Reply to a great question - without actually answering it
Neo asks, "I get what you're saying. How do u think we should be acting instead? This is really interesting."
Great question. I often find our focus on acting gets in the way. In this sense, behavior focus is a self-focus, even when we are doing it for some lofty goal. It turns into this analysis, judgement,
condemnation, praise, etc... completely about what we're doing. There are moments when we "look up" to see what God's doing, but more often than not (completely my experience) God's work is a distraction to MY work. Wouldn't it be great if these moments where we look up and see "our work" and they are those annoying distractions instead?
What if the question, "What should we be doing?" often gets in the way for what God is already doing? Because look at the question, the focus, the center, the fulcrum, the all is us and our activity. It's sort of like building a rocketship, and rather than focus on the astronauts safety in the completion of their mission, we instead focus on making sure it looks cool for those spectators who will watch it launch. That's a little obtuse, but I hope you see my point.
What if He has His plan and that's enough, we just walk by faith and He reveals it to us at important steps? Where did we get this idea that we were soooooo capable? Where do we see vessels getting all these laudets and praise? Does ANYONE even know what the picture frame around the Mona Lisa looks like -- heck, does it even have one? When you drank a great glass of wine, do you remember much about the glass? When you saw a great play, which is stronger in your mind, the play or the building it was in (a great play, not some drivel). Yes we are part of a tremendous story, but as vessels we are not the focus, and when we make ourselves the focus, we miss the story continuing on around us.
What if more often than not our plans (or understandings) compete with His plans, but since we can see and touch and know our plans, we tend to follow after those than His plans, which we are rarely told? Sometimes knowing so much is to know too much. Sometime just knowing Him is it. And because you know Him you know some things that naturally flow out of Who He is. Like He is MORE than capable of being THE Shephard, so He can lead. He also has this omnipotence thing going, with omniscence, oh yeah and He IS Love.
You might say, okay, great, but I still don't know what to do. Here, let me completely avoid that question in a different way.
What if we look at the natural world. We are outside in some forest, bend down and see this ant colony at work. "Wow, what a metaphor for our lives" one might exclaim. Every day you come back to this colony, just soaking in so much order within so much chaos. It's really been a beneficial help to your walk and life. A week later it's covered by 3 feet of water and you watch beavers busily gathering more material for their dam. What's my point? I have no idea.
I hope this DOESN'T help. Only Christ (the Person, not the concept, nor His teachings, nor His example) is our answer (of course just to be quirky I think HE speaks through me, usually when I'm not expecting Him, don't blindly assume any of this is of Him).
Great question. I often find our focus on acting gets in the way. In this sense, behavior focus is a self-focus, even when we are doing it for some lofty goal. It turns into this analysis, judgement,
condemnation, praise, etc... completely about what we're doing. There are moments when we "look up" to see what God's doing, but more often than not (completely my experience) God's work is a distraction to MY work. Wouldn't it be great if these moments where we look up and see "our work" and they are those annoying distractions instead?
What if the question, "What should we be doing?" often gets in the way for what God is already doing? Because look at the question, the focus, the center, the fulcrum, the all is us and our activity. It's sort of like building a rocketship, and rather than focus on the astronauts safety in the completion of their mission, we instead focus on making sure it looks cool for those spectators who will watch it launch. That's a little obtuse, but I hope you see my point.
What if He has His plan and that's enough, we just walk by faith and He reveals it to us at important steps? Where did we get this idea that we were soooooo capable? Where do we see vessels getting all these laudets and praise? Does ANYONE even know what the picture frame around the Mona Lisa looks like -- heck, does it even have one? When you drank a great glass of wine, do you remember much about the glass? When you saw a great play, which is stronger in your mind, the play or the building it was in (a great play, not some drivel). Yes we are part of a tremendous story, but as vessels we are not the focus, and when we make ourselves the focus, we miss the story continuing on around us.
What if more often than not our plans (or understandings) compete with His plans, but since we can see and touch and know our plans, we tend to follow after those than His plans, which we are rarely told? Sometimes knowing so much is to know too much. Sometime just knowing Him is it. And because you know Him you know some things that naturally flow out of Who He is. Like He is MORE than capable of being THE Shephard, so He can lead. He also has this omnipotence thing going, with omniscence, oh yeah and He IS Love.
You might say, okay, great, but I still don't know what to do. Here, let me completely avoid that question in a different way.
What if we look at the natural world. We are outside in some forest, bend down and see this ant colony at work. "Wow, what a metaphor for our lives" one might exclaim. Every day you come back to this colony, just soaking in so much order within so much chaos. It's really been a beneficial help to your walk and life. A week later it's covered by 3 feet of water and you watch beavers busily gathering more material for their dam. What's my point? I have no idea.
I hope this DOESN'T help. Only Christ (the Person, not the concept, nor His teachings, nor His example) is our answer (of course just to be quirky I think HE speaks through me, usually when I'm not expecting Him, don't blindly assume any of this is of Him).
posted by GBT at
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
