HOLES HAPPEN

For the past three months I’ve dedicated myself to riding my bike about four times a week. I’ve enjoyed it more than I thought I would and the exercise has enabled me to get down to my lowest weight in probably ten years. No complaints there! Whether I’m out on a quick six-mile ride or a 26-mile cruise through the countryside, bike riding offers a lot of time to think. Early on in my riding adventures my thoughts were mostly focused on how badly my body hurt and whether I’d be able to get back home.  In case you’re wondering, I did always make it back home. In fact, thankfully I don’t remember any close calls.

Recently I developed a problem where my front tire was losing air over a period of several days. (Don’t you hate it when that happens?) The slow leak never left me stranded, so that’s good. Finally I decided I would install a new tube. Almost immediately the slow leak returned. Grrr! What are the odds of that? So I decided I needed to repair the two tubes. I checked the tubes for leaks and sure enough there was a small hole in each one. Upon closer inspection I discovered that the holes were in the same general location on each. My mother didn’t raise a dummy. Through my exceptional deductive reasoning ability (did I tell you I’m humble too!), I did a careful inspection of the tire. Sure enough I found a staple had penetrated the tire and was protruding over ¼ inch inside. This was the cause of the small holes. Once I identified the leak and the cause, it was a quick repair on each of the tubes. I checked the tire twelve hours later and the repair was 100% successful this time.

I don’t know how you are but I like to learn lessons from life. Several things came to mind from this recent experience:

1.    We will often put up with something as long as it doesn’t inconvenience us too much. As long as my bike tire stayed inflated so I could get my ride in, it was easier to ignore it than it was to fix it. The problem is that an underinflated tire does impact a bike’s ability to roll down the road. It has the effect of trying to ride through sand. The less air the deeper the sand. Whatever it is that you’re tolerating and, to this point, trying to ignore in your life, is having an effect on your ability to do life. It may be the very thing that’s holding you back from breaking through to a better life.

2.    We are sometimes so focused on fixing the EFFECT we fail to address the CAUSE. I’m pretty new at bike riding being a primary exercise routine so I’m learning a lot about how to ride and how to maintain my bike. It never occurred to me to check the tire. I immediately decided to install a new tube. Cause and effect is a universal law. Now I know that when I have a leak I need to check both the tube and the tire. Fixing an “effect” is similar to treating symptoms. The shelves at the pharmacy are stocked with medicines that treat symptoms. They’re designed to help diminish the symptoms and make you feel better, but they don’t provide a cure (or address the cause). True healing, and therefore, wholeness in our lives comes from identifying and eliminating a “cause.”

3.    It’s not the big things that threaten to delay or derail our life it’s often the small, less obvious things. I was surprised about how small [thin] the staple was that had imbedded itself in my tire for the past couple of weeks. The big things are often so obvious we know better the consequences of continuing with a particular activity or attitude. We know our disobedience is costing us something, and we basically don’t care. This is not a good scenario but equally concerning are the small, less obvious things that have imbedded themselves in our lives, and we’re mostly oblivious to the damaged being caused each day they remain undetected. 

Yesterday I was able to go for a nice 8-mile night ride. My bike, with my tire free of the staple and properly inflated, rolled down the road. It was one of my best rides yet. It may be time for you to do a thorough examination of your life to see if there are any “staples” (the small, less obvious things) that are slowing you down and keep you from experiencing the better life God has for you. A better life is possible!

THE TWO ENEMIES OF GOD-GIVEN GOALS

In my two previous posts (October 9--What Will Make You Happy? & October 15—Is Your Goal From God or You?) I’ve been exploring the theme of GOALS. In this post I want to consider the importance of having God-given goals. If our goals are based on what we want, we’re aiming far to low in life. God has bigger dreams for us than we could ever conceive of for ourselves. There’s this strong influence in each of our lives called PRIDE that causes us to think that we know what’s best. We think we know what will lead us to happiness. It’s the reason why we ignore or disregard God’s commands and His direction, to do our own thing. Years ago I heard “ego” defined as “edging God out.” Sometimes when we’re defining sin we point to specific actions and activities, but at the end of the day sin is us thinking we know better than God.

The worst form of deception is possibly the different ways we deceive ourselves. The Prophet Jeremiah offered this comment regarding self-deception: "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT) Given our ability to deceive it makes me wonder why anyone would ever trust their heart. The reason? Pride. One time, while I was dealing with a group of desperately clueless people, the question occurred to me: Does someone who is clueless have a clue they don’t have a clue? The answer is: “No!” Pride and the ability to deceive oneself causes people to live in spiritual blindness. It’s like a fog shrouds their capacity to understand what’s true and to discern the right steps to take. Pride will always lead us down a wrong path and cause us to set our sights on wrong goals.

PROBLEMS, on the other hand, will make us want to give up on our goals or to not even seek God-given goals. When the Old Testament character, Job, was going through his severe ordeal he said, “…I do not have the strength to endure. I do not have a goal that encourages me to carry on.” (Job 6:11 NLT) All of us have been in that place where we’ve sunk so low we have to look up to see the bottom. It’s hard to keep moving forward, so being motivated towards a goal seems impossible. This seems to be exactly where Job was in his thinking. And yet Job knew that having a God-given goal was the very encouragement he needed to be motivated to “carry on.” Don’t let problems determine the direction of your life.

Some people struggle with sin far more than they need to because they have failed to identify and pursue God-given goals.

