Tsunami Devotional by Steve Keaton
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Title: My Fav 5
Text: Psalm 138:2 (NIV)
I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
Recently on Facebook, there has been this pretty cool thing bouncing around. It gives each person a chance to list 5 certain things about themselves. It is really kind of silly, but it is also cool to go to the pages of some of my Facebook friends and see what they are listing. The categories are wide open, and you can even make up your own. Some of my favorites are, “5 Cars I’ve Owed” “My 5 Favorite Childhood Candies” “5 Favorite Vacation Spots” and “5 Favorite Sports Teams”. There are tons of these things. And I have enjoyed thinking back on some of those items I haven’t thought about in years.
I have often wondered where God would fall in my Favorite 5. Where would God fall in your Favorite 5? Would God even be in my Favorite 5? At first glance I think it would be very easy to just say “yes” to that question. But don’t be so quick to fill out your ballot. Just ponder that question for a few minutes. Sometimes I would say that it would be very easy to consider God one of my Favorites. But then there have been other instances in my life where God has just kind of messed things up for me. Do you understand what I’m talking about? Being an authentic follower of the Creator of the Universe is not always an easy task. And I guess it shouldn’t be. Wouldn’t it be a whole lot easier to not have to worry about following God’s will for your life? Wouldn’t it be less stressful to not have the burden of knowing that we are called to be ambassadors for God in a world that doesn’t always want to hear what God truly has to say? What about the time we spend in prayer, in study, in worship, in service? I mean, most of already have full plates and schedules that cause us to wish for more time or begin to pull our hair out. Then you lump in the tug on our hearts and souls to give up personal time to serve in a soup kitchen, volunteer at the Salvation Army or go on some crazy mission trip to Africa. Following God and doing the things that God has called us to do is not always easy and is certainly not always fun. But it is our call.
This past weekend I was speaking at a youth event near Charlotte, NC. I was really looking forward to this weekend manly because I knew I’d have the chance to catch up with some other youth pastor friends and see how life was going for them. My friend Bill was there. Bill has been a longtime youth worker and is doing incredible things for the youth at his church in High Point, NC. I had also known, mainly because I had been stalking him on Facebook, that Bill had recently taken a trip to Kenya. I would read his status updates and I could tell that he had a great experience. So when I found myself and Bill walking by ourselves I took the chance to inquire about his trip. I had expected the traditional response of, “Oh! It was an amazing trip. The work was wonderful. My heart was blessed. I hope to return one day.” But, that was not the reaction I got at all. Bill turned and looked me square in the eye and simply said, “Steve, God ruined my life.” I was stunned at first because I wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this. And I also noticed that the look in his eye was not one of dread or regret, but was one of astonishment and blessing.
Bill went on to share almost every detail on this 2 week journey to Kenya. He spoke of the clinic he served in and the children he played soccer with. He spoke of the orphanage that we spent time at and the families he met. And he spoke of the fact that he has been blessed with so much and yet the people who he walked with and talked with and served during those 14 days were filled with such passion for God, such appreciation for God’s grace and so thankful for what they did have, even if they had no clue where their next meal would come from, how to put clothing on their backs or where they could possibly lay their heads that night. And now, even months after his return from Kenya, Bill is wrecked with the understanding that God has called him to do more. The fact is that God has called all of us to do more. And when that realization finally strikes us, it is something life-altering and can truly wreck your life. You begin to put aside your dreams to embrace Gods.
I can’t help but think that it is easy to sit back and view God almost as a big, fluffy, teddy bear that is always smiling and singing melodic songs to his creation when we are not fully understanding that to those who have been given much, much is required. It is easy to just keep our heads down, throw some money in the plate and wait for someone else to get their hands dirty and their lives ruined by God’s call. Following God could lead to a change in plans, moving somewhere or studying something that you have never thought of before. It could mean living a life with a little less financial security or retirement benefits. It could mean leaving a great job to spend the rest of your life pastoring a bunch of wild and crazy teenagers and dragging your family all over the map, or maybe even finding yourself in a clinic in the Congo. Who knows?
Well, I do know that a wrecked life for God is far better than a plush life for the world. Being uncomfortable as I experience the need that some many in this world experience every day, so I can have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of the Famous One is far better than a penthouse on 5th Avenue in New York City. And the scary thing is that when we are truly willing to follow God with a reckless abandon, there is no telling how God might change our lives. But it is awesome to see what it is when it is revealed.
So, is God in your Fav 5? He sure is in mine.
Something to Think About:
· Did it ever occur to you that God could wreck your life?
· What plans have you made for your life?
· Are you willing to put those plans aside to follow God’s call on your life? If so, are your really ready?
· Maybe God has already started wrecking your life? If so, in what ways?
· How do you see God using you in ways that you may have not thought of before?
A Few Minutes with God:
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