Stories for the Grandkids…

So the last few days I’ve been doing some manual labor at the coffee shop; hanging drywall, pulling up carpet, etc.  This has all been rather strenuous.  It’s not that I am not aquainted with such work.  I grew up working with my father doing these things and I have had many jobs that require breaking a good sweat.  But the problem is, after a long day of physical work, I have no desire to sit down at my computer and fulfill my other obligations with the youth group and church.  I’ll literally sit in front of my computer and mess around for an hour or so and get no where.  I’ve been dragging my feet.  I’m only 22 years old and am in the prime of my life yet I feel like I don’t have the energy to get done all that I need to.  Its quite frustrating actually.  Makes me feel lazy and unproductive.  Bottom line is I have a job to do and I need to suck it up and get it done.  Normally my days are filled with productive work and many checks next to things on my to-do list.  But not this week.  Makes me wonder how I’ll handle working 50+ hours a week at the coffee shop, once it opens, and coming home to many things that I must also do at my desk.  We’ll see…

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…”

“Here then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because studying requires work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.” – R.C. Sproul

So true… so true…

So I’m driving down 95 thinking I’m on my way home when all of the sudden I feel a slight rumble.  First I though I had a flat tire, which is really no big deal as I have changed many tires in my day.  But then, as the rumble turned into a miniature earthquake, I thought my tire had exploded.  But as sparks began erupting from the side of my truck and my ability to control the vehicle rapidly diminished, as if seeing my wheel race away from me across three lanes of traffic wasn’t a hint, I knew… it fell off.  Thats right, my wheel had fallen off.  Now I’m not saying that my tire popped and the rubber came off the rim.  What I’m saying here is that the whole thing FELL OFF.  It literally fell off of my truck.  I was driving a three-wheeled pickup and let me tell you… that is not an easy feat.  Apparently something was wrong with the lug nuts and this wheel had some pressing appointment to catch so I was left on the side of the road.  Now here’s the kicker.  Normally I keep all sorts of tools and jacks and a spare tire with me because I have been stranded many times in the past and have wised up.  But on this particular evening I had unloaded all of the necessary items I would need to get back on the road just hours before my little mishap.  I had just finished moving some large expensive pieces of furniture for a friend and thought to myself, “I won’t need any of this junk tonight, it will just get in the way”.  Not quite.  Who knew right?  So I’m alive and well and the truck is in time out for now.  Just another story for the grandkids.

The overwhelming force of logic that demands it’s way into my frame of mind leaves me with no choice but to gaze into the eyes of truth.  A truth that has been present for all time yet finds itself brushed aside by the sweeping hands of fear and apathy.  A truth that is now and will forever will be echoing it’s claims throughout the halls of history.  A truth that simply states… He exists.  This truth leaves me in awe.  God leaves me in awe.  I am simply and utterly left in awe by the sheer overwhelming power of His grace.  And it feels good.

Fishing.  Ever been?  I’ve been a few times, never caught anything worth telling stories to the grandkids about.  Well I went fishing a few weeks back and got bored after literally twenty minutes or so.  I wasn’t really dressed for the occassion and the idea of catching something had lost it’s luster.  So my buddy and I sat on the bank of this huge lake discussing what the next plan of action was.  Now let me give you a little history on this buddy of mine.  He took swimming lessons all growing up, he was a lifeguard for about five years and now he works for the coast guard…  He’s practically a sea creature.  So his idea of fun was to swim to the other side of the lake, which was roughly five or six-hundred yards to the other side.  Me being the man of integrity I am, I was not about to have any part in such an adventure.  Five minutes later… we were making our journey across the dark liquid plane.  As I said earlier, I wasn’t dressed for any outdoor occassion.  So I was swimming in pants.  Let me tell you something.  Don’t swim in pants.  Don’t swim in pants in a swimming pool let alone across a deep, dark lake filled with who knows what.  Why you ask?  Because it’s quite difficult and you get really tired really fast.  Now just as a side note, I’ve been running almost  an hour everyday for well over a month now.  I assumed that my swimming abilities were up there with my running endurance.  I assumed wrong.  Half way into my quest I quickly realized the possibility of drowning.  I was exhausted and wondered what is was inside young men that compelled them to do such things.  Anyways, I reached the other side and found myself facing a wall of rock and dirt, too steep for me to crawl out of the water onto.  In addition to this conveniently placed wall of my demise, the water was still way to deep to stand.  So although I had indeed made it across, I had no resting place to catch my breath.  I was still swimming.  Meanwhile my friend was just coasting around wondering what my problem was.  So long story short I took my pants off, let them right there, and swam back.  I liked those pants.  Now some sea monster is wearing them in mockery of my struggle. 

I thought this was humorous but  I also found it practical.  So I used it as an anology in a lesson I taught my youth group.  Isn’t it so strange how we can cling to things in life that do nothing but weigh us down?  Life is a struggle and we make it harder on ourselves and those around us when we grip the temporal meaningless stuff when all we should be doing is clinging to the rope which Christ has provided us to not only stay above water, but eventually make it to shore and climb out of this world.  I had to lose my pants to make it across this lake, a small sacrifice to some but to me… I like those pants.  In life, there must be a willingness to make sacrifices if it means pulling us out of our selves and into a life of submission to His word and to His glory.  I’m glad I let go of my pants in that lake cause I was going down had I not.  And I pray I have the strength to let go of the big stuff in life if I am in any way going down because of it.

