finding God’s will for your life

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 21-06-2010

Category : living a life of faith

Tags: , ,

Have you ever asked yourself what God’s will is for your life?  I don’t know if this is an American thing or it’s something all believers struggle with.  (I’d be curious to hear what our non-American R3blog readers think.)  At any rate, at least in this country we spend much of our time searching for God’s will for our lives.

Culturally we see the world through something like Manifest Destiny.  Where we feel that there’s a purpose to our lives.  Where there’s something specific to take from live.  This is such a strong current of our culture that understanding “our purpose” is something I focus on professionally.  Almost every worker is searching for the meaning of their work.  And our search for our Meaning to Work has become a billion dollar industry.  (Of which I get nowhere close to a billion dollars…)

But is this wrong?  Shouldn’t we just be satisfied with whatever God wants us to do?

I’ve heard many believers over the years say that if you even question what God’s will for you, it’s a lack of faith.  But I disagree.  Certainly there can be danger in this.  We can easily fixate on what God’s will is for our future so much that we miss God’s will for us in the present.  We can also get wrapped up pursuing our own desires on God.

But the history of God is one of accommodation.  He continually meets us where we are, not where we should be.  (And thank God – literally! – for that!)  This is why I believe any step we take towards God is the right step.  If it takes me praying about which tooth paste to buy to bring me closer to God so be it!  I don’t think that’s any better, worse or indifferent from someone who moves closer to God by living in Africa or working with people who have terminal diseases.

There is no such thing as a wasted step when it’s in God’s direction.

You may not know the specifics of God’s will for you.  But you know the basics.  Jesus told us when he said that we were to love God with all our hearts and to love one another as ourselves.  If we do that, then we’ll find that our dreams align to God’s dreams for our lives.  After a lifetime of taking one step after another, we can turn around and see just how much ground we’ve covered.

image provided by flickr user Victor Bezrukov

fearing life

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 14-06-2010

Category : fear

Tags: , , ,

We are consumed and paralyzed with fear.

We buy fire insurance, life insurance, health insurance, flood insurance, pest insurance.  We have people inspect our homes for radon, formaldehyde, and lead.  We child proof our electrical outlets, put rails at the steps, install security systems, and use floodlights to illuminate the dark.  Some people even go so far as to literally put their kid on a leash.

Wow.  Is life really that bad?  Kid’s on a leash?

But that’s where we find ourselves.  And there’s few things more tragic than living life filled with fear.

Of course there’s no question that terrible things may happen to you.  It happens every day.  Your house may burn down, you may get cancer, your kid might be kidnapped.  These things strike terror into our hearts, because we recognize the loss.  But have you ever stopped to consider what you lose by living a life of fear?

This last week a 16 year old girl tried to sail around the world.  For about 24 hours the world thought she had died.  Fortunately she had just lost her mast and a French rescue ship was able to save her.  You know what the headlines read the next day?  Not “courageous girl is saved” or “adventurer vows to try again.”  But “Questions asked of parents” and “Parents accused of risking her life.”

The world’s first reaction was to question why this girl’s parents didn’t keep her “safe.”

So let me ask you this: what’s more damaging, being told to never follow your dreams because they aren’t “safe”?  Or putting it all on the line for something you believe in?

That’s one of the remarkable aspects of Christianity.  We so often think of Christians as the “safe, non adventurous” types.  But God calls us to be ridiculously courageous.  He asks us to push the boundaries of his kingdom.  To be adventurers.  Or as Erwin McManus said, we should be the barbarians at the gate of civilization.

Fear is often unreasonable.  We weigh things differently when we fear.  How many of us are afraid to swim in the oceans because of Jaws?  But you are 250 times more likely to be killed by Bambi then Jaws?

Fear can be healthy.  It can prevent us from doing stupid things, like licking an iron.  But it can also paralyze us and take the joy out of living.  If you’re a Christian, there is no place in your life for fear.  Fear drives a wedge between us and God.  And it stops us from doing what needs to be done.  It prevents us from running to the needy.  It freezes us from helping the hurting.  And it blocks us from living in the grace God has for us.

