(Below is an email I sent out to my small group on January 19, 2009)
"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." -St. Francis of Assisi
"We may be content to remain what we call 'ordinary people'; but [God] is determined to carry out quite a different plan. To shrink back from that plan is not humility: it is laziness and cowardice. To submit to it is not conceit or megalomania; it is obedience." -C.S. Lewis
"This mediocrity- is it what we have sought, or what we have settled for? Is it the purpose for which we were meant, or is it what we have blindly accepted as a way to survive? God did not intend for man to simply survive in this world- no, he demands much more than this. 'Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.' Christians were not meant to be 'Average Joes.' No matter what our purpose, be it small or great in the world's eyes, we are to do it to our utmost, holding our heads high, because we are commanded to outshine the darkness of the world all around us. I don't care how lowly you believe your position to be- God intends for you to lead; for you to influence someone." -Yours Truly
Hey Everyone!
We discussed some pretty weighty things last night at small group! I think the question of the week, however, is this: What's your motivation? What are you living for? I think that a lot of people go through their day to day lives without giving this much thought. We get up, we get dressed and brush our teeth, maybe we eat something, we go to school (or work, or church, or whatever), we come home, we do some homework, watch some tv, check our Facebook page, take a shower, brush our teeth, and go back to bed... and we get up the next day to do it all again without ever once thinking that there might possibly be something more important that we ought to be concerned about.
It's not that our day to day lives aren't important, but there's something bigger going on here. We're like Briar Rose... before she knew she was Princess Aurora. We're like the Pevensie children from The Chronicles of Narnia... before they knew there was another world just through the wardrobe. We're like Frodo Baggins... before he knew that his uncle's old ring was "The One Ring." There's something big and epic going on here, and we're a part of it... we just don't know it yet. Or maybe we do know it- but knowing something and doing something are two very different things.
As Christians, we are called to new life. But that abundant life we're promised is under attack:
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -Jesus of Nazareth (John 10:10)
Jesus didn't say, "I have come so that they can get by without too much difficulty." He didn't say, "I have come so they can be satisfied by the bare minimum." He came to give us life to the full. When I look around at our small group, I see enormous, untapped potential, like all the water contained by the Hoover Dam. Imagine if someone blew up the Hoover Dam--imagine the power of all that water rushing down at once. It would sweep away everything in it's path and leave devastation in it's wake. When we finally wrap our mind around what God is calling us to do, everyone around us is going to be swept up in it too... and we'll leave changed lives behind us.
Ah... but (there's always a 'but') we must not forget the thief. Satan hates you. He has come to steal your potential and destroy your life. He's like Malificent to Briar Rose, The White Witch to the Pevensie children, Sauron to Frodo. And do you know why he hates you? He fears you. Let that sink in for a moment. Satan is afraid of me? What's so special about me? Ah. There's the million-dollar question... that Satan would do anything to keep you from finding out the answer to.
I'm praying for you, my friends. Be on your guard. God bless.
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