I CHOOSE - Important Over Urgent

When I started as a pastor back in 1993 it didn’t take me long to realize that while seminary prepares you for some things it does not prepare you for everything.  Seminary doesn’t prepare you to be a leader of a congregation or the manager of a business.  I quickly realized that there were so many things that needed to be done administratively, pastorally, financially and physically.  It was somewhat overwhelming and I was pretty burned out after the first year.  In one of the many meetings I attended I heard about a book which is now a classic in personal management - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey.  While it is close to 30 years old, the habits it outlines are just as relevant today and one of the most important things I learned from that book had to do with what is called the Tyranny of the Urgent.

It was Charles Hummel who first used the term Tyranny of the Urgent in a pamphlet published in 1967.  He said… The important task rarely must be done today, or even this week...  But the urgent task calls for instant action...  The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important, and they devour our energy. But in the light of time's perspective, their deceptive prominence fades; with a sense of loss we recall the vital tasks we pushed aside. We realize we've become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.

I have provided this quote on the next steps because I want us to read it often and reflect on its truth.  We often live our lives only focused on what we see as urgent and while some of these things might be important, many things are not which means we can end up living our lives in a state of constant motion and busyness and feel like we are making a difference and living with purpose and yet when we come to the end of the day or week or even our life we realize we never focused on what was important.  Charles Hummel wrote this 50 years ago and think how much has changed during that time.  Hundreds more TV stations and the internet and social media all coming at us telling us what is important and demanding our time and attention.  We are constantly faced with things that call for action and consume our energy – but are they really important?
Today let’s consider how we choose the Important Over Urgent.
Going back to Stephen Covey, he addressed the idea of the tyranny of the urgent by creating a matrix to help us understand our choices

 

Back in the 1990’s when I first read Covey’s book, I plotted where I was living my life and I realized I was living in only three quadrants: 1, 3, and 4. I was consumed by all the urgent things pressing on my time, some of these things were important but many were not and then I would get so tired that I would turn to escape activities and time wasters to try and recover.  What was completely missing from my life was time spent in quadrant 2 and yet that is where some of the most important things are.  I was getting caught up in the tyranny of the urgent.  I bought into the idea that anything and everything that came to me in the course of a day or week was important and needed my immediate attention and demanded my energy and yet much of it was not important at all.

A great example for me came in the daily mail.  Churches get a lot of mail, and a lot of it is promotional material.  I would look through all of it and there were often really good ideas for mission, ministry and administration but honestly it was really just junk mail.  I would open all of it and look at it and consider it and at times keep it on my desk when something looked good.  I would then re-read this mail again and again giving it consideration and thought and yet most of it never amounted to anything and after months, I would throw it away.  Looking at Covey’s matrix I was spending a lot of my time on what seemed urgent and important but was actually unimportant, so I began to make different choices.  I choose to throw most if not all of the junk mail away unopened and I didn’t keep something on my desk that I wasn’t going to act on.  I slowly started to choose what was important over what was urgent.

While this matrix is a good tool to evaluate our lives and actions, it also reflects a story we find in the life of Jesus.  One of the things I have found most interesting about much of the business and personal leadership ideas and principles that I have read during the years is that the ones that stand the test of time come from principles in the Bible.  What makes them sound and effective is that they don’t come from the wisdom of the world but the wisdom of God.  Learning to overcome the tyranny of the urgent or learning to choose what is important over what is urgent is what we find in Luke 10:38-42.

Both Martha and Mary loved Jesus.  They both wanted to honor Jesus and show their devotion to him, but Martha was focused on what needed to be done for Jesus visit while Mary focused on Jesus.  Martha was kind and gracious and wanted to be a good hostess for Jesus and the people which were good things.  She wanted everything to be perfect for the visit and the meal which again were good things but all the details distracted her from Jesus.

Mary, on the other hand, chose what was important.  Mary knew that Jesus wasn’t around often and so she wanted to spend every moment she could in his presence.  She wanted to listen to Jesus and learn from him and love him.  Mary chose what was important – Martha chose what was urgent.  While both actions are good, what does Jesus say?  Mary has chosen what is better.

If we want to choose what is better, then we need to choose what is important and not just what is urgent.  To choose what is important we first need to identify what is important.  What are the most important things in our lives?

I hope that most of us would say that the most important things for us are our faith, family, marriage, health, serving others, education and learning.  There might be other things you would add to this list, things that you have identified as part of your purpose in life.  What is most important in your life?  Make a list, write them down and prioritize the list so that even among all that is important you can clearly say, these are things that are most important.  Once we have this list we need to go back to Covey’s matrix and take a good look at where we spend our time, energy and resources.  If everything in our lives seems to be going to something that is not on this list, we are choosing what is urgent over what is important and it might time for us to make some new choices.

