I'm currently re-reading the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge - a great book that seeks to restore the word "man" to the phrase "Man of Faith". I had forgotten about an experience I once shared with Eldredge -they used to call it the actors nightmare. Imagine standing on a stage in front of a packed house. The sets are beautiful, the costumes perfect. As the music swells to a crescendo marking the beginning of the first scene, you suddenly realize that you have no idea what play this is. you don't know what character you are playing or any of the lines you are supposed to deliver. The overwhelming anxiety of being woefully unprepared hits your mind and body like a freight train. Your thoughts race, you start to sweat as your chest tightens and it becomes hard to breathe. When you snap awake the panic remains until you change your pajamas and settle down! You can translate your own nightmare of being unprepared. Each is the same - even when it comes to our spirit. The unprepared spirit is a spirit of complacency, the lie we tell ourselves that we've got the golden ticket into heaven, so why worry about our walk here and now. The unprepared spirit manifests itself in so many ways, from ignoring our own sins to pointing out the sins of others. It shows itself in trusting in what we know over what God continues to reveal in His Word. Sooner or later, the unprepared spirit takes control - making us angry, bitter, impatient and quarrelsome. Friends in Christ, the unprepared spirit has been replaced for you, put to death actually, by the Spirit of Christ Jesus. In His cross Jesus won freedom from anger and bitterness. He has given us the gift of waiting on the Lord, not with impatience of little children -but with the patience of Job. Your spirit is prepared by THE Spirit, to be re-committed to a life of faith in God above all things - trust that He has prepared you for an eternity with God. Are you ready? In Christ Jesus...you bet!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Ready?
I'm currently re-reading the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge - a great book that seeks to restore the word "man" to the phrase "Man of Faith". I had forgotten about an experience I once shared with Eldredge -they used to call it the actors nightmare. Imagine standing on a stage in front of a packed house. The sets are beautiful, the costumes perfect. As the music swells to a crescendo marking the beginning of the first scene, you suddenly realize that you have no idea what play this is. you don't know what character you are playing or any of the lines you are supposed to deliver. The overwhelming anxiety of being woefully unprepared hits your mind and body like a freight train. Your thoughts race, you start to sweat as your chest tightens and it becomes hard to breathe. When you snap awake the panic remains until you change your pajamas and settle down! You can translate your own nightmare of being unprepared. Each is the same - even when it comes to our spirit. The unprepared spirit is a spirit of complacency, the lie we tell ourselves that we've got the golden ticket into heaven, so why worry about our walk here and now. The unprepared spirit manifests itself in so many ways, from ignoring our own sins to pointing out the sins of others. It shows itself in trusting in what we know over what God continues to reveal in His Word. Sooner or later, the unprepared spirit takes control - making us angry, bitter, impatient and quarrelsome. Friends in Christ, the unprepared spirit has been replaced for you, put to death actually, by the Spirit of Christ Jesus. In His cross Jesus won freedom from anger and bitterness. He has given us the gift of waiting on the Lord, not with impatience of little children -but with the patience of Job. Your spirit is prepared by THE Spirit, to be re-committed to a life of faith in God above all things - trust that He has prepared you for an eternity with God. Are you ready? In Christ Jesus...you bet!
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This reminded me of my worst nightmares- the ones where I would show up to take a final and realize I had forgotten to go to class the entire semester. Thanks for relating that feeling of lack of preparation to our walk with God and how we live that out while we are here on Earth... we really need to be mindful of what we are doing while we are here. :)
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