bad service...so-so food... and blessings...

My wife and I went out to eat the other night at one of our favorite local non-chain restaurants. This particular restaurant had a very good track record with us. Things were always predictable there. I like that. Especially with places I eat at. I think that predictability is solely responsible for the proliferation of restaurant chains all across the country. I immediately think of the popularity of Cracker Barrel. No matter where you go across the country their fried catfish or chicken and dumplins look the same and taste the same. Weirdly enough most of the food servers also look the same. Anyway, my point is people like the consistency of good food and good service when they dine out. So, when your expectations, based on past consistency, are not met it usually means trouble. This is exactly what happened. Now I am a pretty easygoing
non-confrontational guy about almost all things and figure anyone can have a bad day or be off their game. But…when you are in the business of interacting with the public and meeting their needs with some type of service, it’s important to be excellent. I really hate it and feel sad when someone misses an opportunity to be excellent. I guess the reason it bothers me so much is that I have missed the mark at times in the past and still do occasionally. I have always heard it said that the thing that irritates us the most in others is that same thing in us. It’s just easier to see it in others most of the time. I have a different reason to strive for excellence and that is because I am representing the Christ that is inside of me. I desire for who I am on the inside to match up with what people see on the outside. That is called integrity. When I try to be excellent in all that I do then that is being authentic to my true self and is what Christ desires for me. There is a synchronicity that happens. People know and are aware when you are in tune. You are able to meet others needs and expectations with ease and excellence easily flows from you. Some people have described it as being in the zone or the sweet spot. You are in perfect alignment with Gods’ will and purpose for your life because it is absolutely effortless. In Ephesians 5: 15-16, it says,

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

I really like the part of that scripture that says making the most of every opportunity. If we could just remember that one simple idea so many things would be different in our daily lives. One area that would certainly be different is how we view our work no matter what it is that we do. Our work is a daily opportunity to demonstrate grace, forgiveness and to be excellent in interactions with others. If we are detached from that and there is incongruity between what we desire and what God desires for us it shows in how we interact with others. We miss a huge blessing. God blesses us and our gifts and abilities so that we may serve and bless others. Thinking about those many blessings without then asking how God would like us to use those blessings is simply arrogance, greed and selfishness. These blessings are, in fact, a reward for our faithfulness. However, the primary reason that God always rewards our faithfulness is because as faithful people we are called to share our blessings with others. The danger is we start keeping all the blessings to ourselves, either as individuals or as a church. I can assure you that once we are no longer faithful the reward will stop. So, it’s ok if you’re having a bad day…it’s ok if the service is poor and the food is just average. Just remember that you can compensate for the things not in your control and change everything by striving to be excellent and trying to imagine that you possibly may be serving Jesus…

heaven is....

Sometimes I think that God gives you a little peek into heaven. I think He does it to keep us intrigued with our own definitions of what it looks like. We all harbor this secret hope that we are right in the heaven that we have selected for ourselves. I remember hearing, over the years, many pastors trying to plant a vision in my mind of what heaven really looks like. There was a clear conflict between that vision and mine. I often thought, “How could they possibly know?” I realize that there some specific facts about heaven that can be gleaned from the Bible. I also know that there were three people, from Scripture, who were privileged to see heaven. All of these men, Stephen and the Apostles Paul and John, were alive when they were given a glimpse of the wonders of heaven. I also know that I think those facts are what causes us some consternation when we think of a real place called heaven. I think the pearly gates, streets paved with gold, the many mansions and a whole entire city challenges us on many levels. It calls into play our faith in a very big and real way. The Bible says, in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The things we do not see we can only imagine. Some people have a very vivid and complex imagination and others do not. Irrespective of all that there is universal agreement that it will be a place of perfection and that it is a real place. Jesus very plainly tells us this in John 14: 2-4, when He says,

“In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

I love that Jesus says that heaven is a real place and that we know the way to get there and that He will be there…waiting on us. We are quick to say…this is heavenly or this is like heaven or I’m in heaven. But clearly it cannot be unless Jesus is there. I think that John Piper, in his book God is the Gospel, says it best when he says,

“The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

Of course not…God gives me a peek of the heaven that I often imagine on perfect days like today. It’s really simple actually…me, my best friend, my bike and a really long road. I call it bliss which is defined as a state of profound spiritual satisfaction, happiness and joy, often associated with religious ideas of the afterlife. It means you are in such perfect alignment with God and His purpose for your life. It is what some have called the sweet spot and we know it when we are there.I think about that every single time that I get on my bike. Not only do I think about it I feel it in the depths of my soul. Every time. I remember telling this to my wife when we went to Chicago last year to ride BIKE THE DRIVE with a really good friend. It was the early dawn light of a summer morning before sunrise. We were riding down the middle of a deserted and quiet Lakeshore Drive staring ahead at the downtown heart of Chicago. Just me…Joanne…Jesus…two bikes rolling along on a long road. I looked over at her…and with tears in my eyes said, “This is what heaven’s gonna be like…” She smiled.

