Your Story

Our life stories are being lived out every day. We make choices and choose paths that lead us down new roads and dreams.

I have been thinking a lot about what kind of a read my story is right now. I look back and see many pages filled with adventure, laughter, pain, fear, and realizations. Many characters have been written in and out of my chapters as well.

My life speaks of failures and successes; waiting, doubts, and glimpses of something new.

This got me thinking about my story now and what is to be written on my pages to come. It has been fun to think about what I want my life to be like, and what I want it to say. It is always good to know what you stand for. It is also empowering to really think about the person I want to be. It forces hard questions to be wrestled with.

I would love to think about this with you.

If someone gave you a blank whiteboard to write out the rest of your story what would it say? Who is the person you want to be? What kind of character are you?

We have a lot of say in how our story is being written. This is not something to take lightly. You matter. Your story matters.

How do you want your story to read?

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Life changing decisions

Andy Stanley brought some sweet and refreshing truth to my heart last week. There is something about sobering truth that getst the heart pumping.

Andy unpacked the story of Esau and Jacob. Esau traded in his birth right for a bowl of Jacob’s stew. Too often, I have read over that story and devalue the weight of what Esau’s decision really meant. A birth right was everything for a son.

Andy talked about the huge meaning of this interaction for Esau. He talked about how if someone could have just grabbed Esau and said, “WAIT! Let me tell you what this decision really means for you!” It was so powerful how the implications unfolded.

Esau traded his birth right in for a bowl of stew to Jacob. In that decision, Esau forfeited his right to be a part of the eternal lineage of Jesus. Esau took himself out of the game of what his life could have meant. Because of his decision, Jacob then became the name spoken when people made reference to God.

One forfeight ushered Jacob into being the man associated with God. Jacob, not Esau, was known as the follower after God. God was known by the people as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

One decision forever changed life for Esau. God should be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. Stew smelled too good. Instant gratification devalued a life of what could have been. There is huge implications, and weight, in that.

I am aware, and probably very unaware, of the bowls of stew I have traded for what could have been for me. It scares me to think about. As I dream, I want to pray through my bowls of stew. As Andy stated, “there is no one to frame the picture for you.” I want to see the stew coming, and choose him.

Any bowls of stew lurking around for you?

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God’s Will?

Raise your hand of you have ever asked these questions: “What does God want me to do? What is God’s will for my life?”

I have been in so many conversations where people ask, “How do I know if I am in God’s will?” I especially hear these questions when people are looking for direction and purpose in life. They usually surface when someone is entering a new season of life or have some decisions to make.

The problem with these questions has to do with perspective. People 2,000 years ago actually had these same questions. Shocking that they also had the same perspective problem.

Our world drives home the mentality of “doing.” The world says the more you do, the more you will have; the more you do, the more you earn; the more you do, the more you are. We have allowed that mentality to dictate our lives.

Jesus came to redefine our “do-mentality” with a “who-mentality.”

We attribute the word “will” to mean purpose. The question of “what is God’s will for my life?” becomes the perspective of “what is God’s purpose for me? What does he want me to do?”

Jesus came to show us that it is not about doing at all. Jesus came to show us that his will is about believing.

There are two specific examples that clearly illustrate Jesus redefining our “do-mentality.” The first comes from a conversation between Jesus and a rich young ruler. This man thought he had it all, but still felt empty. He approached Jesus to ask him a very familiar question that we still ask, “What good thing must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus immediately points out the perspective problem with his question.  Jesus states, “why do you ask about what is good? There is only one WHO is good.”

It is not about doing that makes life, life. It is always about the WHO.

The second examples comes from John chapters six and seven. (These chapters are worth marinating on.) In chapter six, people approach Jesus and ask him another familiar question, “What must we do to do the work God requires.” Jesus again addresses the error in perspective.  He responds by saying, “the work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one he has sent.”

The will of God is to believe in him. Eternal life comes from believing. We still get stuck on the perspective that “doing” is what earns us eternal life. God’s will for our lives is not  something we will do. God’s purpose for our lives will always be for us to believe in him.

I think that through believing in him our passions, pursuits, and dreams become clear.

Look at it from James’ perspective. James talks about faith and action, but faith comes before action. Believing is God’s will for my life and for yours.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I don’t think God is too concerned about the decisions we make about which job to take, which school to go to, or maybe even where to move. The answer Jesus always gives is about believing in the WHO.  If we choose to believe in him, the leading from him becomes clearer on the where and the what.

Jesus ends one of his points by saying, “For my father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.”

I am making the shift from a “do-mentality” to a “who-mentality.”

What are your thoughts on his will?

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