Wednesday
Aug272008
The Great Adventure...
Posted on 
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:53AM
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:53AM 
Greetings, Dear Friends!
And to those visiting, I say welcome!
I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.
Before I get into my topic, I have a little business to take care of. As most of you know, each month I give away a $10.00 gift card to someone who posts a comment on this blog.
And in celebration of my new release, "The Uncommon Woman"
I'm giving away a $50.00 VISA gift card to someone who posts a comment during the month of August! I'll announce the winner next week.
Another way to win a $50.00 VISA gift card is to post a review of 'The Uncommon Woman' on Amazon. You have to be subscribed to my mailing list to win. Once you post a review, email me and your name will go into a drawing. I'll announce the winner in the October issue of my E-zine.
Okay, now on to my topic...
I'm reading a great book right now, written by one of my modern-day heroes, Gary Haugen. His new book, "Just Courage" is of course speaking my language, challenging my faith, and confronting my own need for self-preservation.
I love it.
The opening pages tell of a time when Gary was back in college, staying up late, sitting in the dorm laundry room, waiting for his clothes to dry. While he waited, he read an essay written by John Stuart Mills titled, "On Liberty". In the essay, written in 1859, Mills described the process by which words lose their meaning. To quote from Gary's book, "He casually offered that the best example of this phenomenon was Christians. Christians, he observed seen to have the amazing ability to say the most wonderful things, without actually believing them." (p.9)
Gary goes on to describe a time when his father took his three sons (Gary being the youngest) on a mountain climb. At one point up the mountain, Gary decided he'd had enough and would rather wait it out in the visitor's center. There, he was comfortable and safe. He read about other mountain climbers and saw pictures of the beautiful flowers that roamed the mountainside.
Eventually, though, the visitor's center seemed small and stuffy. Gary envied those who had the courage to actually climb the mountain. He realized there was vast difference between those who actually see the flowers and climb the mountains, and those who simply read about such things. When his brothers returned from their adventure, their faces were flush with excitement; their bodies scraped from the climb; and they had stories to tell about their adventure with their dad.
Here's a powerful excerpt from the book:
"In different times and different ways, our heavenly Father offers us a simple proposition: Follow me beyond what you can control, beyond where your own strength and competencies can take you, and beyond what is affirmed or risked by the crowd - and you will experience me and my power and my wisdom and my love...
"...Does this mean I need to abandon the things I do well? Do I have to let go of my source of strength - my gifts, my passions, my training, my expertise? No, I don't think so. Those are good things from God. I think he simply wants us to take them on a more demanding climb, where we will actually need his help, and where he delights to grant it." (pp. 17-18).
A complete side note: Many years ago, I sat on a laundromat bench, waiting for my clothes to dry. With my Bible open to John 13, I pondered these words in a fresh, new way:
"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist."
Because Jesus knew His identity was not up for grabs or changeable with popular opinion, He could get up from the table and do what the lowliest servant would have done. Jesus climbed mountains and moved mountains. He healed the sick and comforted the poor. And He rubbed the grime off of the feet of friends who would abandon Him that very night. Jesus did things great and small with a consistent dignity because He embraced His identity and was clear about His purpose.
Likewise, when we hold fast to the idea that we came from God, are returning to God, we will be compelled to consider - on a deeper level - what we do with our time here on earth.
Recently I pondered passages from Scripture that reminded me once again, that my work, my life, my efforts will be put through the fire. And only those things done for Christ will last. The Bible says that clearly, some will only get through with their Salvation because their works will not survive the fire (See 1 Corinthians 3 & 4).
The Bible also says that "anything done apart from faith is sin."
These are sobering words for sobering times.
Works fueled by self promotion, self-preservation, selfish ambition, will not survive the fire.
Feats attempted with holy confidence and humble dependence will.
You've heard it a thousand times, we're not called to be successful, only faithful. Although, God loves to grant success to those whose hearts are set on Him. He is thrilled to meet us on a journey we could never make on our own.
You and I are called to faith; to adventure with God to unknown places; to right some of the wrongs in our day; to help the helpless; to take risks with both love and mountains.
For my final post this month on what it means to be uncommon, please allow me to share one last excerpt from the book:
"May the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, bless you and make you a blessing. May His face shine upon you as you determine to live a life that is pleasing to Him. May you never settle for halfhearted living since you've been offered continual abundance. May you never be content to shuffle on the low road when our Savior has called you to the higher way. May you always be filled to the fullness of God until you reach the other side. May you now, with all of the faith can muster, receive and appropriate the gifts God has given you. I pray you will speak and live with holy confidence and humble dependence. May you determine to live a life of radical love and powerful servanthood. May your life reflect the true meaning of living as an uncommon woman." (p. 194)
Until next week~
Reader Comments (8)
I have to tell you this: you spoke at Hearts@Home in Michigan 2yrs ago, and I "thought" I'd learn some things to help my dad recover from his motorcycle accident, but you spoke straight to MY soul. Your comforting, encouraging words "God redeems the time" replay in my mind to this day, and the Lord walks me back through painful times and shows me how YES, HE does redeem the time!!! If I never see you again in this life, I look forward to embracing you again in the next!Love and blessings to you,Kelly in Ohio
Isn't that the truth for all of us? First of all, we have to dare to dream, and then second, we have to be willing to let God fulfill it in His time. How easy it is to get our hands in there and get ahead of Him, OR, abandon the idea of a dream altogether. BUT, those who wait on the Lord, and trust in His timing, get to do and see things they'd otherwise never be able to. It's worth the wait, wouldn't you say?