Cause to Pause

Just finished Chuck Swindoll’s book on Elijah. This is book number five in his series “Great Lives from God’s Word”. I’m kind of a Swindoll fan as his radio program was a key part of forming my faith and beliefs in the early years of my Christian walk. Combine that with Elijah being a “kick butt, call fire down from heaven, Ultimate Fighter” kind of prophet and I was really looking forward to this one.

This particular book chronicles Elijah’s life from a slightly different perspective though. We may know about his strength through the Mt. Carmel Incident, we may know about his weakness from the Gentle Breeze Episode. However, what Swindoll does so well in this book is to take those episodes and the whole of Elijah’s life and look not at the heroism of Elijah, nor at his “human weakness”, but at the genuine humility of Elijah. He presents him in such a way that we see how easy it would be to get puffed up and full of pride at the mighty way God was using him – and the way others reacted to his very presence, and contrasts that to the way Elijah really responded. All the while tying in life applications.
From Elijah’s early years hiding out by a brook, waiting for God to provide him food via “crow delivery” as a boot camp in trusting God, to the very end when he was taken up in a fiery whirlwind, the process was a constant building and shaping. Each subsequent victory building on the faithfulness of the past. Many of the things that God called Elijah to do had less to do with the task at hand (rebuking pagan worshipping leaders for example) and more to do with forming the relationship between Lord and prophet. Which at the end of the day, is still the way it is now. God doesn’t “need” us to get something done. He uses us – if we are willing and obedient – and in that process shapes us to be who He really intends.

The book ends with a great summary of Elijah’s life and how, even though it was centuries ago, his responses and subsequent actions can be imitated today. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time to come.

Next stop: Max Lucado’s Fearless.

I have been extremely blessed the last few weeks to have had a very small part in a very large project. My part wasn’t all that important or difficult, but it gave me the opportunity to push myself and be part of a team. One I would not otherwise get to be so involved with.
Here’s what I learned:

• While I like to be in bed by 10:00-10:30 (because I get up at 5:00), if sufficiently stimulated, I can still crank way into the night.
• Cranking way into the night has its liabilities now that I am older.
• Compensating for said liabilities means changing screen resolution.
• Caffeine is not the best stimulant, enjoying what you are doing is.

There are a lot of other bullet points I could make, but it really all boils down to finding something you like to do and hammer it. Apart from your regular job. Sure, many of us are fortunate to actually like what we do all day. Some are even manic enough to pop out of bed like a toaster pastry saying “Whoo Boy, I GET to go to work today!”. That doesn’t count. What I am talking about is outside of work. Because by pushing yourself in a productive way outside of work, makes some of those difficult tasks at work seem much more manageable.
Hobbies don’t cut it. Because at the end of the day, a hobby is something you do for yourself. Which means it probably doesn’t matter or bring value to anyone else.
I think maybe this is why Jesus was so big on service. Because not only is it taking care of the needs of others, it is hitting a part of your soul that really needs tending.

So, find something you like to do, that you really enjoy, that has you operating in that “sweet spot”, to where time becomes completely irrelevant. Something that brings lasting value to others, and run with it for all it is worth. Even if it is only for a little while. You just might learn something about yourself.

WordPress Tags: productivity,team