If you had no earthly comfort to run to,
what would your life look like?
Would it be run to shambles or full of life?
In Haiti:
You can’t run from the heat.
There are few comfortable places to sit.
The food is different and cooked over a fire.
Ice is a rarity.
You shower when the water runs.
Electricity comes and goes.
You wash everything by hand,
and you remember that nothing is guaranteed.
In the “first world”, you can get almost anything you want at your fingertips.
You can:
Sit in the air conditioner all day and work.
Nap in your choice recliner.
Cook your favorite food over a stove.
Sip sweet ice tea until you’re blue in the face.
Take a half hour shower 3 times a day.
Watch TV and surf the internet simultaneously.
Put all the washables in a machine to do it for you.
Get anything sooner rather than later if it’s not readily accessible.
You see, I’m the victim of my own preference.
I make time for the useless clutter of my life,
yet when it comes to processing the necessary, I’m unwilling.
There are easier options.
I can watch a movie,
browse the internet,
hang out with people,
or feed one of my other latest addictions.
By satisfying the moment, I clutter my life with “important" or "necessary” hindrances just to avoid looking Jesus eye to eye.
When I’m away in places like Haiti, I sleep on a pillow that my mother made. Oh how I wish what she wrote on the inside would just soak deep into my heart as I lay my head on it. She wrote Hebrews 12:1-2 inside. “…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”
It seems to me that looking Jesus eye to eye is so dang difficult because our broken hearts are revealed – we don’t want to face our flaws – but in doing so, we are freed to run and run with endurance at that – for the long haul – with His joy!
When I lead Church to Church trips, I always make sure to give the teams time to process each night – some time with me and some time on their own. Everything is put aside but what needs to be stirred up and tended to.
We need to process our days.
So much goes on that if we don’t process it, we’ll miss it.
When’s the last time you sat everything aside to process your day?
If you’re like me, your day probably looks like this: Wake up, talk to Jesus (unless I wake up late (on purpose)), read some scripture (if I feel energized), workout, turn on worship music while I shower (that counts as worship, right?), eat breakfast, work all day, come home from work, jack around on the computer for a bit, cook dinner, eat, shower, talk to some people to “check-in” on their lives, get ready for bed, and finally fall asleep while messing around on my phone.
Maybe you’ve acknowledged the fact, as I have, that you could steward your comforts with more wisdom and self-control. It’s important that we don't simply run, but we run the race with accuracy. It might take you throwing off some comforts to run freely and accurately. Heck, I can’t run very well with a big screen TV strapped to my back and a computer under my arm.
Truth is, there is nothing wrong with comforts, unless they’re taking place of the Comforter.
I think it’s time to process…