I don’t know about you, but that’s too high of a price for me to pay.

photo provided by flickr user rocketjim54

created in God’s image

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 09-06-2010

Category : God

Tags: , ,

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis: 1:26)

It’s easy to forget we are special.  Life has a way of squeezing the joy from us.  Our co-workers are often more intent on bringing us back down to their level than building us up.  Our family can be more concerned with their feelings than our feelings.  Even our friends can stop us from growing because they like things how they are.  It seems everywhere we look the world is holding us back.

God alone stands out.

In fact, he has gone so far as to share his divinity with us.  It’s right there in Genesis 1: 26, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”  God could have created us in any way he saw fit.  He didn’t create animals in his image.  He didn’t give them special authority.  He reserved that for us.  God shared his divinity with us, what other god can claim that?

So the next time you’re feeling underappreciated or undervalued, just remember, the creator of the universe sees you as important enough to share his identity with you.  And that’s something to hold on to.

Image provided by flickr user Plinkk

being broken is a good thing

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 07-06-2010

Category : different

Tags: , , , , , ,

I’m in the midst of moving.  Which means it’s time to pack up my old stuff.  There’s nothing like the thought of carrying heavy boxes to make you really evaluate something’s worth!  I’ve been pretty ruthless so far in getting rid of things.  And one of the underlying questions I ask is simply, “is it broken.”  The last thing I want to do is take the effort to pack something that’s broken.

Let’s face it, we all value things that work.  This is why we throw away VCR’s and 8 track players instead of keeping them forever.  Something eventually comes along that works better, so we jump onto the bandwagon.  The very idea that we should keep something that is broken seems strange to us.

But to consider brokenness as a good thing?  Well that’s just crazy talk.

Yet when we look at life through God’s eyes, brokenness becomes something to seek out.  In fact, I think brokenness is one of the best gifts God has for us.  CS Lewis said that pride was at root of all evil.  That the more prideful we are, the further away from God we are.  Think about your life for a moment.  When do you hurt the people you love the most?  I would bet that the vast majority of the time it’s when you felt you were being prideful.

Pride has a way of making us feel perfect.  Above reproach.  It says, “if I’m not broken, then I don’t need fixing.”

This is why so many people have no need for God.  They see themselves as “good people” who might not be perfect, but they certainly aren’t broken.  They work just fine most days.  “Other people of course,” they reason, “are broken, but certainly not me.”  But that’s not the reality of our lives.  The reality is that we’re all broken.  The whole world isn’t working the way God had planned.  Ever since Adam and Eve, we’ve lost our way.

The people who recognized Jesus for who he was (God) were the ones who recognized they were broken.  It was the prostitute pouring out the perfume that knew what Jesus offered, not the religious leader who was throwing Jesus a dinner party.  (Luke 7: 36-50)

That’s the theme we see throughout history.  The people who were best at keeping up religious pretenses were the ones who didn’t see the need for Jesus.  So they worked to kill him.  They couldn’t understand how he could be the Messiah if he was rejecting the “beautiful people” in favor of your average, run of the mill broken sinner.

Ironically they saw Jesus as broken.  Not themselves.  So my question to you is this: are you broken?  How you answer that question will determine how you respond to Jesus.

photo provided by flickr user wwworks

where was Jesus

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 02-06-2010

Category : Jesus

Tags: , , , ,

I have heard people over the years challenge God by saying, “If God was so merciful, why did it take thousands of years for Jesus to show up? “  I think that’s a good question.  Why wasn’t Jesus standing outside of the Eden as Adam and Eve were being kicked out?  There’s no reason (that I know of) that would have prevented Jesus being there.  It’s not like it was impossible for God to do that.  Yet the question lingers: why did Jesus wait so long to enter the scene?

I think the answer lies in the journey itself.  God is more concerned about a relationship with us, then forcing us to be obedient.  It’s the same if you have kids.  You really want your kids to love you by their own choosing, not because you control their allowance, TV, or car privileges.  We know that deep down, a bribed love is no love at all.  Isn’t this the moral of many of those after-school-specials?  In those specials we learn that Betsy Sue’s “real friends” are the ones who want to spend time with her, not the ones who just want to ride in her new car.  (And if it’s on TV, it has to be true.)

