#spoileralert
If you are a
teen that is a part of the Kankakee First Church youth group please stop
reading right now because these thoughts are being formulated into a message
you will be hearing in just over a month.
For the rest
of you……….
As a new
year is fast approaching there is a phrase that has been rattling around in my
head for the past month or so.
“A Good
thing becomes a Bad thing when it gets in the way of a God thing.”
When people
look back on their year they usually divide it up into the good things that
happened and the bad things that happened.
And when they look ahead toward the next year the hope is that there
will be more good things and less bad things.
We would gladly trade in a bad thing in order to receive a good thing
but here’s a really tough question.
Would you trade in 2 or 3 good things for a ‘God thing’? Sacrificing something bad for something good
is an easy exchange but for some reason or another exchanging good things for
great things, or ‘God things’, isn’t as easy as it should be.
We live in
an age with no margins. Our time from
the moment we wake until the moment our head hits the pillow is filled. Our budgets have every dollar accounted for and
assigned before it even comes in. In the
event of an opportunity or an emergency we are immediately faced with the issue
of trying to fit it into our calendars and pocketbooks. We all have time and money that is wasted on
things we don’t even need or may even be harmful to us or those we love and by
all means we should work to be more effective stewards of our time and
resources in regard to those sorts of things.
But this post isn’t about those things.
This post is about the good things you need to give up.
This past
year has been the busiest year of my life which isn’t necessarily a bad
thing. I’ve had plenty of lazy years so
it’s definitely time for me to get my butt in gear but there are limits to my
time and energy. Right now I’m in the
midst of figuring out my new normal which means I need to find a healthy
balance for how my time, energy, and finances are spent. One of my big additions this past year has
been getting back into shape. The number
of ours spent at the fitness center was a helpful addition when it came to my
physical health but it also put a unhealthy crunch on my time and energy for other
things. This year I’ve also added some
new involvements such as working with a small group ministry. While this addition has been a tremendous
blessing it also has a time cost associated with it. And so, with each addition I’ve made this
year I’ve moved closer and closer to the sad realization that it’s time to make
some painful cuts.
This brings
me back to the phrase that has been rattling around in my head.
“A Good
thing becomes a Bad thing when it gets in the way of a God thing.”
As I look
ahead toward 2016 it is vital that I identify the ‘God things’ I currently have
or need to have in my life. If I am going
to ‘seek first His Kingdom’ then it only makes sense that I put those Kingdom
things on my calendar or in my budget first.
All of the other good things in my life are going to have to compete
with the time and space I have left because I don’t want those good things to
compete with or get in the way of the Kingdom things I desperately need. When I get to the end of 2016 I don’t want to
look back at a year where I was busy with a bunch of good things but didn’t
have time for the ‘God things’.
Unfortunately,
being overbooked with good things is something I see people doing All. The.
Time. I know people (I’m one of them)
who have difficulty saying ‘No’ to things.
“Can you help with this?” Sure. “Can
you go to this?” Absolutely. While on
the one hand I think that it’s great that people have such a willing heart to
help, on the other hand I’m concerned that in their busyness they may be
missing out on something they may need more.
Something bigger.
The irony is
that we reach a point where we do finally say “No” to things. Indirectly. When we are busy shuttling from one event to
another we miss all of the things in between.
We are too busy to notice a person who needs our attention but they did
not make a pre-scheduled appointment with our calendar so there is no place to
fit them in. There is a serious financial
need of a family member/friend/co-worker that comes to your attention but your
monthly budget has already been calculated.
Your church is starting up some new small groups in a month (which is
definitely a ‘God thing’ that you need #shamelessplug ) but sacrificing one evening
of your week a couple times a month is difficult because good things have a way
of giving you a yearly itinerary 3 years in advance and so it got on the
calendar first. Instead of saying, “No,
I won’t.” or “No, I don’t want to.” our indirect “No” is disguised by the lingo
of, “I would but I can’t.” or “I wish I could but I’ve already got something
that night.” People who are busy with good things don’t feel bad brushing off opportunities
because good things make for good excuses and most people won’t press the issue
if there’s a good excuse.
I don’t want
to be like most people so I’m going to press in a bit.
YOU’RE TOO
BUSY! YOU’RE MISSING OUT ON WHAT GOD HAS
IN STORE!
God’s not
going to force his way into your schedule. God invites. It’s what God does. God invites us to be a part of His Kingdom
and what His Kingdom is up to. I’m
reminded of the people Jesus encounters in Luke chapter 9 where he invites them
to follow. They respond with the
indirect “No.” They will follow but
there are some other things that come first.
I need to bury my father. I need
to say good bye to my family and get things in order. Good things.
The invitation that Jesus offered raised a major conflict for those seeking
to follow him. Would they be willing to
sacrifice a good thing in order to be a part of a ‘God thing’? I think that this is an excellent question for
you and I to tackle on the brink of a new year.
Are we going to put the ‘God things’ to the front of the list for
2016? There are ‘God things’ we can plan
for in advance and ‘God things’ we can’t.
For the sorts of things that you can’t put on the calendar in advance,
do you have the space and freedom to respond without hesitation to an awesome
and unpredictable opportunity to be like Jesus to someone? Don’t settle for good things in 2016 because
the invitation of Jesus is for you to be a part of some ‘God things’.
Blessings
and a Happy New Year!