Some people get stuck in a miserable place in their lives, dominated by depressing, defeating thoughts because they can’t see beyond their circumstances.

Don’t allow PRIDE to make you think you know better than God, and to settle for goals far below the potential and gifting God has placed within you.

Don’t allow PROBLEMS to so overwhelm you, you’re unable to believe and hope that the best is yet to come.

Be like the apostle Paul: “So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches.”  1 Corinthians 9:26 NLT

IS YOUR GOAL FROM GOD OR YOU?

In my previous post (October 9--What Will Make You Happy?) I started exploring the theme of GOALS. Highly motivated people often possess very specific goals. Not everyone sets long-term goals but if someone is seriously motivated they move through their day and week with a clear sense of direction and definition [focus]. I appreciate hearing the stories of people who have achieved a major goal, or at least made significant progress towards a milestone in their life. It’s inspiring to think that if they can, maybe I can. I think that’s part of the reason the reality TV shows that focus on weight loss are so popular.

In thinking about GOALS recently, I’ve found myself reflecting on two groups of people: One, those who pursue goals without God; and, two, those who pursue goals with God.

I think it’s important to honestly consider where our goals originate. Do our goals reflect what we want in our lives or what God wants? This is a very basic question, but I believe it’s one we need to frequently think about. Our “wants” and the selfishness that so frequently rears its ugly head in our lives, has to be honestly confronted or we’ll cruise through life making ourselves and our “wants” the center of the universe. 

We can determine whether our goals originated in God’s plan and purposes for our life by looking at several things:

The first question: Does my goal keep me moving closer to Jesus by helping me to daily follow Him and represent Him in the world? On the surface this may seem like a hyper-spiritual or fanatical way to approach life. Someone may argue, “Not everything in life is spiritual. We shouldn’t have to make everything about God.” I think this is a popular argument, though not always verbalized among Christ followers. It’s more of a passive response, or something people think, but don’t necessarily say. Personally, I’ve never seen someone who has left God out of as area of their life who is truly close to the Lord. The important word in that last sentence is “Lord.” When Jesus Christ is “supreme”, which is the definition of “Lord”, He rules over every part of us.

The second question: What is my true motivation for setting my sights on a particular goal? We can be motivated my many different things: Comfort is a huge motivator. Most of us want life to be easier. Money is big. If people think they lack money, they’re often influenced by the lie that if they had more, life would be better. I’ve met many people, you have too, who have plenty of money and they’re miserable. Recognition is a major motivator. Many people are motivated by a desire to be appreciated. Pleasure, from the angle of seeking sensual experiences to the pursuit of happiness, is a dominating motivation in our world today. What’s your true motivation?

In closing out today’s post, I want to offer a short checklist to help in determining whether you’re pursuing goals without God:

• I can share my goal with a friend who is a strong [mature] follower of Christ. (Warning: You can always find someone who calls themselves a Christian, who will encourage you in your goal, no matter how wrong it may be. We need to be able to share our goal with the strongest Christian we know.)
•  I can talk about my goal with others without having to offer an explanation (If not it’s a type of rationalization: “I know it’s not the best thing, but it’s just where I’m at right now.”)
• I have a clear sense of peace from God regarding my goal.
• I am confident my goal is helping me become a better follower of Jesus Christ.

I’m sure there are other things that could be added to this list, but if you can check off all four of the above “I” statements it’s a good sign you’re trusting God to direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6) and give you the goals that will lead to His best.

To be continued…

WHAT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY?

A lot has been written about motivation in life. At the local bookstore you can find books about this theme in multiple sections: business, psychology, self-help, financial, and others. In a culture consumed with winning no one wants to be a loser. In a culture that elevates the rich and famous to excessive levels, there seems to be no slowing in the infatuation with celebrity.

Not everyone possesses a drive to succeed, but most people at least have a modicum of desire to achieve some level of accomplishment in a part of their life.  This drive or desire may be fueled by different motivations: the approval of others; the desire to be rich; the need to be recognized; insecurity; or even the fear of failure.

Once a person has identified what they want to achieve they’re able to create a GOAL. Having a goal can be a tremendously motivating influence in our lives. For the most focused and driven individuals having a goal can become an all-consuming force in their lives. They are willing to do just about anything and to sacrifice whatever they must if it will move them closer to their goal.

If I had a dollar for every person who achieved their goal and then discovered it didn’t fulfill them in the deepest part of their soul, like they imagined it would, I’d be a wealthy man. When your goal is something that’s come from you, how do you know it will truly satisfy your soul? What makes you think you know what will make you happy?

This is the reason why it’s not difficult to find examples of people who spend their life moving from goal to another, their lives a never ending pursuit of their elusive dream. This may manifest in someone bouncing from one relationship to another or frequently changing jobs or, at the very least, experiencing toxic levels of disappointment and dissatisfaction. If this even remotely describes you or someone close to you, stay tuned to my next few blog posts as I explore the theme of pursuing goals.

A couple of questions came to me the other day:

What if life is about the journey and not the destination?

What if life is more about the fight than it is the victory?

Hopefully I’ll answer these questions in my future posts. Until then here’s a double-shot of the eternal Word:

“And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?”  Mark 8:36 (New Living Translation)

“To act without knowing how you function is not good; and if you rush ahead, you will miss your goal.” Proverbs 19:2 (Complete Jewish Bible)