I'm the guy with the plastic smile...
For some reason, I've been in a pretty good mood this afternoon. First, the back pain is getting better. The initial pulled muscle feels a lot better, even though the rest of my back is sore since the rest of the muscles have been picking up the "slack," I guess. Second, the music went very well this morning. Granted, there were 2 no-shows and some last minute changes, but everything went 'smooth as butta' in the end.
But, these are trivial things. I think the main thing that's put me in a good mood is a clarity of focus I had this morning: That no matter what was going on, I wanted this morning's music to be all about God. Thinking this way, it was easy to put the various malfunctions happening into perspective and move on. And in the end, I felt God's presence and felt that - in some small way - God had used us (the band) to touch people this morning. I really hope that is actually what happened...that people were touched by God.
Isn't that what it's all about? No, I'm not going to spew forth cliche's like "Christians should roll with the punches" or "get back on the horse when you fall." No, what I'm getting at is more of a perspective thing - to know that all the malfunctions (sin, social crises, health crises, etc.) are, indeed, temporal things...and that we can still find God in the midst of our struggles...and that we can still work for his mission no matter what we're facing. To me, this is the mark of spiritual maturity. It's not how much you know or how "experienced" you are in spiritual discipline. Instead, to become spiritually mature is to develop integrity - to live out a faith that withstands the everyday testing of the world....to live out the mission that remains our focus no matter how many things are piled into our lives.
Granted, we should never deal with things with a plastic smile. Problems are real. Conflict is real. Last week, I wasn't spouting out phrases like "My back hurts, but I'm just dandy!!" Yes, my back hurt last week, and it was not a good thing. But amidst the problems of life, God is always available and willing to help.
That may be the key to happiness and maturity for a lot of the people I know (myself included). In the past week, I've known people who've faced illness, financial crises, stress, car trouble, and depression. Others have been stood up by friends or engaged in a struggle to maintain relationships. And when people (we) face these things, it becomes very easy to feel overwhelmed and our gut instinct is to withdraw or flee from the situation or friendships that have become the source of the stress. But how has God impacted these struggles? Have we been able to face these things with integrity of faith and purpose? Or have we become overwhelmed and let an ungodly hopelessness extinguish the passion we have for God and for our friends?
It's my hope that all of us can continue to "mature" and live with mature faith - one of integrity and unwavering passion for the mission of God: To connect people with him...to build them up...and, in the end, to give God all the glory.
As always, isn't it all about what (who) we focus on?
KEY THOUGHT: "So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:6-9.
KEY PHRASES: "If his next blog entry talks about how he met this girl, we witnessed what REALLY happened." "Oooh...bad vibes." "No, I'm really not interested in watching people drive in a circle for 2-3 hours." "Well, at least it's snowing SOMEWHERE."
But, these are trivial things. I think the main thing that's put me in a good mood is a clarity of focus I had this morning: That no matter what was going on, I wanted this morning's music to be all about God. Thinking this way, it was easy to put the various malfunctions happening into perspective and move on. And in the end, I felt God's presence and felt that - in some small way - God had used us (the band) to touch people this morning. I really hope that is actually what happened...that people were touched by God.
Isn't that what it's all about? No, I'm not going to spew forth cliche's like "Christians should roll with the punches" or "get back on the horse when you fall." No, what I'm getting at is more of a perspective thing - to know that all the malfunctions (sin, social crises, health crises, etc.) are, indeed, temporal things...and that we can still find God in the midst of our struggles...and that we can still work for his mission no matter what we're facing. To me, this is the mark of spiritual maturity. It's not how much you know or how "experienced" you are in spiritual discipline. Instead, to become spiritually mature is to develop integrity - to live out a faith that withstands the everyday testing of the world....to live out the mission that remains our focus no matter how many things are piled into our lives.
Granted, we should never deal with things with a plastic smile. Problems are real. Conflict is real. Last week, I wasn't spouting out phrases like "My back hurts, but I'm just dandy!!" Yes, my back hurt last week, and it was not a good thing. But amidst the problems of life, God is always available and willing to help.
That may be the key to happiness and maturity for a lot of the people I know (myself included). In the past week, I've known people who've faced illness, financial crises, stress, car trouble, and depression. Others have been stood up by friends or engaged in a struggle to maintain relationships. And when people (we) face these things, it becomes very easy to feel overwhelmed and our gut instinct is to withdraw or flee from the situation or friendships that have become the source of the stress. But how has God impacted these struggles? Have we been able to face these things with integrity of faith and purpose? Or have we become overwhelmed and let an ungodly hopelessness extinguish the passion we have for God and for our friends?
It's my hope that all of us can continue to "mature" and live with mature faith - one of integrity and unwavering passion for the mission of God: To connect people with him...to build them up...and, in the end, to give God all the glory.
As always, isn't it all about what (who) we focus on?
KEY THOUGHT: "So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:6-9.
KEY PHRASES: "If his next blog entry talks about how he met this girl, we witnessed what REALLY happened." "Oooh...bad vibes." "No, I'm really not interested in watching people drive in a circle for 2-3 hours." "Well, at least it's snowing SOMEWHERE."
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