Chase Your Lions
One four month internship
One college graduation
One two week journey to Europe
One move halfway across the country
One change after the other
One struggle after the other
2016 has been quite the year.
I'm exhausted just thinking of all the changes. The packing and unpacking, the setting up and tearing down, the feeling of finally getting established and then uprooting again. My head feels dizzy but my thoughts makes me smile at all the memories made, laughs shared, and relationships built. My heart aches thinking about the not so great moments of pain and grief, lessons that needed to be learned, and the relationships which seem uncertain about where they stand still.
I think of the good, the bad, and the ugly things I have had to witness those closest to me go through, or go through myself, and I thank God I was able to stand with them and try to be a source of encouragement or voice of reason for them and that God put people in my life to do the very same thing. It's impossible to not think about all we have endured as a country and as a world as a whole, and I can't help but pray Your kingdom come Lord.
I also think about the exciting things 2017 is going to hold. I wonder and anticipate what I'll be doing and where I'll be going. I think about the relationships I'll build and the things I'll get a chance to be a part of. But I mostly think about the unwavering truth that has kept me going all this time: the mission of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, and the mission of his church doesn't change.
It never has and it never will.
He is still in the business of changing lives and our mission to proclaim that truth doesn't change. Our mission as a body of believers doesn't change despite who is or who is not in power, what our next door neighbor is doing, or what catastrophe is going on in the world at the moment. That statement may sound a tad bit naive, but I won't apologize for making the statement. There are a million things in this world that are out of our control, but to be honest it's not our job to control them anyway. This doesn't mean that we sit idly by and let them happen, but we strap on our armor and we fight.
We fight for the injustice in our world, and we fight for the souls of those who are entangled in those injustices. We fight for that one life we have been praying for, but yet are losing hope in day after day, because the eternal state of that one life matters. But as we fight may we do so with grace and truth, not compromising in either of those categories.
In 2017 may we not just fight against the things that our human eyes can see, but would we fight against the spiritual battles within us as well. I recently finished the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. The book is based off what I think to be a rather obscure passage of Scripture found in 2 Samuel 23 about a warrior named Beniah who dove into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. The premise of Batterson's writings is to dive into the pits of life and chase after the lions you face day to day, and to not miss the God-ordained opportunities but to seize them instead. As you write out your resolutions and strive to create goals for yourself this year, what lions are you willing to chase after and take down? What God-ordained opportunities are standing in front of you, waiting for you to take hold of? What dreams and passions are stirring in your heart that you just can't seem to get rid of? What fears do you need to let go of to make your dreams become a reality?
Stand and face your lions of 2017, and do so with all the boldness and power that is at work within you through the Holy Spirit.
Seize the God-ordained opportunities in front of you.
Embrace fear and awkward of what the outcome might be.
Chase your lions into that pit no matter what.
One college graduation
One two week journey to Europe
One move halfway across the country
One change after the other
One struggle after the other
2016 has been quite the year.
I'm exhausted just thinking of all the changes. The packing and unpacking, the setting up and tearing down, the feeling of finally getting established and then uprooting again. My head feels dizzy but my thoughts makes me smile at all the memories made, laughs shared, and relationships built. My heart aches thinking about the not so great moments of pain and grief, lessons that needed to be learned, and the relationships which seem uncertain about where they stand still.
I think of the good, the bad, and the ugly things I have had to witness those closest to me go through, or go through myself, and I thank God I was able to stand with them and try to be a source of encouragement or voice of reason for them and that God put people in my life to do the very same thing. It's impossible to not think about all we have endured as a country and as a world as a whole, and I can't help but pray Your kingdom come Lord.
I also think about the exciting things 2017 is going to hold. I wonder and anticipate what I'll be doing and where I'll be going. I think about the relationships I'll build and the things I'll get a chance to be a part of. But I mostly think about the unwavering truth that has kept me going all this time: the mission of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, and the mission of his church doesn't change.
It never has and it never will.
He is still in the business of changing lives and our mission to proclaim that truth doesn't change. Our mission as a body of believers doesn't change despite who is or who is not in power, what our next door neighbor is doing, or what catastrophe is going on in the world at the moment. That statement may sound a tad bit naive, but I won't apologize for making the statement. There are a million things in this world that are out of our control, but to be honest it's not our job to control them anyway. This doesn't mean that we sit idly by and let them happen, but we strap on our armor and we fight.
We fight for the injustice in our world, and we fight for the souls of those who are entangled in those injustices. We fight for that one life we have been praying for, but yet are losing hope in day after day, because the eternal state of that one life matters. But as we fight may we do so with grace and truth, not compromising in either of those categories.
In 2017 may we not just fight against the things that our human eyes can see, but would we fight against the spiritual battles within us as well. I recently finished the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. The book is based off what I think to be a rather obscure passage of Scripture found in 2 Samuel 23 about a warrior named Beniah who dove into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. The premise of Batterson's writings is to dive into the pits of life and chase after the lions you face day to day, and to not miss the God-ordained opportunities but to seize them instead. As you write out your resolutions and strive to create goals for yourself this year, what lions are you willing to chase after and take down? What God-ordained opportunities are standing in front of you, waiting for you to take hold of? What dreams and passions are stirring in your heart that you just can't seem to get rid of? What fears do you need to let go of to make your dreams become a reality?
Stand and face your lions of 2017, and do so with all the boldness and power that is at work within you through the Holy Spirit.
Seize the God-ordained opportunities in front of you.
Embrace fear and awkward of what the outcome might be.
Chase your lions into that pit no matter what.
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