Once we have identified what is important in our lives and made those things a priority we then have start making smart choices.  This means we have to do first what matters most.   We all have time for what we choose to have time for.  If we say we have no time to read the bible but then spend our time watching TV, the truth is that we do have time to read the Bible, we have just chosen not to do it.  If we say we don’t have time to spend with our family but we have time for outside activities and hobbies then we have just not made family a priority.  We all have time for what we choose to have time for so we need to do first what matters most.

If we struggle to truly understand what matters most in life because so many good things are competing for our time and attention, then let me suggest we put God first and allow God to help us prioritize our lives.  This really isn’t my suggestion; it is the example of Jesus.  Even Jesus had to choose what was important over what was urgent and it wasn’t always easy because the urgent things for Jesus were things like healing people and caring for their real needs.  But Jesus had to decide if he was going to give his life to what was urgent or what was important.

This choice in Jesus life was a profound and important moment that comes at the beginning of his ministry.  Once Jesus started healing people, word spread quickly and people from all over the region came to him for help.  Mark 1:32-34.  Obviously this was urgent and important work for Jesus and he gives himself to it during his life, but he had to decide if this was going to be the focus of his life.  It was good, but was it the best, was it the priority and the purpose of his life?  In a moment of decision, Jesus goes off to get guidance from God.  Mark 1:35-38.

After a time of prayer, Jesus changed his focus and priorities and chose what was important over what was urgent.  Jesus did not allow the crowds to tell him what was important, he did first what matters most which was preaching the good news of God.  Jesus choose what was important over what was urgent and he turned to God to get that direction.  If we are wrestling with what is ultimately most important in our lives then we need to turn to God and get direction.  Jesus said that instead of worrying about all the things in life that are urgent like food and clothes and jobs, that we should seek first the kingdom, or seek God first and allow God to give us what we need and help us focus on how and where to spend our time and energy and resources.  Jesus isn’t just teaching here, he is sharing his own experience.  This is what he did.  This is how Jesus live and these were the choice he made.

When we choose what is important we will also have to learn when to say no to what is urgent and at times what might even seem important.  When Jesus said that he was going to go to other villages to teach and preach he was saying no to being primarily a healer and miracle worker.  He still healed people and performed miracles, but that was not going to be the focus of his life.  There are times we have to say no to things that are good but we do that so we can experience and give ourselves to the things that are better.  Oswald Chambers said, good is always the enemy of the best.  When we end up choosing what is urgent and good, we often never get to what is important and best so we have to learn when to say yes and when to say no.



To choose the important over urgent we need to
• know what is important,
• do first what matters most
• learn when to say no.

When we do these things we focused on what is important and experience those things God wants for us in life.

So we have looked at 4 important choices that we need to make:
Purpose Over Popularity
Surrender Over Control
Discipline Over Regret
Important Over Urgent
Learning to make these choices daily and considering them at crucial moments in life is making a choice to live like Jesus.  This is how Jesus lived and if this is how we live then we will truly be his followers and like Jesus we will experience the fullness of life and faith and life eternal.
 
Next Steps
I CHOOSE – Important Over Urgent

The important task rarely must be done today, or even this week...  But the urgent task calls for instant action...  The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important, and they devour our energy. But in the light of time's perspective, their deceptive prominence fades; with a sense of loss we recall the vital tasks we pushed aside. We realize we've become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.  (Charles Hummel – Tyranny of the Urgent, 1967)

1. Using this matrix, where do you spend most of your time?

2.  Identify what is important in your life.  Write it down and prioritize what is most important.  (List the top three.)
1. _________________________
2. _________________________
3. _________________________

3. What activity might you need to say NO to so that you can chose what is most important?

Prayer for the week:  Jesus, you lived a short life here on earth yet accomplished the most important work of all.  Thank you.  Give us the strength to seek your kingdom first, think long-term and put people first.  Help us refocus on what matters most and to do those things first.  AMEN

For Further thought and reflection:
• 1 Corinthians 6:12
• Proverbs 4:25-27
• Luke 21:34
• 1 Timothy 5:8
• Romans 12:12
• Matthew 7:13-14

I CHOOSE - Discipline Over Regret

So far in our series on choices we have seen how we need to choose purpose over popularity so that our lives have a deep sense of meaning and fulfillment.  The fashions and styles of the world are fleeting so if we seek just to be popular we will never find a firm foundation on which to stand and we will never experience the life God has for us.  Last week we heard how we need to choose surrender over control because when we try to control everything in life we often end up destroying the very things that matter most. Trying to control our family can drive them away.  Trying to control our jobs can make us miserable to work with and trying to control or future can destroy it.  Purpose and surrender are important choices we need to learn how to make and in many ways they are needed before we can consider the choice for today - discipline over regret.

