Bring it On!

This is a post I wrote for http://contagiousjoy4him.com/

Abraham Lincoln said: “He never asked us to do something great.” (After being asked, “What did you think of the sermon, Mr. President?”)

Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” [Phil. 1:21]

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” [Mark 10:43]

What is it that you want said of you? That you lived until you died, or that you were dying to really live?

I’m painfully aware that many of us in ministry experience days that we feel like we are living in survival mode. Some days we get out of bed in the morning only looking forward to the hour we can crawl right back in. Facing the challenges of the day seems like a daunting task… and we hit the snooze button.

Sleep problems are no laughing matter, and based on the last few months, it seems that God is finally turning me into a morning person. Not the kind of morning person that wakes up refreshed and ready to “bring it”, but the kind that just wakes up early with no alarm clock– regardless of how short the night was–and then I slowly and quietly begin my day. I’m finding myself adjusting again to a new season of life. What this means for me is, I have a choice to handle it with grace, or I can choose to go down the “woe is me” path. More specifically it means I’d better get to bed earlier, or this former night owl will be sleep-walking through the day!

This struggle for sleep can cause my focus to be on the problem, and if I’m not careful, all other areas of my life will be out of focus. Put on your spiritual lens for a moment and take a look at what this truth does for us if we let it soak in: Just as I can allow my focus to be on a lack of sleep, causing my view to be distorted, I am reminded that if my focus in life is on anything but God, His will becomes hazy and His hand harder to see. When we keep our focus on Him, however, the problems of this life will grow strangely dim… Can’t you just hear this great old hymn?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to sleep-walk through life. God wants so much more from us and for us!

What ever season of life you are in, God specially designed you to be a light in this dark world:

Ephesians 5:8-13 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth—discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. Everything exposed by the light is made clear, for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore it is said:

Don’t you see? He is the Light of Men… and we are to reflect that light in every activity we are involved in. “Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4

The success of our life is not determined by how much we do for God, but in how much we love God and let His light shine through us.

Every day we make the choice. God gives us a new day with endless possibilities. Is this day His–or not? Will you exist or will you thrive? Will you sleep-walk through the day just waiting for the day to end or will you, “BRING IT ON!”

“… let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16