Boxes

Okay, I am trying to come up with some clever story to lead into what I want to write about but I am coming up empty handed. I thought about opening up with a story about how I like to look up definitions for new words I come across. Yeah, it may sound a little dorky but I'm okay with that. I also thought about stating a bunch of random ideas about boxes. Yes, I said boxes. The folded cardboard creations one uses to store items in. When I was in college they also doubled as furniture. But the subject of boxes gets really boring really fast.

With no lead-in story, unless that first paragraph can be counted as one, I'm just deciding to jump into what's on my mind.

I think we all have at some point had a problem with putting things in boxes. I think we all have struggled with definitions.

I know I have defined someone before I have had a chance to get to know who they really are. I try no to do it. Sometimes labeling others just seems so easy, does it not? Dork, Conceited, Shy, Weird, Dumb, Jackass, Promiscuous, etc. Labels can be passed out just by glancing at someone. You don't have to get to know someone before you put a definition on their life. We can just look at someone, label them, and then decide if this label is a person we would associate with or not associate with.

One thing I have come to learn is that preconceived labels really don't hold up when you start to get to know someone. People are much more complicated than one word can sum up.

We tend to only associate with those people in which we have many things in common. We tend to not associate ourselves with the labels that we find undesirable. There have been many times before where I have placed someone in a box (metaphorically) before I had a chance to know them. Then when I actually sat down and conversated with the person, I realized how stupid I was for placing them in the box. (Don’t tell me conversated is not a word)

I don't think God wants us to place people in boxes or give the labels. I think He thinks we are all equals. Even though He made us equals, I think He made us where we each bring something unique to the table. Maybe so we can each learn from each other. I like being around people who I don't have that much in common with. Though, I don't do it enough. They challenge me and cause me to grow.

Believing and Doing

Can I tell you something? Let you into my world a little? Thanks for saying yes.

I have been somewhat frustrated as of lately. Unappeased. Vexed, if you would. Why? Could it be something at work that's bothering me? No, not really. I mean, there are things I don't enjoy about my job but those are not the source of my frustration. School troubles, perhaps? Besides procrastinating too much on my reading, school is going fine. Lady troubles then? Um, ...no.

I have been kind of frustrated spiritually lately. Really, I don't know how to explain it. I'm not frustrated with God or anything like that. I guess it may be more of being frustrated with myself or how my relationship is going with Him.

I know first hand that relationships are only as deep as the amount of time you invest in them. I have been reading my Bible more lately than I have in awhile. I have been praying more than I have in awhile.

I have been going to church, not that I believe church attendance has anything to do with spiritual growth. I mean, it can foster growth but it is not essential.

I know I don't feel challenged that much at church lately. Sometimes I get bored with the same messages over and over. How to Step Out in Faith. How to Put Others First. And so on. I mean, I have been hearing these things all of my life. I guess sometimes I think of the sermons at church as selfish, meaning that they are only telling me how "I" can become a better Christian. I am tired of living a faith that is just about how to better myself.

Sometimes my mind starts to wander while I am setting in church and I think, "There are children being recruited by rebel groups to kill in Africa and there are people alone on the streets in my very own city. What am I doing here listening to a message about How to Encourage Others when I should be out there right now trying to make a difference for God?"

It's very easy and comfortable to have a faith that just requires you to sit in a pew or chair at church. It's more challenging to get up and do something.

But that's the kind of faith I want to have. One that involves action. A kind of faith that makes a difference in the world. A kind of faith that reaches people and lifts them up. Not a passive faith that requires little effort on my part. I want an active faith that challenges me to actually do the things that Jesus would have me to do.

Committed

A few weeks ago I went to go speak at a devo for the guys in my old fraternity. The week before I went, I really had no idea what I wanted to speak about. I had talked to a friend a few days before I went and he suggested I talk about commitment. In the end, I decided not to talk about commitment but ever since then that word has been on my mind.

Commitment is a rare thing. It seems that being fickle almost comes natural.

Jesus addresses the concept of being committed alot in the gospels. There's His whole speech about hating your father and your mother. "Hey guys, you are either fully committed to me, or your not. You can't just dip you toes into the water or wade in the shallow end; you either need to dive in or get out of the pool."

