For those interested, I have moved all my blogging to www.brianjosephrussell.wordpress.com
Thank you,
BrianTuesday, January 12, 2010
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Finding God’s Will in the Front Yard
This weekend when I set out to mow my lawn, I was once again struck with a fresh wave of yard envy. This sinful coveting is something I’ve struggled with during the past four weeks since moving into our new house. I look to the left and to the right and see lawns which could pass for golf course greens if only they contained a cup and a flag. Then I look back to our front yard, which looks as if there might possibly be some grass randomly mixed in amongst the weeds, dirt spots and mushrooms. I must mow this mess, not due to the thickness, but rather to trim the occasional 10 inch tall crabgrass which apparently has found the perfect environment in which to thrive.
Truth be told, I have always been fond of mowing. There is something about the smell of the freshly cut grass and the clean, neat look of a newly mowed lawn that I find invigorating. It is one of those manual labor tasks which offers near instantaneous reward. In a mere 45 to 75 minutes you can transform the look of your house, tick a box off your to-do list and be back in the A/C watching your favorite sporting event. For a number of years my wife and I have lived and worked overseas in contexts which did not afford having our own lawn, including living in the Sahara. One of the little things I missed during those times was being able to go outside and cut my grass, getting close to nature and shutting out the rest of the world by the loud sound of the mower’s motor. When we made the recent decision to move back to the States, one of the things which I looked forward to was seeing my thumb turn a little green again. That is until I realized that our new yard might actually be more brown than green.
But this past Saturday as I got started trimming the front yard something else came to mind, a conversation I had just had with a lady named Lynn. I have started volunteering with Lifechurch.tv’s Online Campus each week, joining with hundreds from around the world who are participating in live chat and a simultaneous viewing of the weekly message from LifeChurch. During the experience, anyone can request to have a private chat and prayer session with one of the volunteers. I had the privilege of meeting Lynn and hearing her request for prayer. Simply stated, she wanted to know how she could be sure she was hearing God’s voice, following His path for her. I sensed a genuine hunger in her to please God and to see that her life is heading in the right direction. And my initial desire was to be able to provide her with a clear map, detailing step by step how she can make sure she is hearing from God and at the right place on her journey with Him. But I couldn’t.
My third trip around the yard brought this conversation back to the forefront of my brain, as I struggled to find my mowing path. You see, when a yard is thick and healthy, there is no question about where you have mowed and where you haven’t. The division between cut grass and uncut grass is sharp and obvious. But one of the frustrations with mowing a shabby yard, is that it is often hard to tell where you have mowed and where you haven’t. I don’t know if official statistics exist, but I would venture to guess that it takes up to 35% longer to mow a thin, splotchy, yard than a luscious, vibrant one because you end up going over the same areas more than once. And as I was squinting and trying my best to see that dividing line between mowed and un-mowed, it hit me how similar this is to seeing God’s path for us many times. The path of God is often fuzzy, and not real clear cut (pun intended). The ability to hear His voice and direction for us often resembles our attempts to find the un-mowed path in a weed infested, sparsely grassed yard.
Maybe you can relate to this. (Maybe you’re just thinking that I need to spend a little less time around freshly cut grass.) If this strikes a familiar tone, take heart, you’re not alone. Many have stumbled upon the path before you and likely a number of those around you now find themselves in a similar situation. A couple of quick thoughts come to mind, which give all of us pilgrims hope. First of all, if we keep moving forward, we will arrive at the destination. You may mow over the same strip of ground multiple times, it may take you longer (and more gas) than the person next door, but if you keep moving forward, you will cover the whole yard. If your heart is to hear God and to be obedient to Him, He will honor your efforts. You may look back and realize that you didn’t necessarily take the quickest and best path to get from point A to point B, but God is patient and gracious and He will help you to arrive. And we can always rest in remembering that God’s way of measuring success is very different than ours. While we may only look at ‘having a nicely manicured lawn’ as the point (i.e. arriving at ‘the’ destination), to God it is often the mowing itself (the journey) with which He's concerned.
Finally, from mowing to mowing finding the right path to stay on becomes easier as your lawn begins to thrive. It’s amazing what some water, fertilizer and weed killer can do for a patch of grass. Those who have played golf in Las Vegas, Phoenix or Marrakesh have likely marveled at this. I was just explaining to my two five year olds that the same is true with regards to hearing and understanding God’s voice. When they ask “but Dad, how can we hear God?” I long to be able to answer them with a simple, precise ritual which when applied will produce immediate results. But that’s not the way of faith with our relational God. Even the spiritual water, nutrients and weed killer differ from person to person. Yet, amazingly, when applied with hopeful trust, we find that miraculously new life does take root, and the bad is weeded out. And as a result of this healthy growth, following His path becomes clearer and more distinguishable.
