A Feather in the Wind

A rushing wave tossed in the ocean...

Or a battered feather, forced to fly on in whatever direction the wind wills.

So often in life, it seems like these things are our lives! 

We just go about our lives living normally when suddenly a gust of pain blows us a direction we weren't expecting.

Other times it seems like everything is going so well when, out of nowhere, the ocean of life circumstance bubbles up and throws us somewhere against our will.

These moments in life are what we often refer to as our "dark moments" or, in christian terms, our "trials."

Sometimes these painful moments seem to envelope us, giving us no choice in the matter as to how life goes or how we live our lives.

These moments are real. Too real. Pain and misfortune happens to good people. 

It seems to me that pain, at least in this current world, is inseparable from life.

However, it would also seem that the level of darkness in our dark moments is partially dependent on us.

'What on earth are you talking about? Life happens and I can't do anything to change that!'

You're right, but what happens in life does not necessarily dictate what we do!

A strong temptation in painful moments is to essentially turn off the proverbial lights and let the darkness fully envelop us. Giving in to grief, sadness and misery is the tempting and natural reaction. 

It almost gives off a weird sort of comforting feeling to rest in despair.

This was never where we were meant to live!

So often, we let life, pain, and grief determine our feelings and actions.

I can tell you now from experience, this is not the only option!

In every painful moment where we want to let go and give into misery, the same chance exists to choose joy!

Nehemiah declares this truth when he says "the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Neh 8:10)

Unlike happiness, a powerful emotion that relies on circumstances to feed it, joy is an equally powerful thing that does not rely on circumstance but is instead chosen.

How do you choose joy?

By believing that the God of the universe has your back and that he will make things work out for your good (Rom 8:28).

Here are some practical tips:

- Find Scripture that speaks of God's covenant promises to his children (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 37).

- Verbally declare your choice out loud to yourself (i.e. "I choose to live in God's joy today!").

- Avoid putting yourself in positions that will feed sadness (i.e. In your room alone with the lights off).

- Be active and social. Get some sun while you're at it! : )

- Thank God for the things he has already blessed you with

Joy is a definitely daily choice, especially in hard times, but a choice it remains.

You see, though we may feel like it, we aren't feathers blown by the wind.

We are not simply prey to our circumstances or emotions.

We have the unique chance to choose joy over sadness.

You may not feel like choosing joy. 

It may seem a whole lot nicer to lay around in sadness.

There's a good chance choosing joy will be difficult, but it is so worth it!

Let me challenge you today.

Don't be a feather blown in the wind. 

Don't be a wave tossed around by emotion and circumstance, no matter how hard it may be.

Make the choice to tell yourself, "Today, I choose joy!"

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

- Psalm 16:11

Explosions and O-Rings

On January 28th, 1986, one of the most tragic and memorable moments in recent American history occurred. 

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, just 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven members of the crew.

Millions of Americans watched the tragedy and grieved as a nation.

When investigations were conducted, results showed that the explosion was caused due to the failure of a "toric joint" or "O-ring." 

An O-ring is a rubber circular seal, about .28 inches in diameter, that is used to create pressure for the gasses to ignite and power the engine. When the Shuttle launched, the O-rings failed causing the explosion of the shuttle and the deaths of the crew members.

The crazy thing about this whole story to me is that the failure of an o-ring, probably one of the smallest parts of the 268,829 pound craft, caused the entire thing to crash!

One small part, uncontrolled, can cause everything to explode.

So imagine with me for a second, if you were a rocket ship, would there be any o-rings in your life?

Really, there are plenty of small things in our lives that could probably be pointed out, but I'm going to hone in on one specific one.

One of the most potentially devastating yet subtle "O-rings" in our lives today is that of gossip.

Gossip? Really? 

Hold on. Let me elaborate.

Gossip is defined as: "casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true."

I'm just going to simplify this and define gossip as: "talking about or discussing information about someone behind their back."

Now, when put in this light, of course it sounds really bad. We would never want to do something like that, right? 

However, in everyday conversation, I've found that it's so much more sneaky! 

We discuss other people we know the same way we would discuss current events or movies.

When it involves our close friends, we'll often say "we're just concerned for them" as an excuse to tell other people an interesting story and possibly gain more info.

If you're unsure as to what's gossip, think about whether or not they would be encouraged by your comment and if not, it's gossip!

It doesn't matter whether or not it's true. 

It doesn't matter whether or not you would tell them to their face.

It's still gossip!

If you're having a hard time with this (like I was a short time ago), it's probably because gossip is an extremely normal part of your conversation.

Although this may be perfectly normal conversation for most people, 

IT'S ABSOLUTELY NOT OK!!!

Like the O-rings to the challenger, gossip will cause relationships with family members, friends, and I daresay even with God, to explode!

The reality is that every time we choose to gossip about somebody, we sin against God! The scary part is that for many of us, this may be tens, if not hundreds of times per day!

I know it's not fun, but let me challenge you with something.

Watch your conversations closely over the next 24 hours.

Let every word that comes from your mouth honor both God and Men.

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer"

Psalm 19:14

Creator of Statues

Today I had the chance to visit an art museum in Springfield, MO, a couple minutes away from where I go to school.

I’ll be honest with you, art and I have never really gotten along all that well. Something about it always seems to creep me out. I feel as if some artists have a longing to express some of the most bizarre, disturbing, or intimate feelings on a canvas. Even as I typed a portion of this I was sitting in a room full of clown paintings. 

Can you get more creepy than that?!

One thing, however, that I really did appreciate was the sense of world culture that I saw in the paintings. Insights from people from all around the world from all different time periods seemed to ebb out from the art.

What caught my attention, in particular, was a group of small, stone statues roughly the size of my hand. One of the statues was sitting down, another was carrying a pot, and a third was standing unclothed. The statues were estimated to have been created between 200-900 AD.

The interesting thing (at least to me) about these statues is that these are probably all we have left of the specific people who made them.

Their entire legacy, everything they are remembered by, is based around a small, stone statue. I can pretty much guarantee that the creators of the statues didn’t plan on having them in a museum over a thousand years later, but there they are.

The creators were probably just going about their normal, everyday lives without any great expectations, but through their lives they created things that would last and be appreciated by future generations long after they were gone.

Stephen, a man mentioned in the book of Acts, comes to mind. Stephen was an ordinary man hired by the early Church in Acts to help serve food to widows. 

It was in this context of ordinary life that the extraordinary came about. As Stephen faithfully served, God used him to perform miracles among the people. The Jewish leaders didn’t like what he was doing  and he was convicted as worthy of death in an unfair trial. 

Stephen’s death was tragic and unjust, but it sparked the massive spread of Christianity across the world that still remains today! 

Stephen faithfully lived ordinary life. He probably didn’t expect to have his ordinary service change the global world radically over the next 2000 years! Just like the creators of the stone statues, Stephen's life has enormous and eternal impact.

It's so easy to always look at the big moments and events in life, always waiting for the next one to come. In reality, however, the biggest and most impacting things may really be the ordinary, faithful things we do every day.

I encourage you to take this day and make the most out of every moment you get! 

Statues that will last thousands of years are made in the every-day ordinariness of life.

Stop waiting for the next big missions trip, speaker, relationship, or job opportunity.

Start building your statue right where God has put you today!