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| Blackberry phones are amazing things. I got one recently, and I’m hooked. Nothing’s as empowering as holding that phone in my hand.
Check my email? Got it!
Update Facebook status? Done!
Tweet my soul out to the world? Finished, with time to spare!
What’s weird is that I actually start to get a little panicky when the phone starts getting low on batteries. When that thing goes, my Blackberry-superpowers will leave me, and I’ll be cursed with having to wait until I get home before I can check my email.
::shiver.:: Heaven forbid that ever happening.
With everything happening so instantaneously these days, waiting becomes and increasingly painful thing for us to do. In particular, waiting on a promise from God can seem like such slow agony. We want to make God more instantaneous, going as far as shrink-wrapping an act as life-altering as accepting Christ into a pre-prepared Wordless Book + prayer bookmark combo. Pull it out, tell your new friend, “Confess with your lips and in your heart that Christ is Lord, and all is done.” The whole thing happens in less than 10 minutes, and another soul is saved for His kingdom.
(Sidenote: Today, I saw a Wordless Book Pen for the first time. Tug at a metal bar the runs along the side of a pen and out comes a five-colored scroll with the Gospel written down in Chinese. It was pretty cool and, for lack of a better phrase, it left me without words.)
I say it all in jest; there are people who use the wordless book as an effective tool for furthering the kingdom of God. But honestly: Is salvation always that easy?
Take for example, the exodus of the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land. It’s a ridiculously dragged-out tale of redemption. By the time the story is done, over forty years have passed since Egypt, Moses and most of his generation is gone, and a lot of battles have been fought.
I wonder what Moses thought of the whole process. Every day, he had to lead his people through a through a sand covered wasteland
One sand-covered step…
…after sand-covered step…
…after sand-covered step…
…for forty years.
And through it all, it must have caused such anguish for him to know that what he himself would never get to arrive at the place he was trying so hard to lead his people to. But despite it all, he continued to walk forward daily and dutifully up until the day he died.
What if God came to you with a plan for you to further His kingdom? Can we be asked to wait that long today? What if He told you that you would not live to see the work done, that it would carried out through your children, and through your children’s children? Is that enough? Can we wait that long for the story to come to a happy ending?
We have to learn that the greater things take time to build towards. Remember: Moses and his generation helped build the foundation for the nation of Israel. And it was through Israel that Jesus, the savior of the World, came to be. Even after Jesus’ departure, the work still wasn’t done. In John 14:12, Jesus says:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
Those words are a soft reminder that even after as last page of the Bible is completed, the story of salvation is still not finished. God is still there, still waiting, still wanting His Church to rise up to do “greater things.”
The fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, and all that jazz) don’t bloom within the time it takes to cook a microwave dinner. Likewise, it may be that the work of the kingdom of heaven will not come into completion within the next few hours, days, or even lifetime. But I have full faith that the Lord’s salvation it is being worked out, one sand-covered step at a time.
So, as a final thought: What are you building towards? Whatever it is, may God grant you the discernment to see that it is all in God’s timeline. May you see the beauty of waiting, and may you know (in faith) that God holds true to all of His promises.
Grace and peace be with you all.
Your friendly-neighborhood-Blackberry-addict,
Perry Andrew Lee
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| I haven't really been writing here, but I've been thinking.
It's time for me to start thinking (with as clear a mind as possible) about:
--Who am I as an individual? Although being in a relationship is a huge part of and extremely cherished part of my life, it's not everything. I'm desperately wanting to be MYSELF, a concept that hasn't solidified itself in my own mind.
--What is important to me? You can't do everything with your life. As a result, so many things have to be sacrificed for it. In asking about what mark I'm going to leave with my life, I'm thirsting for a direction. GOD....what is it?
--and lastly: what does it really mean to LOVE? No, I'm not kidding. It's time for me to throw out the notion that love is all about fun and enjoyment. For those of us that have experienced heartbreak, you know what I mean. Love itself isn't easy, isn't something to kid around about, and it's something I want to understand more deeply.
To take the steps towards finding an answer; that's what I really need prayer for right now.
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Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
......(((selah)))......
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| logic is really a backseat driver
and it feels that every day i fight a battle
between the comfort of who i am
and the desire to become what i am not
i don't remember ever being this restless
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| Thoughts on Forgiveness and Grace
This is my first post in a while. I don't even know if anyone still bothers to read this page, but I feel like writing this anyways. It's one of many thoughts.
The sheer idea that God's forgiveness is not earned is hard to comprehend. After giving us so much, doesn't He expect us to be good? Doesn't He expect us to behave?
It's amazing how Jesus explained deep theological questions with down to earth stories people could relate to, such as the story of the prodigal son. As the parent, what are you think of the situation? I think you would have a similar scenario if one of your children ended up as a bum on the street. Every time you visit him, you give him some food, some money, a piece of your heart, and invite him to come home. And every time he ignores your invation, botches the money on more booze, more drugs, and more cigarettes. What are you going to think? You can't help but feel a hurt actions, and ANGRY at his stupidity.
(like "baka!" said in a loving tone)
And what about God? When we sin, I do believe that He is saddened and angry that we are shunning his gifts. But despite His anger, He seems to constantly come back to His children, generation after generation, desperately desiring to repair with them the relationship that was broken in Eden. He was willing to do this to the point of sacrificing His own Son, whom we know as Jesus, to make things right.
And yet so many of us STILL turn our backs to Him. I guess it's part of being human.
(damned apple!)
But the Lord is gracious, and will be there waiting for us when we finally realize how misguided we were. And he will be there just as the father was the the prodigal son, running to embrace a child who has finally (FINALLY) come home.
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