Chasing Daylight

For most of my life I lived in West Tennessee.  I traveled here or there, but I mostly lived within a 60 mile stretch of land for 23 years.  Last Monday I traveled on a Greyhound bus to Lynchburg, Virginia.  The main reason for this visit is to see my girlfriend, Lynsey Koles, for the summer.  We have been dating for almost six months now, but, prior to this week, we have only seen each other for maybe a month of total days.  The goals of being here are to work, get acclimated to Lynchburg, and to spend as much time with her as possible before I move back to Jackson, TN in August. The culmination of our plans finds me permanently moving here after my final semester at Union University in the Fall.  I say all of this because it was the first time in a long time that I actually "did something."

When I arrived in Lynchburg, Lynsey pressed me for several days to start reading a book called Chasing Daylight.  She explained how powerful it would be for me to read at this point in my life.  Though I did not doubt her insight (she is right way too often...), I put it off for another day until 2 days ago.  As in most cases, she was right.  This book is radically changing my way of thinking about God's plan for me.

Upon reading through this book (I am about halfway through it right now), I realized how much apathy and complacency have ruled my life.  The author, Erwin Raphael McManus, used many of God's greatest heroes of the faith (Abraham, Moses, Jonathan, Jeremiah, Hezekiah, Joshua, Gideon, the Israelites, etc) to show how much God can do through those who simply obey His calling.  They took initiative and aggressively followed God in obedience.  Moses stepped out in faith and God performed miraculous things through him because of his faith.  Jonathan and Gideon were able to conquer great armies due to their faith in God's sovereignty.  Jeremiah cursed God at times but inevitably realized that this life wasn't what mattered.  These men had their faults and made their fair share of mistakes; however, they knew that God had given them a command that they followed it.  They took advantage of the "divine moments" presented before them.

McManus also mentioned one of Jesus' parables in Matthew 25:14-30.  In this parable Jesus explained how a master was leaving on a trip.  He gave 5 talents to one slave, 2 to another, and 1 to the last.  Upon returning from his trip, the slaves with 5 and 2 talents doubled their talents and the master rejoiced.  The last slave simply buried his lone talent due to his fear of failure.  I feel like this man.  I have sat on my talents given to me by the Lord too many times.  I fear that many of us struggle with this as well.

I'm writing this blog post in hopes of inspiring someone as I have been inspired.  I had several options before me for this summer.  I inevitably chose the path that led to Lynchburg because God opened a door (He provided a car that I didn't have at the time).  I did not have anything else nailed down at the time, but God doesn't always provide us with a blueprint.  We oftentimes have little to no information. The Lord simply tells us to go and it is our responsibility to obey.  As we obey more often, he will entrust us with other "talents" with which to use for His glory.

I first want to recommend that you read this book, Chasing Daylight.  It will inspire you to follow the Lord more passionately and will give you perspective on God's daily calling for us.  My second proposition is to not sit on your talents. Many times God has revealed to Christians things that need to be done.  Instead of taking up the burden and pursuing the need, people wait for someone else to do it.  Sometimes this is done out of laziness but other times it is done out of fear.  This fear of failure or disapproval paralyzes people.  It paralyzed me for a long time. You can be sure that if you are growing closer to the Lord then your passions will line up with His passions.  His spirit will be moving you to action.  There should be no fear in following your passions if you are close with the Lord.  Since you are close to God, they will not be your passions, but His.

This is why I started writing this blog.  I love writing.  I have written hundreds of pages over the course of my time at Union University and enjoyed most of it; however,  I don't know how much good I've done with this ability in the past.  I simply turned in assignments.  I know that I'm not the best writer, but I hope that the Lord can use this blog to further His kingdom as I reflect on Him.  I know that this is a small beginning, but as I see more opportunities the Lord has presented, I pray I take up the call and follow passionately.  I hope this was helpful and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.  I pray the Lord blesses you and that this blog finds you well.  Thank you for reading.

Edit: You also need to check out this video interview of John Piper and Rick Warren.  I thought it was amazing.  Great theological discussion between two very prominent evangelicals.  http://blog.pastors.com/piperinterview/