Just Like Rebekah

Not safe but good

“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.
“Aslan?” said Mr, Beaver. “Why don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, …”

“Is--is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion”

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and that’s no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or just silly”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe?  ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you”
                                                    ~C.S. Lewis
                                                     The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Things I've learned this summer

Maybe I should have renamed this post something like "Things I've begun to learn this summer" or "Lessons I've started..." because, I have a feeling I'll never fully learn these things in this life. But that wouldn't make a catchy title. Anyways, here are a few bullets of things God has been showing me over the past few months

• Trust-He's got everything under control even if we don't see it
• One day at a time-choose daily to live in His grace
• He is faithful-He's always there even if it's not obvious
• Live in the moment-don't get caught up in future plans or past events. Focus on what's happening now, who's in front of you now, what God's saying at the moment.
• He's got plans-more than we can imagine
• He's in the details-even the "little" ones
• Think Big
• Be patient-you can't speed everything up to your timetable (it's really not yours anyway). His timing is perfect.
• Surrender is a daily thing

What have you learned this summer?

Surrender

Surrender is a daily thing. It’s a process (like everything) that is moment by moment, choice by choice.

I’ve come to places in life where I thought “God, I thought I already gave this to you” And He gently says, “You’re still holding onto it”

I had a sort of “chunk theory” of surrender. Give everything you can at the moment and then later He’ll show you another chunk, so you give that one…and the process goes on until eventually, you have no chunks left.

But lately, I’ve realized that it isn’t like that. Surrender really is a daily exercise. It doesn’t happen all at once and I don’t think we’ll ever be done in this life. It’s another way of living in the moment. It’s waking up each day and choosing to live life in His grace; saying “not my will, but Yours, Lord.”

If everything made sense...

If everything made sense, the journey would be easier.
But would it be worth it?

If everything made sense, we might have all the answers.
But would we be walking by faith?

If everything made sense, we would be able to see the bigger picture more clearly.
But could our minds handle it?

If everything made sense, maybe God’s will would be obvious.
But would it require trust?

If everything made sense, we could try to work our way to God.
But then would grace be necessary?

If everything made sense, we would know how to respond appropriately.
But would we learn anything?

If everything made sense, the outcome would not be a surprise.
But would that make it a risk?

If everything made sense, would we learn to lean wholly on the One who made us?
Maybe that’s why life doesn’t make sense sometimes…

Think Big Pt. 2

There is some danger in thinking big. There’s the risk of losing sight of the reason behind our actions. We can get so caught up in “making it work” and “fulfilling the dream God has given us” that we miss why God gave us the vision in the first place. We constantly have to recalibrate and ask: What is my goal? Is it to do/be _____ at all costs? Or is it to be strategically placed and used by God in something He’s made me passionate about?

We established in the last post that ultimately, the idea of thinking big is part of learning to surrender; it’s trusting God with your life and not yourself. This includes surrendering the success and outcome of the dream. The truth is, we may never see our dream fulfilled. We may never “make it” in the world’s eyes. And we have to be ok with that.

We have to remember that thinking big doesn’t only apply to the “big” things (the dreams, accomplishments, etc) It also applies to the small stuff; things we think are unimportant or insignificant. All those little details make up a bigger picture. When we look at our plans in light of this bigger picture, our perspective changes. We realize that our dream is a little part of something big and we become aware of the opportunities God has placed us in front of us.

Louie Giglio says, “A pathway of faithfulness is better than a pinnacle of success”* I believe that part of being faithful includes pursuing the dreams God has placed in us—pursuing them to the best of our ability—but not at the expense of making ourselves the center of the story.

Don’t settle for being a big part of something little. God gave you the dream for a reason and even if you don’t see it fulfilled as you imagined, know He was using the process for His glory. Pursue the dream, keeping the bigger picture in mind, trusting God for what He can do and remembering our reward is in heaven—the ultimate pinnacle.

 

*Sermon at a Passion City Church on 2/6/11