even better...the second time around

So, I’m sitting on the bench …waiting…to be put into the game. I have trained hard for this moment and I feel especially confident that God will use me. I have “suited up”, I’ve studied the opponent, have learned the plays….C’mon God…put me in the game. Can’t you see I’m dying here? I can help “our side” win. Seriously, God, I’m ready…this is the big game…this is the one I’ve been waiting for. This pretty much sums up how I feel a lot of the time. I am waiting for the next big thing, that big opportunity to show God what I can do for Him. Sadly though, I am going through the agonizing process of learning this is not what God wants from me. As famed writer, Herni Nouwen says,

“Waiting is not a very popular attitude. In fact, most people consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, “Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make a difference! Don’t just sit there and wait!” For many people, waiting is an awful desert between where they are and where they want to go. And people do not like such a place. They want to get out of it by doing something. In our particular historical situation, waiting is even more difficult because we are so fearful. One of the most pervasive emotions in the atmosphere around us is fear. People are afraid—afraid of inner feelings, afraid of other people, and also afraid of the future. And fearful people have a hard time waiting”.

I particularly do not like the waiting part and many times I do, in fact, feel like I am in that awful place between where I am and where I want to go. And for me my natural inclination is to help God along in “putting me into the game” by busying myself with trying to show God how ready I am. WRONG. Not what God wants at all. He made that clear in Luke 10:38-42, when it says,

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Ah, it’s the age old dilemma…doing versus just being. I so long for God to use me and place me in situations where I can serve Him in extraordinary ways. I have always wanted God to use me to reach out to touch the lives of other people, to be of service for Him and for others in unimaginable ways , to be a useful and valued part of the Body of Christ. I am so busy looking for the big things I realize I quite often miss the small things. I have agonized and wrung my hands needlessly wondering why God just won’t use me for this thing or that. The truth hit me full on and it was that there is a significant difference between God’s desires and mine. Whoops… So, let’s see…God’s desires…not mine, be still and don’t busy myself with things of little importance… Hmmm and finally wait on God and don’t be fearful.WoW. I think these are challenges for all of us as these are the pressures that bear so heavily upon us in our daily lives. A daily prayer for us all is Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God…”. In that stillness we are reminded of the ever present voice speaking as it always has and always will. There is no need to fear the wait because this is what God wants and He tells us “blessed is he that waiteth”. So, I wait and I am learning that that’s ok.

heading for the ditches...

There is an odd and curious driving effect that happens when we take our eyes off the road immediately in front of us. It appears that whatever we look at we drive toward. I am sure this is some kind of mystical physical law of the universe. Actually I have even noticed that you don’t necessarily have to be driving a car for this to happen. I have experienced this phenomenon while riding my bike. I have caught myself looking a little too long at something along the road and we begin to converge. I haven’t quite put myself in the ditch yet but I have come very close. I know at this point you may be wondering to yourself…”where’s he going with this?”, right? I am getting ready to draw a tremendous analogy here. In our daily lives the consequences of taking our eyes off the road we are on can have just as a devastating outcome. A brief period of inattention and looking at something peripheral to our chosen path can have a life altering and disastrous effect on us and others. We can lose focus in the blink of an eye. We willingly steer our lives right into the ditch and wonder how that happened. Simply put we go toward that thing we are looking at. Satan knows that so well and appeals to our poor driving skills and our propensity to end up in ditches. In Hebrews 12:2, it says,

“Let us fix our eyes on the Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

I have also heard this referred to as “keeping your eyes on the prize”. I am not sure I actually like that one as it sounds too much like the proverbial carrot on the end of a stick. I don’t like to visualize the concept of driving well and working hard not to drift across the line for a reward at the end that I’ll never really receive. Although I do believe and understand there is a reward called heaven, I think the incentive for me personally is just the powerful memory of a few bad wrecks I’ve both had and caused. Sadly, there are some people who really like pain or have short memories for bad stuff and this wrecking doesn’t bother them much. When we start to veer and move toward the thing leading our eye away, God gives us a chance to correct before it’s too late. In that correction there is grace and in that grace there is redemption. God knows I am a bad driver and He knows I’m going to get distracted and look at stuff too long. I just imagine Him wincing, watching me and saying, “ooooh, this is gonna be bad…” It’s just like He is watching this big giant cosmic NASCAR race and patiently waiting for the predictable wreck to come. Except for the big wipeouts everything else just moves along uneventfully seemingly without notice. Days and years go by and we settle into a routine. As the saying goes, we fall asleep at the wheel. We become numb and hypnotized by the road because it’s straight and boring and we have everything we think we want. Our faith has gone to bed and we become adverse to risk. We become oblivious to the danger signs, road hazards and become casual and reckless and start to look around at things along the road. And then…we hold that gaze just a little too long…we take our eyes off the prize...yeah, the grass looks greener…in the ditch…yeah, this one’s really gonna hurt…...bad.