II Chronicles 1:10-12

“Man’s happiness does not consist in the possession of abundant goods; a very little is enough.”
Thomas a’ Kempis

In all the mission trips I led - International Falls, MN, Savannah, GA, Martin, SD, Chestertown, NY, and Booneville, AR - the one lesson that continued to hammer home to everyone who was paying attention was that of possessions. We worked with and for people who quite literally had nothing. Many of them lived nearly at the hand-to-mouth level of life. What continued to amaze was that there were smiles on their faces. It was necessarily not that they had given up on working and making their lives better, but more that they had learned the lesson Paul talks about when he says, “...whatever my circumstances, I have learned to be content...” (Philippians 4). This is such a hard lesson, especially in our society.

Kids in the schools I have substituted in are fascinated when they learn that I do not have a cell phone. I miss it. I really do. I miss being connected to family and friends in that instant and constant way. But my life goes on. It has not been the end of the world. This is just a small and maybe stupid example, but the point stands: things a good life do not make.

My happiness should be in the knowledge that I am seeking God and am growing with Him. It should rest in the fact that I have family and friends who love me and pray for me. It needs to live in the truth of the moment that I have found salvation, forgiveness, love, and purpose in Him who first loved me. God is my Father. The ultimate and perfect Father who truly wants the best for me. Does this mean He will shower me with all the stuff I want? No. Will he see to my needs? Absolutely. I really do believe that He wants to bless His children, but so few ask with the right and proper motives in heart. Why do I want/need (fill in the blank)? Will it be used to bring Him glory? I am not there, but learning to be content in the embrace of the Almighty is an amazing place to be.

Romans 12:2-4

“Pray humbly to the Lord, therefore, that He may give you the spirit of contrition and say with the Prophet: ‘Feed me, Lord, with the bread of mourning and give me to drink of tears in full measure.’”
Thomas a’ Kempis

There has to be some sort of happy medium here. But, maybe that is the problem - the happy medium. Too many people who say they love Jesus think the best way they can go through or deal with life is by living in the happy medium. That place where no matter how you really feel, you make sure that everyone thinks that everything is just fine. That place where no emotions can leak out and ruin that carefully cultivated and maintained image. That place where it seems to make sense to live in a perpetual state of sorrow. Man. I hate that place.

It has no place in the life of a Jesus follower. That place simply should not be. I am made in the image of God. God has emotions. I have emotions. Sometimes I want to yell and laugh and be happy. Sometimes I want to cry and be left alone. What is wrong with that? Just because I love Jesus does not mean that my emotions are magically muted or turned off. To the contrary, they may actually be more intense because they have new meaning. The sorrow over the loss of a loved one is deeper because I don’t know if they knew Jesus like I do. The joy over a friend coming to know Jesus because this means we have something amazing in common and we can hang in eternity.

There are times to weep and be serious. There are times to be stupid, silly, and immature. All of these things have a part in the life of any human being. When I can have emotions and still love Jesus and point others to Him, doesn’t that make my relationship with Him all that more real? No one wants to be a mindless, soulless, emotionless, lifeless follower of God. Those are religious people. I have a relationship with God. That means good, bad, or ugly I am clinging to Him and He is loving me. Being me is what God made me to do. Being me with God in my life simply enhances the recipe of my life. After all, what is life without a little spice?

I Timothy 1:15-17

 

“The sins and vices in which we are so entangled that we can rarely apply ourselves to the contemplation of heaven are matters for just sorrow and inner remorse.”

          Thomas a’ Kempis

 

One of the things I am looking forward to as relates to Heaven is focus.  For the first time in my existence, not one the worries and fears I hold on to today will be present and I will be able to truly know what it means to focus on God.  It is so easy to lose focus.  I think that is why when I have my quiet time in the morning, I do it do candle light.  If it was dark, I would nod back to sleep.  With the lights on, I would invariably see something shiny and be distracted.  Focus is such a difficult thing.  Maybe that is why we are so impressed with people who manage to focus enough to do something well.  Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Christopher Walken (just seein’ if you’re paying attention), all excel or excelled at their passion.

 

For me to truly focus on God, He must become my passion.  I don’t have it all figured out.  I have a family and friends that I love and I know that God must come before them and I am trying to learn how to do that.  But I do know that He must be in my thoughts everyday.  Even more than that, every waking moment and that is a hard thing to do for someone who has the attention span of a spastic goldfish.  I must truly be consumed with, for, and by God.

 

Being consumed with Him means, I think, to have God in my thoughts and be in prayer constantly.  To crave His Word like oxygen and commit it to heart and mind.  Being consumed for Him to me is living everyday as a mirror of Him so that when people see me and get to know me, they can see that God is an active and real and crucial part of my life.  Being consumed by Him to me is never, never, never forgetting, even for a moment, that He loves me more than anyone ever can, could, or will.  That is a mouthful.  That is a challenge.  But it is the only challenge one can ever accept that has eternal rewards.