It’s impossible to know for sure why God didn’t act faster.  But I think the evidence points to the fact that God was preparing us.  All of history, from Adam to Jesus is filled with examples of who God is, and what he wants for us.  He used the history of Israel to lay down the story that would guide our understanding of Jesus.  He time and again gave us a glimpse of who Jesus was.  Abraham, Moses, and David all demonstrate parts of God’s personality (just like you do, by the way.)  He showed us his power and redemption with stories like Daniel in the lion’s den and Esther’s position as a queen to save the Jews.

God wants us to be in relationship with him.  He wants us to be sons and daughters not servants and slaves.  If Jesus had come sooner, we wouldn’t have had the frame of reference to understand who he was, let alone why we needed him.  We would have been right back where Adam and Eve were.  And I think we would have been making the same choices as they did.  Because let’s face it, we all make daily choices against God.  It’s just that Jesus assumes our guilt.

I for one am glad it took Jesus so long to show up.

Photo provided by flickr user s-a-m

is God vengeful?

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 26-05-2010

Category : faith

Tags: , , , ,

The story of Abraham and Isaac is difficult for us to understand.  It’s shocking.  It’s offensive.  And for many of us, it confirms our view that the Old Testament God was mean and wrathful.  But is that really the case?  Is that really the message God is sending with this story?

I don’t believe God ever intended to take Isaac’s life.  He didn’t change his mind half way, or wimp out.  He intended to teach Abraham the He is loving and merciful, but it also requires submitting everything to following Him.  Those lessons hold true to us.  But we need to look at the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus.  And that means we get one more message to take away.  God never intended to take the life of a child.  Instead God wants us to understand that he will go where he won’t even call us to go.  God wants us to see that he’s a God who sacrifices for his people.  That he’s willing to pay a cost that very few of us would dream of paying.

God would never sacrifice a child.  But he’ll sacrifice himself.

Does that sound like an angry, vengeful, merciless God to you?  Or does it sound like a God who loves us more than we can even understand?

photo provided by flickr user CP Storm

the death of a son

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Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 24-05-2010

Category : Jesus

Tags: , , , , , ,

Could you kill your own son if God asked you to?  That’s the question Abraham wrestled with as he climbed a mountain with his son.

In most of the Old Testament God speaks with two meaning.  On one level he talks to the people of the time.   He’s literally giving a specific message to Abraham or Adam and Eve.  He is literally saying that Abraham will be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3) or that Adam and Eve’s son will kill the snakes they find near their homes (Genesis 3: 14-16).

However, on another level God is speaking to future generations.  He’s preparing us to recognize Jesus when he comes.  To understand who he is, and why he is important.  For instance, the family blessing in Genesis doesn’t just mean Abraham’s family.  It also means the blessings that will come from Jesus (who was a descendent of Abraham).  And it’s not Adam and Eve’s immediate family that will be at war with the snake.  Jesus will also crush the serpent under his heel by dying on the cross.

Wherever you look in the Old Testament God is planting the seeds of Jesus’ arrival.

That’s what’s so remarkable about the story of Abraham and Isaac.  To us this is so scandalous, so offensive, that we don’t even want to believe that it’s a true story.  But back in Abraham’s time, child sacrifice was common.  Children weren’t seen as something to be treasured.  And if a god required a sacrifice?  So be it.

But as we read into the story we see that duality of meaning.

We first see it as Abraham is heading up the mountain; he places “the wood for the burnt offering” on his son.  What other son carried wood on his back?  Jesus, in the form of the cross.

Next we see it as Isaac, while carrying the wood, asks one question, “Father?…The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22: 7)

Where is the lamb?

That’s a good question.  In fact it’s the only thing Isaac says on that journey.  To the reader, it seems as if Isaac has foreshadowed his own death.  But Isaac is not the lamb.  God spares Isaac from being sacrificed (God provides a ram.)