Already you might be saying to yourself, I don’t want to hear where this is going because I have so little discipline.  Well, you are not alone.  Everyone struggles with the lack of discipline and there’s a reason for that, no matter what we choose when it comes to discipline, there will be pain.  Let me say that again, no matter what we choose when it comes to discipline, there will be pain.  There is pain when we choose to live with discipline but there is greater pain when we don’t.  So yes, today’s message for us is difficult because we are talking about choosing the pain of discipline over the pain of regret.

Pastor Craig Groeschel has defined discipline - choosing between what you want now and what you want most.  Let’s think about this in financial terms.  Discipline in our spending means choosing between what we want now (new phone, new clothes,  new car) and what we want most (ability to buy a house, save for retirement, get out of debt).  While we think that choosing what we want now won’t cause any pain because we get what we want, we are wrong – the pain will come and it can be more difficult to resolve.  So with our finances, we can live in pain now and choose discipline and live within our means or we can deal with the pain of debt, foreclosure and bankruptcy which are not only hard to resolve but can destroy jobs, marriages and families.

Discipline over regret is the choice we face in many areas of our life.  When it comes to our diet we can choose the pain of giving up things we want to eat now or the pain of diabetes and heart disease later in life.  When it comes to exercise we can choose the pain of giving up time and feeling the burn now or we can experience the pain that comes when our body breaks down physically and we aren’t able to enjoy mobility in the years to come.  In relationships we can live with the pain of going slow and making Godly decisions as we date or we can experience the pain of regret when a relationship comes to an end or when we find the right person but look back on all the mistakes we made along the way.  There are real consequences when we give in to what we want today instead of holding out for what we want most and so we need to weigh the pain of discipline vs. the pain of regret.

Before we dig into this deeper, let me be clear that not every situation we may be struggling with today is because of poor discipline in the past.  Many times we can do everything the right way and God’s way and live with discipline and yet still face financial, physical and emotional issues in the future.  Our world is broken and full of difficult situations that we will all face.  Jesus himself said, In this world you will have trouble and it is not all the result of our poor choices.  Since we will all face challenges in the future we don’t need live in ways that will add to them.  The more we can choose discipline today the less regret and the less problems we may face in the future.

To help us think through this difficult choice, we are going to look at a moment in Jesus life when he choose disciple over regret.  The night before Jesus was crucified he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  Jesus knew that Judas was coming to betray him, he knew he would be handed over to the religious and political leaders who would condemn him and he knew that dying on the cross was just a few hours away.  And yet Jesus really did have a choice that night.  Jesus could have walked out of the Garden of Gethsemane under the cover of night and simply walked away.

The reality of Jesus’ choice that night was made clear to me when we visited the Garden of Gethsemane.  First of all, it was amazing to think that some of these trees may have been there when Jesus was there, but what was more amazing was that from the Garden you could see the Walls of Jerusalem.  When Jesus was praying he could have seen the lights of the fires all around the walls and heard the noise of a city crowded for the Passover.  The choice for Jesus was so clear and so tempting.  He could choose discipline and stay in the garden and be handed over to die in that city the next day or he could walk away.  Literally just walk away.  But was walking away God’s will?  Was that part of God’s purpose?  If it wasn’t then Jesus would be choosing what he wanted now (to save his life and avoid the pain) over what he wanted most (to be faithful an one with God his father).  Luke 22:39-44

In prayer, Jesus is wrestling with this choice of discipline over regret.  There would be pain in being faithful to God but there would be greater pain in not being faithful.  Jesus was making the choice that night between what he wanted now and what he wanted most and it was not an easy decision.  If says he was in anguish, he prayed earnestly and his sweat was like drops of blood.  What Jesus shows us is that this is never an easy choice.  There is always a pull, a very strong pull, to live the way that we want to live and the way that is easy and comfortable now.  The apostle Paul says it best in his letter to the Romans.

