Wannabe Christian Doorman

A few weeks back I wrote about whether to take route 1 or route 2. Short version, I wanted to take route 1, but kept feeling that route 2 should be the way to go.

Well I’ve tried route 2, and so far it appears to be the better route. But it’s a whole lot more challenging, leaving me feeling as if I have bitten off more than I’m able to chew.

It’s all a bit exciting and nervous all at the same time. It is fun, of sorts, but the nagging thought of “Just what are you doing?” seems to never be too far away.

l will try to share a short version of something that has recently happened.

I was working on some maths for the project just before a meeting with a professional person. During the meeting I mentioned in passing that I was working on the maths.
They then asked, “Could you send the maths to me?”
I barely thought about it, and then just said “yes.” Then I did just that. This is were it went very wrong. The maths was wrong, it was complete nonsense. I now liken it to the scribblings of a 2 year old. I quickly sent a second corrected version (so I thought), that also turned out your be wrong.

In the end I had to send a message stating, “Please ignore the maths, it’s all wrong, I need some pondering time to work it out properly.” All the while wondering why I didn’t work it all out properly before sending anything off in the first place. Wondering if I could even actually work the maths out?
Hence adding to my feeling of “What am I doing?” and “Have I bitten off more than I can chew?” 🙂

I have now worked out the maths, and it’s a lot more simple than I was making it out to be. This is the difference between knowing and not knowing.

So why am I sharing this little tale here?

All along a small thought has been playing through my head along the lines of, “When you step out and follow the prompting of your Heavenly Father, then you can find that you can quickly leave your comfort zone.”

When I first sent the wrong maths off, that was the start of an uncomfortable time for me. I sent out not one but two wrong versions of the maths. I then had to admit that I hadn’t worked it out properly yet.
How foolish and stupid I felt. How insecure I felt. How quickly my peace left me as I frantically tried to work out something that was just outside of my grasp, wondering if I was ever going to take hold of, that which I needed.

The only peace I got through that time was when I stopped looking at the problem and instead looked to my Heavenly Father.
Yes, I did ask for His help. I even asked a few friends to pray into the situation, that an answer would come, which it did.
The words of a certain song took on a new meaning to me. “Oh my God I need you now.” Oh how much more we need our God as we step into the unknown.

Looking back now it all looks rather trivial, but it didn’t seem very trivial at the time. At the time I just felt as though I was completely out of my depth. That I was over reaching to something that was beyond me.

Another thought that keeps coming back to me is “When we step into something that Our Lord leads us to, then how can we end up feeling?”

A bit out of our depth?
That we have bitten off more than we can chew?
Like a fraud who is trying to reach for something that is just out of our reach?
Like we are well outside of our comfort zone?

The answer to all the above was, “yes” for me. (Before the answer was given.)

How do we cope when we are outside of our comfort zone?

Will we become frantic and a bit (or a lot) foolish?
Possibly?
Whose strength and understanding will we call on?
Just our own? Our family and friends?
How about calling on The Lord Our God’s strength for …… ? It is available! If we will just seek Him and His understanding.

If He calls us to do something, then He will equip us to do that which He calls us to do. It just might not be quite how or when we want it to be. It will be in His timing, if we keep in step with Him. What we think of as a foolish mistake can end up being His success, if we remain in Him and His ways, our Loving Heavenly Father.

So will we be willing to step out of our comfort zone, when He asks us to do so?
Will we be willing to look a little (or a lot) foolish for Our Lord God?
How much of ourselves are we willing to place into His hands and His ways?
Will we be willing to follow His prompting, to wherever He will lead us to go?

A seed in the ground needs several things for it to spring into life.

First it needs to be planted in good soil.

It then needs water and sunlight.

An idea given to you from God can be like a seed in the ground.

Has it fallen on good soil, or are there too many weeds around to strangle the idea so it never reaches it’s potential?

Is the soil of your life well watered enough to encourage this idea to grow into something or is the ground dry from a drought?

When you share this idea with others how will they treat it?

Will they water and tend it with you or will they just walk on by, or will they trample it under foot as they pass on by?

How will you treat some one else when they share an idea that they have, with you?

Will you be the one to walk on by or even trample someone else’s vision into the ground?

Or will you be the one to help to water someone else’s vision?

Not all things which grow are sometimes wanted.
If an enemy has thrown weeds in amongst us, then they need to be dealt with, but in a proper manner.
Instead of just pulling it up and throwing it away (possibly causing hurt), could we just choose not to water this one?
Hearing Fathers voice will always be the best option.

Father,
Help us to know what are seeds and what are weeds.
Help us to nurture the ideas that You lead us to.
Help us to hear You, so that we can be good soil for Your ideas.
Help us to hear You when You want us to be the water for someone else’s idea.
Please, be the One who leads and guides us in all that we do.
Amen.

Have you ever had those times when something has got you so excited, that you’ve just had to share …… , but when you do… , well, people just don’t seem to be as excited as you?

If you are anything like me, then you could end up feeling like, “Don’t you get this?” Or it could leave you thinking, “Why are you trying to burst my balloon?”
I’m starting to think that both of those responses could be words from the enemy, trying to pull us down and stop us in our tracks.

Most of the time, it could just be that the timing is wrong for the person that you are sharing with, who isn’t sharing your excitement.