Although Isaac’s life is spared, his question is never answered.  In fact, his question lingers for the next few thousand years until Jesus comes onto the scene.  Jesus is that lamb that God would provide.  Jesus takes the hit that you and I (and Isaac and Abraham) deserve.  God saved us, just as he saved a boy from being sacrificed.  But it came at a great cost…

photo provided by flickr user Scootie

truly living out a life of faith

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 19-05-2010

Category : Uncategorized, living a life of faith

Tags: , , , , ,

Some days we’re reminded that spiritual giants still walk among us.  This is one such story…

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

finding the perfect job

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 17-05-2010

Category : faith

Tags: , , , , , ,

I’m the type of person who likes to have things with nice neat answers.  I don’t like a lot of contradiction or even things that seem to defy logic.  That’s why I tend to avoid Genesis.  While I believe that God created the earth, I don’t see any reason to get into the 7 literal days verse 7 “eras” conversation.  Nor do I really get why the Bible tells us people lived to be 800 years old.   Is that a metaphor?  A real life span?  Couldn’t they count?

For a while I struggled looking for answers to those questions.  Then I realized all of that is less relevant to my life than answering another question: was Jesus a real person?  If he was real (yes) and he was God (yes) then I can simply take his word for everything else.   So if Jesus vouches for Genesis, then that’s good enough for me.   I can’t “prove” Genesis, but I can “prove” Jesus.

Why do I share all of this?  Because over the last few weeks I’ve been doing something called “The Story Formed Life.”  It’s an 11 week course that focuses on the story of the Bible.  This has forced me to wrestle with those topics I haven’t spent much time dealing with.  Particularly in Genesis.

As I re-read Genesis, what stands out is the amount of authority and freedom God gives us.

God gives Adam the authority to name the animals and the freedom to pretty much do whatever he wanted.  It was an ideal place.  If you take your average person today what’s their biggest concern: finding the “right” job.  We spend hours worrying about what we were meant to do.  Billions of dollars searching for new jobs and getting professional development.  Yet we still feel like our work has no meaning.

Adam on the other hand was literally created for his job.

It’s often easy to think of God, especially the so-called “Old Testament God” as someone who’s distant and vengeful.  But the real God of Genesis shows us a God who cares so much for his creation that he gives us perfect freedom and perfect autonomy.  Of course that doesn’t mean absolute freedom and autonomy.  God placed certain rules and restrictions on Adam.

But that wasn’t enough for Adam.

He and Eve chose to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  And with it, they gave up their freedom and authority.  They walked away from the perfect job because they thought they could get something better.

How often do we do this?  How often do we give up the authority and freedom God gives us for something less filling?  Something more restrictive?

God gave Moses the 10 Commandments.  And the priests took that and turned it into hundreds of highly detailed laws.  As Christians we take the freedom Jesus brings and wrap it in formal prayers, religious obligations, and moral thuggery.

Obviously we aren’t that different from Adam after all.

the real way to recycle

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 14-05-2010

Category : different

Tags: , , ,

I’ve suddenly become concerned with energy conservation and CO2 emissions.  Why?  Because I’m buying a house and every bit of energy that escapes my house is money out of my pocket.  This sudden new found interest in energy efficiency, cost-cutting, and home improvement means I’ve been doing a lot of research on how to improve the energy use of my house.

As I’ve been doing research about this issue I have noticed one very common thread of advice: use less.

In other words if I want to save money on electricity I should turn off my AC or not watch TV.  Some sites suggest that I limit my showers to 4 minutes (yeah right).

Of course if I did all of these things, my utilities would certainly be lower.  There’s no arguing that.  But at what cost?

Compare that to the promises God makes.  He tells us that when we follow him we will be free, that we will gain life to the full, and that we will store up treasures in Heaven.  When we move towards God we always get something more.  Of course this doesn’t mean I end up with more money or a bigger house.  Following God comes at a cost.  But I can honestly say there has never been a moment in my relationship with God where I’ve felt short changed.  Every time I’ve given something up (even big things) I always feel like I come out ahead.  Whether this is through the changes God brings in my life, the freedom he provides, or the peace of mind he offers.  Those things far outweigh the money I give or the volunteering I sacrifice make sacrifices to do.

How many “deals” can you really say that about?

I don’t want to live my life “colder but with $12 extra this month.”  I want to live my life $3000 poorer, because I tithed, but my life has been changed.  To me, that’s the real way to recycle.

photo provided by flickr user myklroventine

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