I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 (Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24-25)

This is the struggle between discipline and regret.  Do we do what we want to do now, what is easy and comfortable for us now, or do we give that up for something greater?  If we live the way want to now knowing it is not God’s will for us and not God’s best for us, then there can be huge regret later because we know we have given in to evil and failed to be faithful to God.  These are difficult choices.  Do we choose the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  Do we choose what we want now or what we want most?

We need to ask ourselves what do we want most?  In all our decisions and in all areas of life we need to ask ourselves what we want most, which goes back to knowing our purpose and the ability to see beyond today.  So in all the different areas of life, what do we want most?

What do we want most when it comes to our faith?  Do we want to live close to God, knowing God’s will and hearing God’s voice?  Do we want to live like Jesus and walk hand in hand with God through life?  If this is what we want it is important to keep this vision of our lives and faith in front of us.

What do we want most when it comes to our families?  Do we want a strong marriage that can endure through the years so we can handle the storms of life together?  Do we want children who are strong and wise?  Do we want children and grandchildren to know God and have a strong faith and trust in Christ?

What do we want most when it comes to our finances?  Do we want to live without the constant burden of debt, or in fear of the future and how we will care for our needs?  Do we want to experience financial freedom and the joy of giving away our money in ways that bless God and others?

What do we want most when it comes to our own health and future?  Do we want to be healthy and enjoy the days God has given us?  Do we want to be free from the physical limitations that come when we don’t care for the bodies God has given us?

Before we can choose discipline today we have to focus on what it is we want most because that is what gives us the motivation to even think about the pain of discipline.  So this week I want to invite you to spend some time thinking about what it is you want most in life.  Write it down so you can see it and remember the rewards that can come through the pain you might experience today.

Once we can focus on what we want most we then need to ask the hard question: What do I need to choose now in order to achieve what I want most?  This is where the rubber meets the road.  This where our walk has to meet our talk.  This is where we have to tell ourselves that while choosing discipline will come with pain, the pain will be less costly than the pain of regret and the consequences that will come in the future if we give in to what is easy.

When it comes to our faith, what do we need to choose NOW in order to achieve what we want most?  It might start by turning off the TV, getting off social media and spending that time reading God’s word or talking with God in prayer.  Can we discipline ourselves in devotion, prayer and worship so that we develop into the kind of followers of Jesus we want to be?

When it comes to our families, what do we need to choose NOW in order to achieve what we want most?  It might be sacrificing some of our activities to make sure we are spending quality time with our spouse and children.  It might be deciding as a family to cut down on all of our activities so that the family can spend time together.  It might mean seeking out some counseling to heal a relationship with a spouse or a child or a parent.

When it comes to our finances, what do we need to choose NOW in order to achieve what we want most?  If what we want most is to be free from the burden of debt, then we need to get guidance on how to get out of debt.  We need to live below our means so we can pay off our credit cards.  If what we want most is a good retirement, or money to help our children through school then we might need to rethink all our spending so we can find ways to save and invest.

When it comes to our health and our future, what do we need to choose NOW in order to achieve what we want most?  It might be to start eating healthy, cutting out alcohol or sugar, learning what fruit and vegetables look like so we can add them to our diet.  It might mean we start walking, slow and short for now, but getting out there to begin living a healthier life.

At some point in time, we all have to choose how we are going to live our lives today.  Will we choose the pain of discipline now or the pain of regret in the future?  If we do not chose discipline today and start something new and move in a new direction today then it might very well be the biggest regret we will have tomorrow.

This summer we talked about the discipline needed to be an athlete.   All athletes train, they all get up and do something painful that moves them toward the goal of winning the prize.  Are we willing to get up and train?  While on the one hand the Apostle Paul said that he was a wretched man who always seemed to choose the wrong thing, he was also the one who said, Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  1 Corinthians 9:24-25.  Paul knew that we all have choices.  At some point we have to get up and do something – we will have to make a choice

If we go back to the Garden of Gethsemane, we can see the choice Jesus made.  When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  Luke 22:45  Jesus choose to go back to help the disciples.  Jesus chose to go back and give himself on the cross to save the world.  Jesus chose discipline and that choice made all the difference and that is a choice we can make too, but it won’t be easy.

If we want to choose disciple today but feel like Paul in Romans and are saying, I know what I need to do but I just don’t do it, there are two sources of help we can turn to and we learn these from Jesus in the Garden.  The first is to ask God for help.  Jesus was tempted and struggling with this decision so he goes off to pray.  He knew his purpose was to be the savior and he knew he needed to surrender his control to God so when the moment came for him to choose discipline, he asked God for help and strength and God provided.  Luke 22:43

It is because Jesus turned to God for help and surrendered the struggle to God that God was able to help him.  In some sense Paul is saying the same thing in Romans.  On our own, we always choose the wrong thing, but if we will turn to God, we will find the strength to choose the right thing.  It is Jesus who gives us the strength to choose the pain of discipline now.  God doesn’t take the pain away – there is often pain in discipline – for Jesus  there was pain in discipline – but like Jesus we can  get strength from God to choose that pain if we will ask.  .