A picture has come to mind about this.
It’s a picture of heavy artillery being fired at the enemy.

Depending on your position, your perspective could be very different.
For the one who is firing the artillery, there’s lots of excitement. There’s all the action of doing, and all the noise as the shells are sent on their way.

The ones on the receiving end will have a different experience.
Friends will be going, “OH YES, Bring it on. A little to the left or right and you’ll be right on target!”
Enemies could very much going, “OT All, time to be going.” (If they are able to.)

If you under the path of the artillery, then you might see or hear it as it goes on it’s way, but again in this position there could be many responses.
“Yeah, go get em!”,
“What was that!?”,
“Did something go by there??”,
“I must rember to pick up……. , oh, and then there’s ………”,
“Oh dear, who’s making all that noise again?”
Could be but a few possible responses.

Your position (and viewpoint) could be very different at any given moment.

Your viewpoint could be very different, if it’s friendly or enemy fire. Could it possibly even be friendly fire that’s mistaken as enemy fire, or vice versa? Remember, The Lord can turn all things for good.

I’m going you assume that it’s friendly fire that we are talking about here.
If you are under the line of fire, then how will you react to the artillery fire overhead?
Will you even be aware of it?
Will you be annoyed by it?
Will you cheer it on its way?
Or could you even be part of those who direct it onto its target? Intercessery prayer….. anybody???

We all have a role to play!
The question is, will you know, and do your bit?
Will you endeavour to not take offence at another’s actions, just because they are different to where you are at?
Can we all look that much more closely to what Our Heavenly Father wants us to do, and then follow His prompting? Can we try to not trip up our brothers and sisters, who are trying to do likewise?

Lord God Almighty,
You alone know what is the Best course of action to take at any given moment.
Help us all to hear, know and follow your ways, all the days of our lives.
For You are Our Loving Lord God Almighty!
Amen.

Have you ever started doing something just for the fun of it, but then at some point it just became that much more serious?
I’m talking about when you were doing something just for the love of it, but then it started to change into something that seemed to matter in a big way. Then all of a sudden, the fun factor just seems to up and leave the room.

The question that is playing on my mind at the moment is, “Why does this have to get so serious? Can’t I just do this for the fun of it?”

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I’m trying to have a serious word with myself about not loosing the fun in what I am doing.
Unfortunately it’s all too easy to do just this.
We start something and it’s just something that we play with, and it’s a bit of fun. But then at some point, we start to take it (or ourselves) too seriously, and then the fun just disappears as it becomes the hard slog of work.
Why do we do this?

Do we do this with our Lord God as well?

Is there something that Our Lord God wants for us to work on, that is meant to be fun for us, but somehow we just manage to miss the fun factor in it.

How do we do this?
Take it too seriously?
Hold it too tightly?
Maybe we just see the work to be done and omitt the fun that should also be present, for whatever reason we manage to grab hold of?

Matthew 11:28-30
²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In the above verse we can see that there is a work for us all to do. “Taking a yoke upon us”, is clearly saying “do the work that He has for us.” But it also states that His yoke is “easy” and His burden is “light”.

So why is it that we can become overburdened and worn out?

Do we pick up more than we should do?
Do we try to rely to much on our own strength rather than resting in and calling on His strength?
Do we pick up more than we should because others won’t do their bit?
Will we allow others to help out with what we are doing?
Will we share that which we are carrying?
Will we cope if someone else tries to do something differently to how we think it should be done?

The above are just some few questions which have just gone through my mind.
Do any of them apply to you?
Are there any other thoughts that Our Heavenly Father is bringing to your mind now, that He wants you to talk to Him about?

I’ve heard it said that the way we do church can be like a football stadium on match day.
23 people (including the ref) running about on the pitch in need of a rest, while 40 thousand spectators, who are in need of exercise, stand around and shout. 🙂

Can we do any better than this?
I do hope that the answer to this one is a yes.
But how can we make it a yes?

First thing is to be aware that there is a problem. (Houston, we have a problem.)
Then are we willing to change how we do ……..
I am talking about everybody being willing to change. Not just, “Oh, if only they would just do this!” 🙂
The real question is, “Am I willing to change what I do, so that I am no longer part of the problem?”

A really annoying phrase someone said to me once is, “If you’re not part of the solution then you’re part of the problem!”
I’ll try to not dwell too much on this one, (I’m thinking that it could be a rabbit hole to avoid at the moment). But a previous post of “Somebody else’s problem” does ask the question of “Should I pick this up or put this down?”

Another thought that keeps running through my mind as I write this is, “Can we see potential for development, in place of neat and tidy?“
Yes, it’s another previous post. A link is above for anyone who would like to read the full post.
Quick summary. We like neat and tidy, but in trying to keep things neat and tidy, do we then choke potential for development? We might not be able to have both, as potential for development could mean doing something differently, and possibly in a slightly awkward manner. In a messy way, …. possibly?

From starting a post that was asking, “Can we keep the fun in this?” Well, I seem to have got all serious again. 🙂

There are times when we do need to be a bit more serious, but hopefully we can can still keep an element of fun to what we are doing. Can we try to remember that His yoke is meant you be easy, and His burden light?

Matthew 11:28-30
²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”