So now I’m less upset about having a crappy looking lawn. I see hope for a dead, sick looking lot infested with weeds. There’s chance for life. And some day when others look and have trouble seeing a difference between my neighbors’ lawns and ours, I will remember the state it is in now and how far it has come and smile. I will enjoy seeing that clear path marking the mowed from the un-mowed and will follow it with confidence and little doubt.
Truth be told, I have always been fond of mowing. There is something about the smell of the freshly cut grass and the clean, neat look of a newly mowed lawn that I find invigorating. It is one of those manual labor tasks which offers near instantaneous reward. In a mere 45 to 75 minutes you can transform the look of your house, tick a box off your to-do list and be back in the A/C watching your favorite sporting event. For a number of years my wife and I have lived and worked overseas in contexts which did not afford having our own lawn, including living in the Sahara. One of the little things I missed during those times was being able to go outside and cut my grass, getting close to nature and shutting out the rest of the world by the loud sound of the mower’s motor. When we made the recent decision to move back to the States, one of the things which I looked forward to was seeing my thumb turn a little green again. That is until I realized that our new yard might actually be more brown than green.
But this past Saturday as I got started trimming the front yard something else came to mind, a conversation I had just had with a lady named Lynn. I have started volunteering with Lifechurch.tv’s Online Campus each week, joining with hundreds from around the world who are participating in live chat and a simultaneous viewing of the weekly message from LifeChurch. During the experience, anyone can request to have a private chat and prayer session with one of the volunteers. I had the privilege of meeting Lynn and hearing her request for prayer. Simply stated, she wanted to know how she could be sure she was hearing God’s voice, following His path for her. I sensed a genuine hunger in her to please God and to see that her life is heading in the right direction. And my initial desire was to be able to provide her with a clear map, detailing step by step how she can make sure she is hearing from God and at the right place on her journey with Him. But I couldn’t.
My third trip around the yard brought this conversation back to the forefront of my brain, as I struggled to find my mowing path. You see, when a yard is thick and healthy, there is no question about where you have mowed and where you haven’t. The division between cut grass and uncut grass is sharp and obvious. But one of the frustrations with mowing a shabby yard, is that it is often hard to tell where you have mowed and where you haven’t. I don’t know if official statistics exist, but I would venture to guess that it takes up to 35% longer to mow a thin, splotchy, yard than a luscious, vibrant one because you end up going over the same areas more than once. And as I was squinting and trying my best to see that dividing line between mowed and un-mowed, it hit me how similar this is to seeing God’s path for us many times. The path of God is often fuzzy, and not real clear cut (pun intended). The ability to hear His voice and direction for us often resembles our attempts to find the un-mowed path in a weed infested, sparsely grassed yard.
Maybe you can relate to this. (Maybe you’re just thinking that I need to spend a little less time around freshly cut grass.) If this strikes a familiar tone, take heart, you’re not alone. Many have stumbled upon the path before you and likely a number of those around you now find themselves in a similar situation. A couple of quick thoughts come to mind, which give all of us pilgrims hope. First of all, if we keep moving forward, we will arrive at the destination. You may mow over the same strip of ground multiple times, it may take you longer (and more gas) than the person next door, but if you keep moving forward, you will cover the whole yard. If your heart is to hear God and to be obedient to Him, He will honor your efforts. You may look back and realize that you didn’t necessarily take the quickest and best path to get from point A to point B, but God is patient and gracious and He will help you to arrive. And we can always rest in remembering that God’s way of measuring success is very different than ours. While we may only look at ‘having a nicely manicured lawn’ as the point (i.e. arriving at ‘the’ destination), to God it is often the mowing itself (the journey) with which He's concerned.
Finally, from mowing to mowing finding the right path to stay on becomes easier as your lawn begins to thrive. It’s amazing what some water, fertilizer and weed killer can do for a patch of grass. Those who have played golf in Las Vegas, Phoenix or Marrakesh have likely marveled at this. I was just explaining to my two five year olds that the same is true with regards to hearing and understanding God’s voice. When they ask “but Dad, how can we hear God?” I long to be able to answer them with a simple, precise ritual which when applied will produce immediate results. But that’s not the way of faith with our relational God. Even the spiritual water, nutrients and weed killer differ from person to person. Yet, amazingly, when applied with hopeful trust, we find that miraculously new life does take root, and the bad is weeded out. And as a result of this healthy growth, following His path becomes clearer and more distinguishable.
So now I’m less upset about having a crappy looking lawn. I see hope for a dead, sick looking lot infested with weeds. There’s chance for life. And some day when others look and have trouble seeing a difference between my neighbors’ lawns and ours, I will remember the state it is in now and how far it has come and smile. I will enjoy seeing that clear path marking the mowed from the un-mowed and will follow it with confidence and little doubt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)