So the first thing we can do is ask God for help and trust that when we surrender to God – God will give us what we need.  The second thing we can do is ask others for help.  Jesus didn’t go into the garden of Gethsemane alone, he took his disciples with him, and when he went deeper into the garden he took his closest friends, Peter, James and John.  Jesus didn’t try to do this alone, he actually asked others for help and when we are faced with choosing discipline we need to ask trusted friends for help.  No discipline is easy because we are choosing pain now so we will need help and support and someone to hold us accountable in grace and love as we move forward.

In so many areas of our life we are faced with the choice of discipline or regret.  What we want now or what we want most.  With the help of God and others, choose the pain of discipline over the pain of regret so that like Jesus we will be able to experience the power of resurrection and the power of life.  Choose discipline and we choose life.




Next Steps
I CHOOSE – Discipline Over Regret

Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.

1.  In the following areas of life, identify what you want most.
• Faith
• Family
• Finances
• Health
• Future

2.  In each of these areas, what do you need to choose now to achieve what you want most?
• Faith
• Family
• Finances
• Health
• Future

3.  Read about Jesus’ struggle to choose discipline over regret in Luke 22:39-46.  What was the struggle for Jesus?  What helped Jesus make the right choice?


Prayer for the week:
Holy Spirit, we need your power.  We are so weak.  We know what to do and then we do what we know we shouldn’t.  Will you give us the ideas, power and grace to stick with discipline?  AMEN


Memorize Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I Choose - Surrender Over Control

Today we continue our series looking at choices by looking at choosing surrender over control.  How many of you think you might have some issues with control?  Now if you wanted to raise the hand of the person sitting next to you – then you really have issues of control.  The truth is most of us want to control different areas of our life.  We may not want to control every area, but most of us have at least one or two areas where we like to be in control.

My family will tell you that I like to be in control in the kitchen.  I like my fridge organized in certain ways.  I want everything lined up by height or type on the doors.  I like my cupboards organized and I don’t like clutter on the counters.  I helped my sister move into a new condo this summer and since she had to work, I set up their kitchen and I told her I would do it my way (which was the right way) and then she could rearrange it later.  I set it up with almost nothing on the counters and after I left I asked her if she changed anything.  She said, yes, there was a lot more stuff on the counters because that doesn’t bother her.  It bothers me.

We all have those things we like to control and God help the person who gets in our way.  For some of you it might be the kitchen, for others it might how clothes are folded, or what your family wears, for others it might be the schedules of everyone in your family, or how your spouse drives but for each of us there is something and the vicious cycle is that the more we try to be in control the more we realize we don’t have control so we work harder to get control.  The answer to this merry-go-round isn’t to stop caring and let it all go, the answer is to surrender control to God.

One of the most well known proverbs gives us direction on how to choose surrender, Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways submit to God and he will make your paths straight.  So in all ways we need to submit to God or surrender to Him instead of trying to be in control and what helps us surrender to God isn’t thinking we can do it all but knowing God is in control and can do all things.  Surrender really is an issue of trust.  Do we trust God more than we trust ourselves?  Surrendering to God and allowing God to act in our lives and on our behalf is important because when we try to control every situation, things can go very wrong – very fast.

Perhaps the best example of control gone bad is found in the story of Abram and Sarai who had been promised by God that they would have a son.  God didn’t make this promise once, but several times and yet as every year passed they began to question whether or not God was going to come through.  When it looked like things weren’t going to happen, Sarai took matters into her own hands and told Abram to have a child with her servant Hagar so that at least there would be an offspring.  They didn’t trust God to do it so they did it themselves.  Genesis 16:1-4a

So Abram and Hagar had a child.  They took control of the situation and came up with their own plan but things didn’t go as they planned.  In time, God was true to his world and gave Abram and Sarai their own son and it wasn’t long until there was division and jealousy between the two boys.  And here’s where we see the negative consequences of our need to be in control.  The division and animosity between these two boys has continued through history.

