Set the Course

At Northridge we have an event at least twice a year called "Baby Dedication" where families get together and pray a blessing over their young child. It also involves parents consciously thinking about what they would like their children to become while making a commitment to raising them up in Christ. I always enjoy being a small part of this ceremony and watching the families and friends rallying together around each other and the future of this child. While there are no guarantees along this life path, there is a tremendous benefit in establishing a specific bearing.

There's something powerfully inspiring about setting a course of direction. I believe most people set out with good intentions, but neglect to project a specific path. Having some confidence in the course we want to follow keeps us focused on making choices that support that desire. Being able to define where you want to go helps shape the life we live along the way.

Desires

Thomas Merton was a 20th century Trappist monk who wrote about spirituality while being transparent about his own struggles and pursuit of God. I am reading through one of his books, An Invitation to the Contemplative Life, as part of my own growth plan for this year. He wrote a passage about his own journey of following God and I couldn't have expressed my own thoughts any more clearly than he has.

I Will Trust You Always

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. 

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

The Best

"I'm doing the best I can!"

We won't ever be completely prepared for what life brings us. We won't have all of the knowledge we think we need to accurately process what's happening. No matter how much experience we might have we won't be able to predict the future with 100% accuracy. Even when it seems like we are making the right decision we can't guarantee that the consequences and benefits will unfold how we hoped. This unpredictability is a factor of life.

What I do know is that I can continue to do what I know is right as I am guided by God. I can put my trust in Him above all other things and continue to do the very best that I can in this moment. I can deliberately decide to keep doing what is right and trust that my God (who sees & know all things) will make all things work out for the good of those who love Him. My cry of "I'm doing the best I can!" doesn't have to be one of exasperation, but a confident claim in God's ability to work through the most fulfilling and most trying of my circumstances. It means that I will continue to do the best I can right now and trust that God will reward my faithful intentions.

There is a life-affirming value in bringing our best to the One who is the best.

Target Practice

You probably wouldn't consider yourself an expert marksman if you only occasionally hit the target. I guess you do have the alternative of shooting & then painting a target around it to make yourself feel like you accomplished something. It's like hunting with an automatic weapon--you can strafe the woods with gunfire and you will probably kill something in the deluge of bullets, but that doesn't make you a great hunter.

Do we act any differently in our personal lives? If we aren't intentionally aiming at something then we can't truly call it success if we happen to hit something positive. What targets (goals) are we aiming at in our lives? Are we specific in our marriages with building up our spouse and helping them become more fully developed in Christ? Do we know what we are praying for our children, and are we helping them to make the right decisions to get there? Are we cruising into & out of church each weekend and hoping something rubs off? Is our prayer life filled with wishes for general blessing and God "being there" for us or are we being bold enough to ask for specific direction and wisdom?

We won't necessarily fail 100% of the time if we don't specify what we are aiming for, but hitting a random target doesn't always bring victory either. Know what you're aiming at and work to make that a reality. The victories we celebrate along an intentional pathway are much sweeter when we manage to hit the target.

Follow the Tracks

"Well, look at the tracks you've left behind in the valley. How do you account for what is written in the desert dust--"  Jeremiah 2:23  (The Message)

We can make declarations about who we are and what we are doing with our life, but the truth will be revealed by examining the paths that have led us to this point. We can say that our family is more important to us than our career, but if we constantly choose to work longer hours instead of investing in them it isn't true. We can declare that we love our spouses more than any other person, but if we are constantly engaging with others in inappropriate conversations and behaviors we prove otherwise. We can declare that we are Christ-followers, but if Sunday morning or life crisis are the only times we seek God's guidance we are casual observers and not devoted disciples.

The results of our lives will reveal where our true dedication lies. We can't declare that our destination is one that is God-honoring when we constantly choose to travel in the opposite direction. The proof is in the footprints of our journey that we leave behind.

Take a Shot

When I worked in athletic training we would say that taking a shotgun approach to therapy might work, but it wouldn't be the most effective or efficient way to go about it. The point was that if you try multiple things you might get lucky and see one of them produce the results you were looking for.

It's easy to do that in our faith, in our families and in our careers. If we try enough things and throw enough options at a situation, something is bound to work. It actually takes more effort to work with precision and to be very focused on what you are doing.

It's the difference in shooting at something with a shotgun and a sniper rifle. You have to be more clear on what you are aiming at and how you are going to get there when using the rifle, but the results are more rewarding in the long run.

Best Intentions

It has been over a week since my last blog and while that may not matter in the scheme of life, it is still longer than I intended to go without writing. It has actually been on my mind to do and I have planned on blogging several times, but it hasn't happened. The busy schedule, battling illnesses, flexibility in staff due to illnesses, family times, lesson & sermon prep and other things have squeezed out the time (and creativity) to sit and write.

It represents so many things for me spiritually. I have the best intentions, but the follow through is what suffers. I intend to pray more deeply and purposefully and instead find myself praying for the same things I always do. I intend to delve deeply into God's Word and really seek His wisdom and instead find myself reading along and checking it off my to-do list. I intend to have more direct conversations with my children about God's blessing and purpose for their life and find myself tucking them in again at the end of the day without having done so. I intend to show more compassion and patience with people and yet my initial reaction is nothing close to that.

I am thankful that God manages to fill the gap between my intentions and my actions. That doesn't take me off the hook and allow me to blame all of my shortcomings on my "sinful, human nature" and never take action. What does happen is that I am even more grateful for the daily newness of God's grace and mercy that He is willing to pour down on me in spite of my weakness.

Best Intentions

I had intended to start blogging more regularly and then the week happened.  It has been a whirlwind of different things-none of them bad, but it has taken a lot of energy to get things accomplished.  I thought about it each day at some point, but just couldn't get around to sitting down and typing out a few thoughts.

I guess it is not that different from our spiritual lives.  I believe that a lot of us enter a week with good intentions of being in God's Word, spending time in prayer, and focusing on His plan for us.  Then our week happens and we look back and find ourselves disappointed in the actual amount of time spent. 

God desires time with us too.  I am sure that He wishes we would find ourselves investing in that time with Him more than we do.  I plan on taking steps along the way this week to help make sure that I am focused on Him each day.  We'll just have to see what happens with blogging.