I know a man.  This man was on his way to hell.  For fourty-three years this man’s life has produced no evident fruit, has had no desire to change, and certainly has had no belief in God… until now.  God in his infinate wisdom felt it right to allow this man’s life to crumble.  You see, despite his being lost, despite his lack of repentence… he loves his wife.  The same wife who just recently felt the need to pack up her things, take their three children, and leave for good.  For the last sixteen years this man has lived with the woman of his dreams but now he lives alone.  No wife, no kids, no love.  I have had countless hours of one-on-one time with this man only to see him, time and time again, burst into tears in regret of his actions, in fear of the future, and in loss of hope.  I could sit here and type out a list of the countless verses I have shared with him, of the times I have given my testimony, of the prayers I have said, or even of the hours I listened to him cry.  But I won’t.  I can’t.  What’s going on here goes far beyond anything I can see or understand.  This man smiled at me yesterday and told me “God is good”.  GOD IS GOOD!   A toal hethan who just had his idols ripped from his heart looked me in the eye and with a smile told me that God is good.  That is nothing less than the grace of God working in this man’s life.   He used to bring a self-help psychology book to work but now he says those books are worthless and he needs to read a real book, the only book, the book that gives life, the book that has promises kept and salvation in store.  The Holy Bible.  This unsaved man who for fourty-three years chose to spit in the face of an Almighty God  is now reading the bible and learning of what faith is.   This man has recognized something many Christians sadly fail to remember… God is good.  Many believers fail to see God through their hard times yet this guy has come to find God in his.   According to scripture, because this man professes a desire to serve Chirst, a trust in God and a repentence of his life of sin… he is saved.  Only time will tell as to what extent the Holy Spirit has worked on this man’s heart, but it’s quite evident to see here and now the miraculous work of God.  In the words of my hethan friend… God is good.

I know a man.  This man was on his was to hell.

While Genesis 3 is an introduction of sin into the life of all mankind, it is also the introduction of hope… 

Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.  This clearly states man’s innate sinful nature.  ALL have sinned, not some, not most but ALL. 

Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death…”   We see in Genesis that God was indeed merciful in His judgment of their sin because he allowed Adam and Eve to live.  The rest of Romans 6:23 says “… but the gift of God is eternal life.”  This is a promise of eternal life through the gift of God’s son Jesus. 

Genesis 3 is indeed the sad depiction of the fall of mankind into sin, but it is also the beautiful depiction of our need for a savior.  Thus begins our hope in a way out of eternal judgment and into eternal life.  This way out is Jesus Christ.

I find it encouraging how all thoughout scripture, regardless of the time, book, setting or events, we are pointed towards salvation through a relationship with Jesus.  God is so merciful for giving us His word that we may find Him and the hope of spending eternity by His side. 

So imagine you are holding a bee hive.  Now imagine you, for whatever reason, decide that it would be a grand idea to smash that bee hive on the ground right in front of you.  The outcome of such a scenario would be uncomfortable to say the least.  Well my day at work was indeed uncomfortable.  There were no bees involved but there were a bajillion mosquitos.  My knowledge on mosquitos is limited, so I am unaware of how and where they live but I now know that they have anger issues.  Especially when they are in large numbers.  I say this because I was swarmed, yes swarmed, by tons of these little buggers today!  The best way to describe this was the analogy of the bee hive I just gave.  They were everywhere and they were not happy!  The intensity of their rage was overwhelming.  Each time I clapped my hands I killed a good four or five!  Now mosquitos are normally nothing more than a minor irratance but this… this was epic.  If I had a can of bug-spray, or a hand grenade, they would have been sorry.  Moral of the story is… well I don’t have a moral really.  But this just felt like a good thing to share.  Seriously though… if I had a grenade…

Yesterday I failed.  I failed to bring Him glory through all that was done.  I failed to be a light where there is darkness.  I failed to be the representative of His kingdom that I am called to be.  And although He knows of my failure, I know of His grace. 

I feel I am able to portray my story and make my point without going into too much detail, so I will refrain from doing so.  Jumping past the fall to my regret of the incident, I can say I felt ineffective as a soldier for Christ and certainly unqualified to share His gospel.  No sooner than these feelings had arrived, so did numerous words of encouragement; “lead, press on, grow, overcome, learn, represent”.  As my mind was flooded with such words I immediately felt relieved of my burden.  I was experiencing the extent of my God’s forgiveness and the intesity of His grasp.  It was so clear how vital it is that I don’t stop in my walk to dwell on the act, but that I continue on a learned believer growing in my faith only by His grace.  Mindful of past stains yet focused on the future glory to be brought before His throne through obedience.  How these words echoed in my mind throughout the rest of the day, “At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away…”.   All we will ever be.. is recipients of His grace.

Its amazing to experience first-hand the radical changes that take place within once scripture becomes a daily dose of life.  The more I immerse myself in His word, the less I desire the things of this world.  My concerns fade, my focus narrows, and my mind dwells on treasuring Christ for all that He is.