Abram and Sarai’s son was Isaac who was the father of all the people of Israel.  Abram and Hagar’s son was Ishmael and from him came the Palestinian people and the prophet Mohammed.    One couple trying to control a situation has led to most of the territorial and religious fighting we have seen in the Middle East through all of history.  This is what can happen when we try to control every situation.  It may not lead to world conflict but trying to control everything leads to great conflict in our lives and our relationships.  When we try to do things in our wisdom and our strength, in our time and in our way – it leads to chaos and confusion for our live and the lives of others.

Can you name what you are trying to control?    Is it your children or parents?  Are you trying to make sure that every detail of their lives is planned to perfection?  Are you trying to control your job by trying to control what everyone around you is doing?  Are you trying to control your image?  Your spouse’s image?  Your children’s image?  Are you trying to control your finances and planning things according to your will and plans?  Before we can figure out if we need to choose surrender over control we have to determine what it is we are trying to control.  I want to invite you this week to spend some time asking yourself what it is you are trying to control and if it is something that you really need to surrender.

To help us determine if we need to choose surrender in these situations, there are 3 questions we need to ask.  The first one is:
Is it worth my concern?  Whatever you are trying to control, is it really worth your concern?  Is it important?  Life changing?  Transformative?  None of us can do everything – we cannot control everything and so we need to pick our battles.  There are some things that are important that we need to be involved in, but there are some things that are not.  It is important to know what is really worth our concern because if we try to micromanage everyone and everything, we will eventual offend those who are working and living around us.  I learned this lesson the hard way as a pastor in Altoona.

I’ve shared this before, but I do like to control what things look like in the church and especially in the sanctuary.  One Christmas we had over 100 poinsettias displayed for the season and the woman who arranged them was great at what she did.  She had a great style and a great eye and she set everything up beautifully.  She asked if everything looked ok and I said yes, and really – it did.  It was beautiful.  I just sat in the sanctuary for a while enjoying the beauty and then I saw a poinsettia that if I turned it just a little bit, it would look better.  Then there were two that if they were switched, they would show more red.  And then just another tweak here and there and then it was perfect – to me.

A year later, Jan and I were in the sanctuary setting up poinsettias again and when she was done she asked me if everything looked good.  I said again that everything looked just great and she said, ok.  But then she said, if you are going to move then around like you did last year, let me know and I’m glad to help you.  I was busted.  There was no anger in her voice, no resentment, just an honest desire to serve but I had undermined her service.  I didn’t think she noticed my moving things around but she had and she remembered it for a year.  My control had made her feel like her work wasn’t good enough and it was more than good enough.  I learned the power of surrendering my need to control everything to God.  The power in surrendering that control was a stronger relationship with a friend.  The power was affirming and lifting someone else up.  This doesn’t mean I still don’t move things around – but at least I try to tell people when I do it and I am still working to surrender that need to be in control to God.

So is it worth my concern?  Is it worth getting involved and taking control?  The second question is this: Is it mine to control?  There are some things that are definitely ours to control and we cannot give those up.  Surrendering to God is not a license to let go of responsibility – it is not a license to be lax or lazy – but if it is not ours to control then we shouldn’t try to control it.  For example, our personal finances have been given to us to control and we are called to control them God’s way.  God calls us to work and be productive, God calls us to be faithful and give a tithe back to God and God calls us to be generous and give to those in need out of all we have but we are the ones who have to do these things.  No one make this choice for us.  

So there are many things that are our responsibility to manage and control and we have to act on them – but it is not our responsibility to run everyone else’s life and it is not our responsibility to comment on everyone else’s actions.   1 Thessalonians 4:11.  This doesn’t mean we don’t share our concerns with those we love and to share these concerns with grace and sensitivity but it is not up to us to tell others how they should do everything in their lives.  There needs to be balance, love and wisdom.  We need to learn how to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding when it comes to speaking to others and guiding them, then God will make our paths straight and help make our decisions right and at times keep our mouths shut and our hands off.  If it is not ours to control we need to surrender our desire to control it over to God.

The last question we need to ask ourselves is this: Is it for God alone?  Is whatever we are trying to control for us to control or is it really God’s job to work it out.  The truth is that there are some things that only God can do.  Only God can change a person’s heart.  Only God can bring healing to a loved one.  Only God can control the future of our children and those we love.  The more we try to control what is God’s alone, the more we become anxious and troubled.  If we are anxious and troubled in some situation then maybe we are trying to control something that really belongs to God.  Surrendering to God means truly trusting God to work in that situation?  Can we trust that God will work in us and in others for his will and pleasure and purpose?

