Extravagance without waste

I thoroughly love the paradoxical dualities of the Lord; the whole Lion and Lamb thing, fully man and fully God, God of love and God of wrath, justice and mercy...the list is as long as His attributes.

As I go along in life I find things in my history that at the time seemed innocuous, wasteful even, but when more of the picture is revealed they make sense. Two events were recently clarified for me.

One: when I was in the midst of my struggles in college my good friend Chris was pastoring a little church in Princeton. He asked me to join him there and serve as a youth pastor/leader. I took this up, I had been happy at my church but was no longer involved in any ministry. I have a difficult time attending church without serving, as much trouble as I have being at my parents' or my in-laws' and not helping out with something. So I left Cornerstone and began attending Calvary Chapel Princeton. Most of the work I did was help with building upkeep, the youth group was two kids strong. I planned a few events and taught every Wednesday and Sunday, but again the majority of my time was spent as the go-to guy for all things needed in the church: mowing the lawn, painting, minor building repairs. I did it all out of love for the Lord and for Chris and thought nothing of it until one day while fixing a toilet Chris said, "So many people go to seminary but do not realize this is most of what ministry is - fixing old buildings." I laughed like I do whenIi have nothing to say and we continued serving the Lord.

Two: about two to three years later I was in the Shenandoah Valley attending Calvary Chapel Staunton pastored by my friend Christian. I lived with his family for a while and during that time if I was not studying he invited me to ride along when he did his pastoral visits to people in hospital. I remember vividly visiting a young man who had been in a car accident. His father attended the church though I had never seen him there. The boy was in critical care with tubes everywhere and Christian sat and talked to and prayed with the boy's dad and we left. We spoke little if anything of what we had seen. I think the boy recovered fully, but the experience of visiting someone in their anguish, sitting there for a while saying little, praying and leaving seemed a bit wasteful. But I also understood how things work in the Lord's economy and what it meant to the boy's father.

I am on the verge of leading a church albeit temporarily (I think - I hope I am not so deaf or stubborn that I do not hear the Lord's call). I recalled these events because this kind of mentorship I had with Chris and Christian is what my pastor/friend hopes to find at the seminary he will attend. I get that the Lord prepares us from birth for the life we will lead, but it is amazing when one is reminded of such things. He wet my toes for pastoral work when I thought I was just 'tagging along killing time.'

No event in our lives is innocuous or wasted, there is value in every mundane thing, even the ones we repeat over and over like going in to work on Monday morning. There is in every moment an opportunity to learn and to teach. Help me to remember this especially when I am doing things I dislike or thinking, "This is a waste of my life!" Of course there are events when we choose to be wasteful with the time we have, I discourage those, but even in them (like the rest of our folly-filled lives) the Lord is sovereign and by his extravagant providence he is preparing us for what comes next, be it the next hour, day, month, year or decade. He is not wasteful with the little time we have. Help me Lord to gladly serve you with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my mind however you want me to.

Sharpen me please

ECC10.10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.

Beautiful rain

Thank you for the rain
that cools the earth
and waters the plants
that feed the animals
and make the air sweet.