Pursue HIS Interests

Imagine you have a house guest that moves in and takes over. Oh, and what if he expects you to hang around and be his personal assistant? I’ve had this happen in my life, and it was NOT fun! Basically, you end up letting someone use you and own you.

I have been thinking about the question which I posed in the previous blog post:

How do I let God pursue His interest in me?

“Make room for the Master! Our Master Jesus has his arms wide open for you.” (1 Cor. 16:22-23 MSG)

In order to make room for Jesus, I might have to clear some space. I might need to stay open, receptive, and available at all times. I might need to stop seeking worldly legitimacy, focus all my senses on God’s agenda, and let God direct my every move. I might need to let go of my own interests, so that God can pursue His interests in me.

Lord, You own me, thus you can use me.

Spiritual Numbness

When I was young, I had a severe case of self-itis. Self-itis is an inflammation of one’s ego which leads to a self-centered, self-serving attitude. I was too wrapped up in my own self-interests to see or feel anything beyond myself. Later on, I became a bit more tuned in to others--especially to how these others perceived ME! This  ‘other-centeredness’ was just a more humanitarian form of self-itis--seeking legitimacy from the world by helping others, doing good, contributing to society, being responsible, taking care of my family, etc.

“Fed up with their...self-centered ways, God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears, Shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors, and they’re there to this day.” (Rom. 11:7-10 MSG)

Self-itis leads to spiritual numbness--a dulling of our receptivity to God. The more we are tuned-in to ourselves or worldly approval, the less we are able to focus on anything beyond this earthly ‘hall of mirrors’ full of distortions and confusion.

“The chosen ones were those who let God pursue his interest in them, and as a result received His stamp of legitimacy.”(Rom. 11:7-10 MSG)

How do I let God pursue His interest in me?

Karma vs. Grace

The principle of karma is a basic tenet of Hinduism and Buddhism. It is based on the law of causality--your intentions and actions determine the outcome of your future. Or, in other words, “You will get what you deserve.” This is not much different from the Christian concept of “reaping what you sow.” (Galatians 6:7)  

Most of us can agree that there are consequences to our actions. Yet, we can also observe that people with the best intentions and good behavior still end up suffering. Some of us are blessed much more than we deserve. Some of us face many more struggles than we deserve.

Grace (in Christian theology)  is defined as unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor from God. It is beyond causality. The principle of cause and effect is undeniable--it is part of the natural order of things. However, on both sides of this principle, we see supernatural exceptions. If there is a benevolent God who shows us more kindness and mercy than we deserve, then there must also be a malevolent spirit who persecutes us beyond what is justified. I think of it as three zones that overlap slightly: the oppression zone, the karma zone, and the grace zone.  If only we could stay in the grace zone all the time!

“Sin is no longer your master...for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Rom 6:14 NLT)

Sin--whatever separates us from God--no longer has power over us.  We don’t have to live under the law of causality either. Instead, we can choose to live in the freedom of God’s grace zone.

Going Home

A little boy died last night. He had been really sick for several years. For the last few years he and his family have gone through so much suffering. I wonder why God didn’t call him home sooner. Why put them through all of this?

I wonder if life on earth is meant to be like going away to college.  Every fall, freshmen get dropped off by their loving parents at college dorms. Within a short time, many students feel overwhelmed, homesick, and miserable. They call their parents and ask them to let them come back home. Most parents will tell their young adult children to hang in there, despite the difficulties, because there is so much for them to learn.

God, our parent, drops us off on the campus of life, knowing it will be a struggle. We call on Him to say we are stressed out. We wish God would just let us come back home.Yet he tells us we still have much to experience, and others have things to learn from  us as well.

This little boy’s struggle has taught the rest of us many lessons: To appreciate every motor skill--from swallowing, talking, and walking, to being grateful for our abilities to see, think, and function, and to cherish every day with our loved ones. These lessons are meant to be shared with our fellow students on this campus of life. We all have much to learn from each other before we a graduate from this world to the next.

Mastered By Possessions

Mildred Lisette Norman (a.k.a. Peace Pilgrim) was one of those rare people who practiced what she preached. At the age of 45, she started walking across the U.S. with only the clothes on her back and the few things in her pocket. She carried no money and wouldn’t ask for food or shelter. She continued walking and speaking about peace and simplicity until she died at the age of 73.

“Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them! There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest. Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.” (Peace Pilgrim)

Some people are focused on acquisition and accumulation, others on preservation of what they already have. Neither brings peace. The more we have, the more we have to lose. Protecting, preserving, and maintaining our possessions can become just as much an obsession as acquiring new things. And, it’s not just material things that we can be possessive about; we can also get fixated on intangibles such as our relationships, our reputations, or our accomplishments.

We spend our resources caring for, protecting, updating, cleaning, fixing, moving, and rearranging what we own--without realizing that there has been a transfer of ownership--our possessions have become the Master. When our belongings dictate our choices, then they have mastery over us. Our possessions now possess us.

Delivery Truck Drivers

The brown delivery truck is making its way around our neighborhood again. I can see the delivery man dropping boxes at each doorway. I wonder if he ever feels tempted to just drive the whole truck to his own home and keep all the packages for himself. Or does he ever go and sit in the back of his truck during lunch breaks, open some boxes, and feel like it would be okay to play with some of the more interesting gadgets?

I think we are all assigned a truckload of blessings--talents, opportunities, friends, insights, experiences, money, time, energy, health, skills, and freedoms.  It is tempting to use it for our own benefit. We imagine we deserve what’s in our truck, or that we earned it through hard work.

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” (Luke 12:48 NLT)

We are all meant to be delivery men/women. We are entrusted with blessings, given an assigned route, and sent out daily to fulfill this purpose. We need to resist the temptation to indulge ourselves with what has been given to us. The more blessings you have been given, the more work you have to do...so get going with those deliveries!   

Divine Disruptions

I don’t like to be idle. Every morning, I make a list of things I would like to get accomplished. Yet, I rarely get everything on the list crossed out. I used to get really bent out of shape when my plans were waylaid.

Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate between divine disruptions and ordinary distractions. I’ll be in the middle of a task, and my phone will beep with a notification of some sort that draws me in. Or, I’ll have the urge to forage through my kitchen for a snack or a cup of tea. Sometimes I feel a prompting to pause what I’m doing and reach out to someone, or it might come as a thought to sit still, think, pray, listen, or write something down.

Unlike garden-variety distractions, divine disruptions tend to have an unpredictable spontaneity to them. If I have an urge to stop vacuuming and go eat some cookies, there is nothing surprising or unexpected in that. However, if I have a prompting that comes out of nowhere--to call an acquaintance whom I haven’t contacted in years, or to pray for a friend’s son, or to write an email to a relative who lives halfway around the world--I pay more attention to it. Since these urges don’t make much sense to me, I have to completely trust that this must  be  a God thing. I don’t immediately act on these urges; I wait for step-by-step instructions and clarifications. I notice how kinks are  ironed out as I trustingly carry out the directions. I’m not saying I know for sure that these are God-directed urges--they might be ego driven. Often, when the outcome of my involvement is less than satisfying, it gets even more confusing.

Although I have a strong preference for structure and routine, I also want  an abundantly free life. I suspect this involves spontaneous obedience that emerges from complete trust in God. Thus, nowadays, I expect interruptions. I try to stay open and available for divine disruptions.