As we have seen, when we surrender to God there is power that comes to our relationships and a peace that comes to our hearts because God, who is more than able, is in charge.  This is why Jesus lived with such peace – he was in a state of constant surrender to God.  While all of Jesus life was a constant surrendering to God, where we can see Jesus make the choice of surrender over control was when he was tempted in the wilderness.

After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry and was tempted to turn stones to bread.  It was a choice Jesus had.  He could control his situation and care for his own needs or he could surrender to God and trust that God would meet his needs.  He choose to surrender.  Then Jesus was tempted to gain all the wealth of the world by worshiping the devil.  Jesus could control his situation and gain all things now or he could surrender to God and let God bring the world to him.   Jesus chose surrender.  The last temptation was to throw himself off the pinnacle of the Temple so that angels could catch him before he hit the ground.  This would reveal to the world that Jesus was the Messiah.  Jesus could control his future, his destiny and do things quickly and his way, or he could surrender to God’s will and way of revealing Jesus as the Messiah.  Jesus chose surrender.

Jesus trusted his father so surrendered himself every time instead of choosing control and that choice meant that Jesus saved the world.  Abram and Sarai chose control – Jesus chose surrender.  Choosing control, Abram and Saria brought chaos to the world, choosing surrender, Jesus brought peace.  What will we choose?  Will we choose to surrender to God or will we work to control every aspect of our lives and the lives of everyone around us.  Controlling everything will bring brokenness and division, surrendering to God will bring peace.  Philippians 4:6-7

So this week, trust God and choose surrender over control.  Choose peace over confusion, life over death.  Once again, Choose Jesus.
 
Next Steps
I Choose – Surrender Over Control

1.  We all like to be in control of certain things.
• In what little areas of your life do you like to be in control?
• Name the big things in life that you are trying to control.

2.  Think of a situation where trying to control something in your life went horribly wrong.

3.  To determine if you need to choose surrender over control, reflect on and answer these three questions:
• Is it worth my concern?
• Is it mine to control?
• Is it for God alone?

4. Read the story of Jesus temptation in the wilderness found in Luke 4:1-13.
• What was Jesus tempted to control in each situation?
• What would have happened if he chose control?
• What helped Jesus choose to surrender?
• What can you learn from Jesus on how to choose surrender over control in every situation?


Prayer for the week:
Almighty God, I’ve been trying to run my life like I know better than You.  Forgive me.  Holy Spirit, I invite you to loosen my grip on control.  I surrender my family, my finances, my work and my life to You.  AMEN


Memorize Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to God and He will make your paths straight.

I Choose ~ Purpose Over Popularity

Today we are starting a series that will explore 4 choices we need to make in order to get the most out of our lives and our faith.  Let me just be up front with you and say that these are not easy choices, if they were– we would already be making them.  They are hard choices and they call for us to be intentional and focused every day, maybe even every moment of every day.  But every choice we make is important because we are the sum total of all the choices we have made in the past.  Some of those choices have been good and some may not have been so good but we are where we are today and who we are today because of those choices.  Our future will also be determined by the choices we make today so we need to make sure we are making wise and faithful ones.  

Today we are going to look at choosing purpose over popularity and while it seems like this might be an easy choice, if we are honest with ourselves, it is not.  In so many ways, being popular is driving our culture.  People are consumed with how many friends they have on facebook, how many people have liked a picture on instagram or how many times their video or post has been shared.  If you spend any time at all on social media then you know how this works.  Under every post and picture we see how many people have liked it, how many people have commented on it and how many people have shared it.  If the picture or post isn’t liked or shared enough, we feel insecure and inferior.  Why hasn’t anyone liked it?  Why hasn’t anyone shared it?  Don’t people like me?  Don’t people think I’m funny and witty?   I must not be popular.  People must not like me.  Maybe I need to post something else.  When our sense of value and self worth is being determined by the number of likes, loves, shares, hashtags and comments we get then we are choosing popularity over purpose.  When we live to please others at all costs, we are choosing popularity over purpose.

Most of us want to be popular, we want to be liked and loved and we work hard to please other people.  How many of us might define ourselves as people pleasers, but popularity is fleeting and it does not bring lasting and ultimate fulfillment.  Choosing to be popular is a constant chasing after the wind because fads and tastes change and we have to be constantly comparing ourselves to others in order to make sure we measure up and keep in step and end up on top.  The other problem with choosing to be popular above all things is that we often do this at the expense of a greater purpose in life and let me be clear - our purpose in life is not to be popular.  While there are some people who make this their purpose in life, simply being popular is never a God given purpose.

