Inconvenienced

I don’t feel like it...word that we utter when the undesired comes about. It has become a statement of words used to justify what we do or what we don’t do; especially when we feel like it or not. Imagine if some of the greatest doers of the our world would have fallen into the circle of those that I will call the “inconvenienced.’ Would we still be writing by candlelight? As I write this blog entry, I do so from the comfort of a back seat, as I am driving back from a retreat in Orlando. What if Edison would not have felt like it? Would he have been able to live with himself in an ‘inconvenienced’ state? What if the Marx brothers would have given up on flight? If after attempt 37 they would have given up because perhaps they felt that it was not worth it or because they just did not feel like it? Talk about inconvenienced. Tonight a young lady was sharing about inconveniencing and joining into the ministry of suffering – for us in the states, it’s more about the ministry of inconvenience. What if Abraham wasn’t into traveling? If he had not felt like going to the mysterious beyond when God invited him? What if Noah wasn’t into building boats? Maybe it was just too much of a hassle. What if Moses was not into parting the seas or even sheep herding for that matter? What would have occurred if these men of old had not felt like it because it was too much of an inconvenience to them? What if Barnabas had decided not to spend time with Saul because of the inconvenience? What if Peter had not been into sharing with the multitudes? What would have come of that? What if Paul was not into writing letters? What if Jesus was not into crosses?

Could it be that we have missed and are now missing what God has called us into existence for because we refuse to be a bit inconvenienced? God’s greatest blessing lies in the fact that He has blessed us greatly to accomplish His greater will. What is His will? It is doing that which we can do, with the blessings that we have been given, because for some reason or another, He chose to endow us with these blessings, these opportunities in order to accomplish something greater than us experiencing comfort in the menial. The blessing of His will lies in recognizing that we are capable of so much more. The cost of so much more for us...inconvenience.

Oh, that we would go and live on the edge of inconvenience. Oh, that we would experience being in a foreign place where we have no control; in this place where we would be forced to put a complete faith in Christ. After, is this not what He did Himself? He emptied Himself, taking the form of man in order to experience life as we know it. He left all that He knew, His glory, His paradise, His comfortable home, to be with a bunch of foreigners. He had a complete faith in His Father; that He knew what He was doing and when He was going to do it. What if Christ had not felt like it? What if it would have been too much of an inconvenience?

Ironically, there is a silent cry that most cannot hear calling out to each of us, daily. It is a plea to those who have been rescued to not leave those in need, behind. It is a simple matter of sharing the remedy of truth. We cannot control if they will respond to the cure or not. However, we can attempt to administer it. And yet, to our own demise, we choose not to, daily, because we do not feel like it. What a pity. What a shame.

Imagine what could be, what should be. Yet we settle for an alternative truth. The truth is that we don’t care enough about others because it inconveniences us, because we don’t feel like it. God forgive me, for not caring about that which you care most about...that which you value most – Your Kingdom, Your Glory, Your Creation.

From disaster to a free fall

Recovering from disaster. Words that we here from all over parts of the world, our own country, and city. Typically we read and here this phrase after some form of natural disaster, a lifechanging event, or after a rampant disease and it's affects on society. This phrase can easity describe some of our daily adventures. Unfortunately, it can describe what some of our most special relationships are like. If you have ever broken trust and tried to fix things afterwards, you understand the idea of recovering from disaster. When you have failed to kept your word and broken faith with others, we hope that they let us fix things -- recovering from disaster. Daily, we can crash and burn with ourselves and the how we fail to meet our own expectations in life. We wake up, take a deep breath, and begin reconstruction - recovering from disaster. Amazing, how we work. If we would only learn to be better. To be more consistent at the good and avoid doing that which leads to failure. Would we have to recover from disaster all that often? I'm not sure. I know that one of the things that all of us are consistent at doing...failing. Crashing and totally messing things up. We all one way or another recover. The question is, how well do we recover? Some us learn and grow. Some of us don't and shrink. These are the people always wondering why life hates them - why life is always picking on them. We grow through disaster. We learn through failure. We experience by risking. We grow by...im not sure what the word is, but the idea is a mom eagle throwing her kids out of the nest in order to learn how to fly. If they don't get pushed out, they won't learn to fly. They won't learn to fend for themselves. They will grow co-dependent and eventually die. When you get pushed out you learn by force. Often times, we fail at what we achieve because we are often pushed into doing it. However, we all recover. We hit the ground learning lessons the hard way, but we learn, we grow, we recover. The school of experimentation and risk: LIFE. Recovery is the process of growth. (I learned this watching Gray's Anatomy - Thursday nights ABC).

I've not figured it out yet. But i've crashed alot. Still crashing. Still alive. Still growing. Still living and loving.


"i'm free, free falling.
And all the vampires
walkin' through the valley move west down ventura
Boulevard.
And all the bad boys are standin' in the
shadows, and the good girls
Are home with broken hearts."

Tom Petty & the H-breakers

Something New

It's always pretty interesting when you get yourself into something new. It might work. It might fail. Either way, it's still something new. I think that's why people are scared to try new things. The reality is, that most people fail before they ever begin because they give in to the fear of failure. Without failure, there is no room for growth and improvement. New is different and even uncomfortable at times. New can even be threatening when it goes in a direction that we did not like or expect. That's the risk one runs when trying things that are new.

Today, something new happened. I am taking a risk. We'll see if it works. I'm going into an unexplored territory where some have had great success. However, there are many more that have given up miserably to failure because they did not have instant success with the new. The mystery of the "new." No one knows what it's going to be like. Yet, it is inevitable because the only constant is change. Change leads to new. New leads to fear, except for those who stand in the "new" and ride it through. These are they that we come to recognize and follow. These are those whom naturally aspire to places of influence -- those who managed to navigate through the "new."

Today I started something new. Now time will show me if my work and effort will be worth it. My adventure into the "new."