Last night I was reading about when Jesus was sending out the disciples. He tells them they are going to be arrested and beaten and they still go. That's commitment.

I guess when you truly care about someone; you put them first no matter the cost. When you care about someone you are faithful and consistent. There's not a sense of being lukewarm or flighty.

You are either all in or all out. At least that's what Jesus understood a relationship with Him to be about. "There is no 'you love me' one day and 'you are not sure' the next. I'm either all or nothing."

Maybe He's saying something about how we should be in our relationships with others as well.
I tend to not see many things in black and white, except commitment. If I care about something or someone, I will show it by my devotion. If I am fickle, then I am showing how much this something or someone really doesn't matter to me.

I want to be more committed in my relationship with God. I want to be all in no matter what. I want to be more committed in other areas of my life as well.

Path of Least Resistance

Have you ever had one of those moments? The kind where you knew you were supposed to do something, but you didn't do it? I call them Adams. Why Adams, you ask? After Adam in the book of Genesis.

One of my favorite quotes is, "Nothing in life worth having comes without some kind of fight."I think this quote rings true in my life. Nothing worth having is easy.

The problem is my natural tendency is to take the easy road. I don't know if it's just a male thing or what, but the path of least resistance is often followed.

The problem with the path of least resistance is it leads nowhere.We want the fruits of labor without having to do the labor itself. We want the rewards with out the challenges. The victory without the fight. The good times without the sacrifice.

So why exactly did I throw Adam's name into all of this? Simple. Remember when Eve was tempted by the serpent? Well, where was Adam? Why didn't he step in and help Eve? Why didn't he speak up? Why didn't he do anything?

He watched the whole thing transpire, but did nothing. He was probably scared or thought "I just don't have what it takes." When he should have spoken up, he was silent.

Adam was in this relationship with Eve and yet he didn't want to risk himself in the relationship. He chose the easy way out.

Contrast Adam with Boaz in the book of Ruth. Boaz could have just let Ruth slip through his fingers, because lawfully she belonged to her next of kin after her husband died. But he didn't sit back in his own passivity. He spoke up.

I want to be more like Boaz and less like Adam. I don't want to follow the path of least resistance. I want to risk. I want to speak up. I want to face the obstacles head on.

Everything Happens for a Reason is Not That Comforting

Looking back on my life, I guess it's easy to see how God has worked. There have been times I have felt like Job, though. There have been times I have doubted what God was up to. To put it bluntly, there have been the questions of, "What the hell are you doing here God?" and "Where are You?" But there have also been times where I have known God would provide. There have been times where I have held tightly onto the idea that He was working despite the fact that I couldn't see Him.

I have had those "everything happens for a reason" moments along with asking those "why" questions too.

I was involved in a discussion after class the other night about the intervening of God in the lives of men. I know, very light subject indeed. Some of us had the idea that God was there, but He wasn't necessarily working in our everyday lives. That He was watching over us, but not playing with us like chess pieces. Some of us had the differing idea that God is very involved in our lives, orchestrating everything down to the smallest detail.I guess I lean more toward the belief that God is present and guiding me in my everyday life. I do believe in free will, though.

I do wrestle with this though. I mean, how do you tell a couple that is unable to bear children that "everything happens for a reason." How do you tell the widow who lost her husband in Iraq that "everything works together for good for those that love the Lord."

I have never been a fan of coincidence or chance. I do believe that there is a purpose for everything. Even though many times I question that purpose. I don't think my life is series of random events. I don't think that the people that I cross paths with simply come into my life (and I into theirs) because of luck.

But there are things that go on that cause me to doubt sometimes. Bad things do happen to good people. So does that mean that God made or allowed the bad things to happen?

Some things I can't explain and I'm okay with that. To me, God operates on a much grader scale than I do. If He has the creativity and intellect to create everything in existence, He should surely be way above my level. And if He is far above me in the way He does things, then there are probably going to be times I don't understand what He's up to.

I am finite, He is infinite. And I'm okay with that.