Decisions

It’s not what you decide so much as how you get there. Life is more than a journey just to get to get to a destination. It’s about how you go about the choices you make along the way. Life is not about finally reaching the culmination of all your achievements but how you went about working each day.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about which college I am going to go to. I got accepted at a lot of top notch schools. One of the most important factors I am considering in the college decision is the cost. I am paying for college by myself without aid from my parents.

My two top choices are incredible schools. Both have a long history of strong academics. One is private though and one is public. The private one has more oppertunities in the major I want to study. It’s geographic location offers vital internships and ability to explore a wealth of resources related to my major right outside of the school. However the private one is more expensive by at final total of 20,000 difference after four years of being an undergraduate.

The less expensive public university is offers less oppertunity with my major. The university does, however, offer a more conventional college experience. It is a public university with a good football team and well rounded student life oppertunities.

I don’t know. They’re both great. With one I could go into more debt to get a better education and more ability to gather critical internship experience. With other I could save money and have less student loans with a good degree but not as much options as the more expensive private university.

In the end though, I think it’s not about what school I went to but what I did when I was there. It would be infinelty better for me to graduate from a community college and be very intelligent than  for me to graduate with honors from Yale but be an idiot.

Besides, they say that your undergraduate degree is meaningless anyway. It’s the graduate degree that’s important. Right?

It’s not all about you. No, really.

So in this wide world in which we live I’ve noticed a very interesting phenomenon which has taken over millions. Quite simply there is a struggle in the heirachy of people and heavenly being. People often confuse themselves with God.

You see for a long time the way you and I used to go about our day was been egocentric. When we woke up in the morning we were concerned about how we feel. Thoughts then glossed over our daily problems and obstacles. Our desires and our ambitions took up our thoughts. We bought things because we liked them and did things because we like to do them. We controled our entire day continually making decisions based on how we felt and what we wanted.

This view of reality really grew in other areas too. We stopped praying becuase we felt we didn’t get anything out of it. Church became a thing of the past because the music wasn’t for us or the preaching was not impacting enough.

Then we started giving God little hints and suggestions on how he should best go about his job. We sometimes told him all of the things we needed like a new car or advancement in our finances. Obviously we saw a problem and after careful deliberation informed the creator of the heavens and the earth what the best thing was to do about fixing it.

Eventually we got so good that we didn’t even need God to run things anymore. We stopped talking to him and decided we knew best on the things of “spiritual matters.” We thought that by making ourselves look incredible with a coverup of good works and friendly attitudes and perfect lives that we could simply bypass sin and enter in to heaven where we could enjoy our perfect eternall personal enjoyment all about ourselves.

But I think one day it hit us as we broke down from the pressing deadlines at work and the broken relationships at home and the secret addictions that no one knew about that we were never able to handle all of this. We just couldn’t do it on our own. I think that’s the day we realized we need God.

No matter how much we want to be, you and I, we’re not God. We can’t even begin to fathom his thoughts. How can we measure to he who spoke the universe into being. The complex systems of life and intricate physical interactions between all things came from his very breath.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

Job 38:4-7

He is the beginning and the end, the thing that makes all things possible. He fills every fiber of space and binds it together.

We’ve twisted things so much and tried to act like God. We’ve let addictions slide because they make us feel better and we downplay them. Tirelessly we’ve worked and worked without rest becuase we thought we were too strong for the weakness to take a break. We’ve left churches, jobs, places, and relationships because they “weren’t right for us” or “didn’t suite my needs.”

It’s time to let God be God. He is so great and his power and love so perfect that he can resolve all of the issues and brokeness in our life. Oh, what a release it is to know that I am no longer bearing the burden of being my own God but rely fully on the true God who crafts my every step.

Suddenly every aspect of my life changes. More and more thoughts and activietes become about serving and worshipping the great God I have. I can trust in him and release my burden. God is God and that is great!

Who am I?

Are we losing ourselves? What does it mean to truly be me? Who am I?

I read in the book the “Screwtape Letters” that God asks us for everything: our desires, hopes, thoughts, and will to him. He then gives it all back to us and makes us more ourselves than we have ever been.

So do we lose ourselves somewhere in the mix? Do we make charades of ourselves and live in the land of the glass menagire?

It seems in the course of life that we do give ourselves away. In some areas we become slaves to our desires: “I’m going to follow my desires and my feelings because that is what’s most important to me right now.” Sometimes we follow our natural sinful desires becuase that is what is suitable to the moment not necessarily congruent to our character, however after repeatedly following this the whim of the moment becomes our character.

 In other ways we perform elaborate acts to fool the particular crowd we’re with. When we’re in church we act sanctius because that’s what we think others want to see. With a girlfriend we act strong and brave; however we think they want us to be like. With bosses and those above us we act like we’re sucessful even if the pressure is cutting at our lives.

