saying that it is impossible to make a wrong decision as a christian, I'm simply saying that if we truly let God have control and follow his voice, the choices we make, even the ones we second guess will work towards his glory in the end if we continue to seek Him.
Making the right choice is absolutely impossible, this is because there is no right choice. Sure on matters like choosing whether or not to shoot a puppy, there is a right choice (don't shoot it), but how often does someone hold a puppy in front of me and ask me to decide whether or not to shoot it? In real life decisions, there are literally HUNDREDS of different choices that could be made at any given time, some of them are right-ish, some of them are wrong-ish. So I guess you could say that there are several right choices for each decision to be made, but more often there are just a bunch of right answers, and some are better for different purposes. For example; If I have the simple choice between going to the gym and running and playing Mario Kart, neither of those two options are bad or wrong. If I need to get in better shape (which I do) going to the gym would be the best choice, but if I am competing in a Mario Kart tournament next week whose outcome determines the fate of a herd of baby seals, then that would definitely be the better choice.
Of course that is a ridiculous example, but the point is that different situations, different stakes, and even different attitudes make different choices more or less right in any given situation. Where am I going with this? Here; "Unless Yahweh builds the house, it's builders labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." -Psalm 127:1. If God is not the focal point of any decision, the decision cannot ultimately be right, and if God watches over the choices we make, we will not go wrong. Psalm 121 depicts a man's struggle to conquer the mountain of obstacles in front of him, he looks up and sees the mountain ahead of him knowing his goal is the peak and says this;
"I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from Yahweh, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Yahweh watches over you- Yahweh is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. Yahweh will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; Yahweh will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."If we put our trust and hope in God, he will uphold our decisions. Just like there are a million different rocks on which to put your feet when climbing a mountain, there are hundreds of choices we have to make in our pursuit of God and he WILL NOT let your foot slip. As long as we are focusing on the peak and on serving God in all we do when making decisions, God will lead us to him through the choices we make.
I'm not saying that it is impossible to make a wrong decision as a christian, I'm simply saying that if we truly let God have control and follow his voice, the choices we make, even the ones we second guess will work towards his glory in the end if we continue to seek Him.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Sidewalks
How do sidewalks get there? Sounds like a dumb question......... because it is. Sidewalks are built by people. Why do people build sidewalks, paths and other roads? Because they want to get somewhere, more specifically because they go somewhere often and want the trip to be easier. Before roads, paths, and sidewalks, there were a lot of things to trip on, so people (intentionally, and unintentionally) made paths to get to the places they wanted to be. There are essentially two types of paths; purposefully built ones and naturally made ones. Both of these present some pretty awesome metaphors.
First, we have paths that were intentionally created. I use and see them EVERY day, without fail. I don't think I have ever been in a place where there was not an intentionally made path within eyesight. These paths always lead somewhere, even ones that seem to go nowhere, no one builds a path for the sake of building a path. There is a sidewalk at OC that ends in a staircase to an open field, it is commonly referred to as the staircase to nowhere, and it seems that it leads... well.. nowhere. In reality though, this sidewalk was also built with a purpose; the field it runs into was once used as an airstrip for the president's personal airplane. The point here is that every path built by humans was built for the purpose of traveling to the places we visit often. People don't build highways to the middle of a desert, they build them to places they want to go.
This is the premise for the second type of path; the routes we travel often develop paths whether we intended to build them or not. These types of paths show up pretty quickly in snow, mud, sand, dirt... That's pretty much all the description necessary for unintentional paths.
Here's why I'm writing about paths; they apply. This is how they apply; In my life, it is easy for me to identify the things that I do over and over again and the places I find myself time and time again. There are trails sidewalks and highways all over the place, some leading to the things I need in my life, some leading to things that only hold me back. There are trails that I am ashamed of, leading to places I do not want to go but I find myself visiting all too often. These trails and paths represent the people I interact with, the ways I treat others, the words I use, the ways I choose to spend my time and much more.
There's a little bit more to this metaphor though, the other part has to do with the paths I choose to take. I can choose to take the paths I built with my own strength, or I can choose to follow the path my Creator intended for me to follow. Not only follow that path, but quit building my own paths all together, I know I follow His path at least some of the time, but I need to cut out all of the other paths that split off and go somewhere else. Once again though, it doesn't end with just walking on God's path. If a man walks along a path he built himself, he will never fall because he knows the path, but he will also never arrive anywhere better than where he was. If a man follows God's path, he will stumble, but if the man walks with God on God's path, he will never be left to stumble long.
I not only need to stay on the path I didn't make, but I also need to trust God to guide me along the path and set my pace.
First, we have paths that were intentionally created. I use and see them EVERY day, without fail. I don't think I have ever been in a place where there was not an intentionally made path within eyesight. These paths always lead somewhere, even ones that seem to go nowhere, no one builds a path for the sake of building a path. There is a sidewalk at OC that ends in a staircase to an open field, it is commonly referred to as the staircase to nowhere, and it seems that it leads... well.. nowhere. In reality though, this sidewalk was also built with a purpose; the field it runs into was once used as an airstrip for the president's personal airplane. The point here is that every path built by humans was built for the purpose of traveling to the places we visit often. People don't build highways to the middle of a desert, they build them to places they want to go.
This is the premise for the second type of path; the routes we travel often develop paths whether we intended to build them or not. These types of paths show up pretty quickly in snow, mud, sand, dirt... That's pretty much all the description necessary for unintentional paths.
Here's why I'm writing about paths; they apply. This is how they apply; In my life, it is easy for me to identify the things that I do over and over again and the places I find myself time and time again. There are trails sidewalks and highways all over the place, some leading to the things I need in my life, some leading to things that only hold me back. There are trails that I am ashamed of, leading to places I do not want to go but I find myself visiting all too often. These trails and paths represent the people I interact with, the ways I treat others, the words I use, the ways I choose to spend my time and much more.
There's a little bit more to this metaphor though, the other part has to do with the paths I choose to take. I can choose to take the paths I built with my own strength, or I can choose to follow the path my Creator intended for me to follow. Not only follow that path, but quit building my own paths all together, I know I follow His path at least some of the time, but I need to cut out all of the other paths that split off and go somewhere else. Once again though, it doesn't end with just walking on God's path. If a man walks along a path he built himself, he will never fall because he knows the path, but he will also never arrive anywhere better than where he was. If a man follows God's path, he will stumble, but if the man walks with God on God's path, he will never be left to stumble long.
I not only need to stay on the path I didn't make, but I also need to trust God to guide me along the path and set my pace.
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