So none of the other people here seem to have really active faith lives. And I'm realizing how empty a life is if it doesn't have a purpose given by God. I see these people living their lives and I wonder, do they just think they'll go through and this is all there is? Just get older and fade away? My brother is doing a Bible study on a John Piper book, and I was struck by the example of a older couple who had retired and their lives consisted of playing softball, sailing their 40 foot trawler and looking for seashells on the beach. Piper makes the comment, what are they going to do when the get to Heaven and stand before the Lord? Stand there and say "here God, look at my shells!" Granted, I know my purpose involves being here on this beach this week. To meet Craig, our minister neighbor, to share love with the mother of 3 who has been hurting for most of her life, to be an example to the rambunctious 11 year old boy who doesn't understand discipline and to let Joe's dad see what life can be like when you have a guiding hand in it. He just watched his mom pass away, and I know death is so much more imminent now to him, but we want to show him that it's not the end. It is becoming evident that although this week is about rest and rejuvenation for us, it is also still ministry. Our life is ministry. We are an open book for the people around us to read the story of what God can do in a life. I pray that our story is read, understood and internalized.
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As a blog-illiterate (i.e., one who reads none at all for every reason in the world) I am delighted to have been allowed this window. Do you feel any difference when you write for the world to see (is that what you have going on or is this restricted?) vs. for a mag or stage? Is catharsis happening or am I putting too much into this?
the day before i read this, i rode a bus from livingstone to lusaka... and it was full of a group of older teens... maybe 15 or so... and much of the first hour of the ride was them figuring out the rules for the drinking game they would play when they got to their hotel in lusaka... european kids on an adventure... how empty... and i felt helpless "oh, God, how can i help them to know???"... how much unimportant stuff can fill our lives - MY LIFE - insignificant me - how can i help others to see HIM who IS supremely significant?
i read the first few chapters of "when i don't desire God" while i was gone - a good quote: "the aim is that God's worth - His infinite desirability - be known and prized and praised in all the world... the intensity of our pleasure and our desire bear witness of his worth to the world..."
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