 So in all of this where is room for me? There are so many people out there in the world living lives not their own. They are emotionally unsatisfied and empty: the broken, the down. In a way we are all like this. All of us have in some way taken on personas not of our own character.

Mostly it is becuase we live in a world of sin. Our true personality was perfect in God but the enterance of sin brought corruption to the point of changing who we even are.

 However there is hope. God tells us who we are: sons of the living God master of the universe. To God I’ve got to give it all. All of the things in my life which I’m holding back need to be offered up to him. My time, money, energy, ambitions, relationships, all of it must go. It’s then that he gives it all back transformed to a new me.

Through Christ I am able to learn who I am. Here is where fufilling satisfaction lies. Here begins the firm foundations of my life. In him I can rest knowing that he sees down to my inner being and knows me fully. There is no acting, no false faces, just me and God.

Living in the Present

You know I read something interesting today by C.S. Lewis in his book The Screwtape Letters. It said that one of our greatest vices is being stuck in a time which is not in reality. Many people brood over a troublesome past or can’t get past regrets or failures which can never be changed. Others are set on the future filled with anxieties and worries about things that haven’t happened yet. The book says that both of these mindsets are not solid. The best thing we can do is live in the present. 

 Reality and eternity are rooted in the present. Freedom of choice and seeing things as they occur are the closest we are to reality. The past is unlike reality in that it is unchangeable. What’s done is done. The least like reality and eternity is the future. These things haven’t even happened and are simply imagined. It is a complete fabrication of the mind and therefore the least real. The past at least existed.

As the book says the enemy would keep us in either the regretful past or worried over the imaginary future. It is the least connected to God we could be. Instead we should try to live our lives in the present.  It is where God can use us and affect our lives. It is where all events occur. It is the small daily living which creates us. We need to focus on daily grace and daily provision. It is our daily actions and our daily salvation which gives us true life in Christ. 

We can forget about all our past sins with our present forgiveness in Christ. We can rest in the provision of the future through the present promises of Christ. So in everything we do let us live in the present. Let us live in the actions of right now and let us learn just to focus those actions on the Lord.  

Big Mac

Do you ever meet random people and either get along with them instantly or are quickly turned off by them? I recently had an interesting experience at the local McDonalds where I live. It was late on a Friday night after going to my high school football game and I caught up with a group headed to get some grub. While there a random guy who knew one of my friends showed up and sat with the six of us who were already sitting at a table.

This guy was a dynamic speaker and took over the conversation easily. He was pretty funny but seemed a little older for our age group. Suprisingly I found myself one of the only people of the group to find his presence pretty weird. Here was a guy in his late twenties who was acting like a sixteen year and who positioned himself in the middle of conversation. From the moment he sat down untilll everyone left he directed what was going on. He was funny though but in an odd way. The thing was everyone at our table was laughing at all his jokes but me. I just couldn’t seem to get with it.

I guess I just felt a little odd at the whole thing. Perhaps I am too cautious with new people I meet. Also I was late at night and I was exhausted after having just come from a football game. It was an interesting experience for me becuase usually I bond with people as soon as I meet them but this case was different. (It wasn’t untill after that I found out he was my friend’s youth pastor.)

So maybe first impressions aren’t always the best. If we had met under differnet circumstances I might have less suspect of his character.

That’s all I have to share. It was just one odd experience for me.

PS: Go Hawks!

Rest

     Do you ever notice how we are always running around trying to do everything? We live in a society today which pressures people to work harder, do more, and all in less time. I think the youth especially have a tough time with this. Just ask any high school junior or senior. What is their top concern? “Getting into college.” How do they go about doing this? By cramming every club, sport, community service project, and side job in that they can. People are so saturated with tasks that time to rest is often overlooked. They pack on things in their schedules and don’t let up until they are burnt-out and cracked with stress. They are so hard pressed that they bring it into every activity that they do and bring down those around them. They can’t have fun and just enjoy themselves in what they’re doing; they don’t have time to. The last thing they were doing is always on their mind or the list of things to come.

 Then they wonder why they feel so empty and unsatisfied with their life even after working the hardest they ever have. They feel like they are not good at anything that they are doing because the truth is that they can’t give their best efforts at their activates, they are already stretched too thin across too many things that will “get them into college.” I can attest that I’ve been that person.

     In reality what more youth should be doing is resting: taking time out of the day to relax, unplug, and recharge. This way students can allow their bodies and minds to catch up with all the activities going on. We are finite beings with only so much energy and strength so, we must sometimes take a break.

     What I am saying is: when you feel like you are at the end of your rope and you find yourself in a well of things to do and places to be you probably need to take a break. Take thirty minutes, step back, watch television, read a book, talk a walk, or do whatever gives you joy.