Saturday night was a very insightful night for me. We went out to Cana for movie night to watch the movie "Facing the Giants." First of all let me say that the movie was excellent, I thought that it truly helped me to see what has been unclear to me. I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought God was trying to tell me something about Giants, but I wasn’t really sure what it was.
Well, Saturday, after watching the movie, it really became much more clear what I was feeling and what I needed to do about it. I have told you that I have been feeling a sense of being overwhelmed here latly, and that I have looked ahead and not had any idea how I was going to get the work done that needed to be done. I have also shared my fear/concern, that I have absolutely no control over what is going to happen to me in the future. I don't know what is going to happen financially regarding school over the next few months, I have absoulutly no control over my future with regards to the Board of Ordained Ministry, and I have no sense of what I will be doing a year from now in ministry and that complete lack of control has left me feeling very helpless at times. In reality, I have been coming face to face with giants!
The movie "Facing the Giants" helped me to put several of these feelings into perspective. There was a scene in which a story was told about two farmers, each needing rain, and each one praying for God to help them. One farmer simply sat back and waited for God to bring the rains, while the other farmer went out, plowed the field, prepared the ground and planted his crop anticipating the rain. The question was asked, which farmer do you believe God would bless? Then it dawned on me, that is what I have been doing. I have been plowing the fields, preparing the ground and planting the seeds. Each of the countless list of papers that I have to write and books that I must read are a part of that process of preparation, stepping out in faith and putting my trust in God.
Another important lesson from the movie was the idea that all I can do is the best that I can do, work as hard as I can, and when I am though, be sure that I have left everything on the field. Just as I preached this morning, consider the servant who buried the single talent entrusted to him. When he is asked by the master to give an accounting of what he has done with his talent what does he say?
Master, I knew that you were a hard man and that you harvest where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered seed, so I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.
The servant was afraid and so he took no risks, he buried what he had to keep it safe and ended up doing nothing. The judgment of the master falls upon the servant after he hears what the servant has done:
"You wicked, lazy servant. You knew that I harvest where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have had received it back with interest."
There is no sin in failure, there is only sin in not attempting to succeed.
The parable of the talents is not a lesson about our degree of ability or productivity. It is a lesson about our attitude and responsibility. It is about stepping out with God's treasure in our hands and risking it all for the sake of others and risking it for the sake of God.
The servant was afraid, and so he did not try...
So, as I have put all of this together, I am beginning to understand that I am, to the best of my ability, being faithful to God’s will for me. I am taking the risk that was asked of me by giving up the comfort of my life as a chiropractor, stepping out in faith and following the call that God has placed on my life. And, the sometimes overwhelming work that lies ahead is nothing more than preparing the ground for the rains to come. In addition, I must never forget that when I am facing the giants, I will never be alone. God will always be at my side.
For now, it is enough for me to know that I am being faithful, and that the future is firmly in God’s hands, and as in the movie, whether or not we win or loose we will still praise God. I think that this is all that God asks of any of us.
Blessings
Well, Saturday, after watching the movie, it really became much more clear what I was feeling and what I needed to do about it. I have told you that I have been feeling a sense of being overwhelmed here latly, and that I have looked ahead and not had any idea how I was going to get the work done that needed to be done. I have also shared my fear/concern, that I have absolutely no control over what is going to happen to me in the future. I don't know what is going to happen financially regarding school over the next few months, I have absoulutly no control over my future with regards to the Board of Ordained Ministry, and I have no sense of what I will be doing a year from now in ministry and that complete lack of control has left me feeling very helpless at times. In reality, I have been coming face to face with giants!
The movie "Facing the Giants" helped me to put several of these feelings into perspective. There was a scene in which a story was told about two farmers, each needing rain, and each one praying for God to help them. One farmer simply sat back and waited for God to bring the rains, while the other farmer went out, plowed the field, prepared the ground and planted his crop anticipating the rain. The question was asked, which farmer do you believe God would bless? Then it dawned on me, that is what I have been doing. I have been plowing the fields, preparing the ground and planting the seeds. Each of the countless list of papers that I have to write and books that I must read are a part of that process of preparation, stepping out in faith and putting my trust in God.
Another important lesson from the movie was the idea that all I can do is the best that I can do, work as hard as I can, and when I am though, be sure that I have left everything on the field. Just as I preached this morning, consider the servant who buried the single talent entrusted to him. When he is asked by the master to give an accounting of what he has done with his talent what does he say?
Master, I knew that you were a hard man and that you harvest where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered seed, so I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.
The servant was afraid and so he took no risks, he buried what he had to keep it safe and ended up doing nothing. The judgment of the master falls upon the servant after he hears what the servant has done:
"You wicked, lazy servant. You knew that I harvest where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have had received it back with interest."
There is no sin in failure, there is only sin in not attempting to succeed.
The parable of the talents is not a lesson about our degree of ability or productivity. It is a lesson about our attitude and responsibility. It is about stepping out with God's treasure in our hands and risking it all for the sake of others and risking it for the sake of God.
The servant was afraid, and so he did not try...
So, as I have put all of this together, I am beginning to understand that I am, to the best of my ability, being faithful to God’s will for me. I am taking the risk that was asked of me by giving up the comfort of my life as a chiropractor, stepping out in faith and following the call that God has placed on my life. And, the sometimes overwhelming work that lies ahead is nothing more than preparing the ground for the rains to come. In addition, I must never forget that when I am facing the giants, I will never be alone. God will always be at my side.
For now, it is enough for me to know that I am being faithful, and that the future is firmly in God’s hands, and as in the movie, whether or not we win or loose we will still praise God. I think that this is all that God asks of any of us.
Blessings
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