Rugged * Refined

Do You Expect Too Much From God?

Disclaimer: I believe God wants to and does help people out of their predicaments and problems in profound and gracious ways.

Admittedly, the title of this post is a bit contrary to a previous post of mine and a general conviction I have about 1) God being able to provide victory in all things and 2) God giving us way more than we deserve.

However, I do believe that there are two juxtaposed approaches that people take when asking things from God, both of which are extremes of the balanced approach we should have when making our requests known to God. 

The first, and not the topic of this post, is when people don’t think they deserve help from God, or they don’t think that God actually wants to help them. That is erroneous.

The second, and the issue I raise in this post, is that many people want God to ‘fix’ problems that they are totally capable of fixing themselves. 

Let me provide three very brief (and non-comprehensive) examples just to get the mind going…

1) A sex addict pleads to God to free him from his bondage but he refuses to cut the cable Internet, streaming pornography into his home. He is fully capable of eliminating a big piece of the problem. If he does his part, God can then move to redeem and restore his soul.

2) A smoker wants to have God take away his desire to smoke, but then hangs out with all his friends who smoke and can’t seem to figure out why God won’t take away his urges to have a cigarette.

3) A lethargic person complains of chronic back and joint pain, wondering why God hasn’t healed him of his mysterious health problems. That same person refuses to diet and exercise, known cures of many health issues. 

The point here is not that God is not willing and able to help us. Indeed, God often transcends our own weaknesses and helps us despite our refusal to help ourselves. 

But there are many things that we ask God to help us with that we are fully capable of doing ourselves. In fact, God often desires that we do them ourselves.

Furthermore, there are many things that God needs our help with and we wonder why He isn’t doing more. We wonder why God doesn’t solve world hunger or rescue children from slavery. I imagine that God is probably thinking the same of us asking, “Why don’t they do the things I need them to do like feed the hungry and rescue the slaves?”

God has all the power, ability, and willingness to rescue us, but we have a part to play and we mustn’t forget our responsibility for ourselves. 

Do you agree with this idea?

If so, why do you think people presume to ask the wrong things of God?

If not, can you offer a better suggestion to those wondering why God isn’t helping them when an obvious solution exists? 

Summer Vacation

What is your favorite place to go or memory you have of a summer vacation?

I am taking suggestions. 

American’s Fat Appetites

I was watching the previews before seeing Iron Man 2 (NOT the must see movie of the summer) with a stomach full from sushi enjoyed across the street from the theater (I was trying to limit my walking distance from chair to seat) and a large blue Icee in my hand. I was going to get a “small” because I was full, but I just had to get the “value” of the large. 

Then a question popped into my mind.

Is there a correlation between my grotesque appetite for food and ‘our’ grotesque appetite for entertainment?

I mean, really? Why are we so insatiable?

Instead of one roll, I had two. Instead of a “small” I chose a large (and I wasn’t the only one, believe me.) and instead of watching an original story I had to watch a sub-par sequel. But it really wasn’t all my fault. My other options were a rehash of a 1970’s (or was it 80’s?) crappy tv show, a story about an English noble fighting in some forest which has been told a thousand times, and the fourth installment of a cartoon about an ogre!

Where is the originality? Where is the tastefulness?

I can’t say that I have any real answers, only speculations. But the observation has been made…

We just can’t get enough. 

In our greed to whet our appetites we shamelessly trade distinguishing tastes for gluttonous feasts. More food, more movies, more music, more websites, more magazines, more Twilight Saga, and on and on. 

Maybe it’s high time we scale back a bit, slow down a touch, and show just a smidgen of restraint. 

But how? I found myself in a completely innocent smorgasbord of decadence and didn’t even know how I got there.

Do you have any idea why we we always want more, even at the expense of better?

What I’ve Learned from my Dogs

I had so much fun thinking about what I’ve learned from my kids that I have decided to take a look at all the things around me and ponder what I have learned. 

Due to the fact that my wife and kids are visiting family out of state. I have had the great pleasure (note the sarcasm) of being home alone with our dogs. We have a neurotic Boston Terrier and a gluttonous French Bulldog. They are my wife’s dogs really. To be honest, I am not much of a dog lover.

So here is what I have learned from my (wife’s) dogs:

• It is exhausting to sleep twelve hours a night, so one must quickly relieve oneself in the morning then crash on the patio and sleep another six hours
• Earwax is so good that licking it out of your companions ear is worth it
• Butts emit a curious odor that should be investigated
• If you weren’t present when the food hit the floor, the five second rule doesn’t apply and anything you find is fair game
• Baths are no fun for anyone
• Personal space; what personal space?
• The doorbell is the enemy and must be aggressively threatened, especially when someone in the house is ‘distracted’ with a phone call
• Losing hair is just a part of life
• Walks present a good opportunity to run away
• There is nothing wrong with peeing in the yard (or the bushes)

What are you learning from your pets?

Upside Down World

As a child I would image what it would be like if the world got flipped upside down. I would picture walking around on the ceiling of my house, fighing the slants of the arched ceiling and stepping over the upper (or in this reality, lower) door jam just to get through the doorway. How difficult it would be to reach the bottom cupcoards, now distantly nestled up near the “floor”. 

I wondered if I could rest in the underside of the tree branches suspended by the trunk. Much like an upside down umbrella.

In the imagination of a child, it would be awesome if everything was upside down…

When I grew up, I realized that many things in life are ‘upside down’. 

Sometimes you just need to turn things on their head for them to really make sense. 

Or maybe ‘opposite’ is a better word… Take a look at the following examples to see that, often, doing the opposite might just be the best thing.

Consider, when:

• Angry, it might be best to refrain from outrage
• Wronged, it’s less painful to return good for evil
• Someone is missed, it’s better to be happy about the times you have had (and hopefully will have again) than to dwell in their absence
• Drowning, it’s healthier not to gasp for air
• Waiting, it’s better to remain patient
• Leading people, it’s helpful to follow Someone
• Teaching, it’s beneficial to learn
• Writing, you will be better if you read
• Fighting, you might win by giving up
• Loving, it’s better to give than receive

Many of life’s responses produce greater results when the counterintuitive option is chosen.

Can you think of examples in your own life when doing the opposite of your natural instinct is better?

Question

What is it that motivates you?

Are Christians Weird?

I was watching 19 kids and Counting, noticing the long denim dresses, the consistently collared shirts, the plain hair and the common language.

I remember thinking, “Man, these Duggers are WEIRD.”

But you know what, I can’t help but like ‘em. The boys are respectful but tough. The girls are sweet and responsible. The mom is hard working but ever patient. The dad is super-humanly devoted to his family and work in equal measure as if time is no constraint; quite admirable, even if he does have a hair helmet . 

All of them give a great testimony to God working in their life and in a world in desperately short supply they are unbelievable examples of hard work, humility, love, and respect.

Then it dawned on me, they are really weird and I like it! 

The truth is, we are supposed to be weird

God has called us to be a little bit strange. Why not let the truths of the Gospel and the fruit of the Spirit make their appeal to the world instead of worrying about every little thing people think of us, our fashion, or our image? 

If push came to shove who would the average American rather have as their neighbor, the Osbornes or the Duggars? No one in their right mind would want the Osbornes and their shenanigans in their neighborhood. 

No matter how cool you try to be, Christianity will always be weird…But that’s alright by me.

In what ways are you, your church or your denomination weird? Is that a good thing or a not so good thing?