His Pleasure and His Power.

One of my favourite movies of all time is "Chariots of Fire". Over the years I have spoken of the part in the movie where Eric Liddell's sister is discouraging him from his interest in athletics. Eric's response went something like this: "God has made me for China, but God has also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure".

Taking a sabbatical is a time of reflection. A time of redefining goals, purpose, and life-dreams. Here is my conclusion thus far. Perhaps the place of greatest fruitfulness in life is when we find that place where we feel both His pleasure and His power.

What is it that you do where you feel God's pleasure? Is there a place or activity that when you do it you sense God's favor. Perhaps a sense of "Yes, this is what I was born for". It may be more than one thing. It could be when a surfer catches a wave, or a fisherman catches that elusive fish. It may be the surgeon who saves a life, or the builder who builds a new home. It may be the missionary who embraces an orphaned child, or the policeman who solves a case and rights an injustice. It may be the preacher who delivers a breakthrough message, or the administrator that brings organization to an effective enterprise. Our quest in life is to find that thing. That special moment when you feel everything was worth it. The pain, the sacrifice, the opposition, the heartache - it was all worth it for this moment of fulfilment, this moment when you sense heavens affirmation.

However, this is only part of the equation. To feel God's pleasure is an awesome thing, but when it is coupled with a sense of His power, we are truly blessed. There was a moment in Moses life when God promised to take the people of Israel into the promised land, but without God's presence. He was going to send an angel to accompany them instead. Moses replied that if God wasn't going with them, they weren't willing to go. Moses figured something out. It is one thing to be doing that thing for which we were born, but it is a whole new dimension when we are doing it clothed in His power. We all agree that "with God all things are possible". We must therefore also surmise that "without God, all things are just hard work!"

Having been in full time ministry for the past twenty five years, here is my resolve. From here on it is my desire to do those things that when I do them, I feel His pleasure. However, I don't want to run ahead with that. I also want to know that what I am doing had caught the attention of not only His pleasure, but also His power. I desire to be the junior partner in a working relationship where God's presence and His power are the true driving force.

Care to join me?

Blessings.
Graeme.

If I forget the ultimate, I'll be enslaved to the immediate.

I picked up a quote this week by John Maxwell that goes like this: "If I forget the ultimate, I'll be enslaved to the immediate". The more I think about that statement, the more I see in it. How easy it can become to be so busy with the day to day activities, that we forget the reason why.

Yonggi Cho in his book "The fourth dimension" talks about faith. In the first chapter he writes about the steps toward having faith. The first step, he writes, is to "envision a clear cut objective". Compared with Maxwell's quote above, this would be the "ultimate". Cho suggests that before we can have faith, we need to be clear about what we are having faith for. Jesus asks blind Bartemaeus "What is it you want me to do for you?". We might suggest the answer was obvious, but in the realm of faith, Jesus needed Bartemaeus to be specific.

My question to each one of us is therefore, "What is the ultimate"? What is the "clear cut objective"? What is our true aim in life? What do we really want to do? I think each one of us need a clear answer to this question.

If we don't know, or lose sight of the ultimate, we become enslaved to the immediate. In other words, we will live each day at the mercy of the urgent. We will find ourselves busy with activities that do not necessarily contribute to our ultimate goal in life. We can take opportunities simply "because they are there". When we have a "clear cut objective" we can filter every new opportunity through that ultimate goal, and ask ourselves "will this opportunity be a contributor to a distraction from my ultimate objective".

Of course, being on sabbatical I am in the place where I can re-establish my "ultimate objectives" in life, and review the "activities" I have been enslaved to and ask the question over each one,"Is this contributing to or distracting me from my ultimate objective". The only way we can ask ourselves that question is by knowing what the "ultimate" is.

So what is your "ultimate"?