When I talk about our God given purpose this morning, I am not talking about our BIG purpose in life, like what I am supposed to do with my life, I am talking about the daily purpose of our lives.  As followers of Jesus, our purpose is to love God and love others.  Our purpose is to pray for people and encourage those around us.  Our purpose is to lift people up and not tear them down and anywhere and everywhere we are our purpose is to center our hearts and minds on God through worship and prayer.  Our purpose is to please God in all the little daily choices that we make.

Moses was a man who chose purpose over popularity and it made all the difference for him and for the people of God.  Moses was born as a Hebrew slave but was brought up as the grandson of Pharaoh.  Moses grew up with all the rights and privileges of royalty and he could have chosen pleasure, power and popularity as the focus of his life but at some point he realized that God had created him for something more and he chose that purpose over being popular.  Hebrews 11:24-26.

For Moses, to stay popular in the courts of Pharaoh would have meant denying God and the life God was calling him to live and this is often the choice we have to make.  We were created to live in relationship with God and to love God and to serve God but when the world doesn’t love God and when the world tells us it’s ok to serve ourselves, then being popular and living with purpose won’t go hand in hand.  At school, at work, in sports and among our friends and at times even in our family, we often have to choose between being popular and living with the purpose of walking with Jesus.
When we do choose purpose over popularity, three powerful things happen in our lives because living with purpose:
1. diminishes distractions
2. pushes us through pain
3. empowers us to please God.

Choosing purpose over popularity diminishes distractions.  One of the biggest distractions in life is the time and energy we spend comparing ourselves to others.  Are my grades as good as my friends?  Are our children excelling in sports, music and dance at the same pace as others?  Am I am keeping up at work?  Does my family look like others?  Are my clothes as fashionable?  My finances as solid?  We spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves with others that we fail to live the life God has for us.  We trade following Jesus for following the Jones and that leads to anxiety, stress and a worry that consumes us.

One of the other big distractions in life when we choose popularity comes with social media.  While there is a time and place for sharing our lives with others through facebook, instagram, snap chat and all the other social networks, trying to keep pace with everyone and comparing our lives with the lives of those we see online can consume huge amounts of time, time that could be spent fulfilling our purpose as followers of Jesus.  An hour less on facebook can be an hour more with family, with Jesus in the word, with God in prayer, serving in the community.  So the more we focus on our purpose the less we allow our lives to get pulled away into things that don’t matter or won’t move us forward.

We see the power that comes with this kind of focus in the life of another Old Testament leader – Nehemiah.  Nehemiah’s big purpose in life was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after they had laid in ruin for years.  With a laser like focus, Nehemiah went to Jerusalem with a plan to rebuild the walls and he put people to work, but not everyone wanted the walls rebuilt.  Those who opposed Nehemiah came to him and asked if they could meet together outside of the city.  They were trying to distract Nehemiah and pull him off the wall and away from his work but Nehemiah stayed focused on his purpose.  He said, I am doing a great work and can’t come down.  4 times the opposition came to Nehemiah and each time he said, I am doing a great work and can’t come down.

The opposition didn’t quit; they tried to distract Nehemiah in other ways and this is the story of our lives.  Many things try to pull us away from God and the life God wants for us and the life we want to live and the power of choosing purpose is that it helps diminish these distractions by focusing us on the great work we are doing.  That great work might be working hard in school and that needs to be our focus when friends are calling us to go out and have some fun.  The great work may be getting out of debt and that needs to be our focus when others are saying buy now, spend now, go out to lunch with us now and worry about the debt later.  The great work may be sticking with a marriage when others are saying move on.  The great work may be spending time in Bible Studies and Small Groups and Worship when others are saying those things won’t help you get far in life and they aren’t much fun anyway, so don’t bother.

The great work in our lives isn’t always the big purpose but the daily purpose and we need to choose that purpose over popularity.  I invite you this week to identify the great work God has called you to.  It might be something big, but I would invite you to identify all the little daily things that make up the great work you are doing, like reading God’s word, attending a small group, working hard in school and putting kids and family first.  The more we choose these daily purposes the more we will end up where we want to be now and these choices will shape our lives for the future.

Choosing purpose over popularity also pushes us through pain.  There will be pain in all of our lives and what will help us move through the pain won’t be our popularity but the power God gives us when we are following Jesus.  The Bible is full of people who experienced great pain and obstacles as they followed the purpose God had for them but by following that purpose they found the strength to carry on.  

When Moses left Pharaoh’s court and led the people of Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and into the wilderness for 40 years, it was not easy.  Moses faced daily struggles, but with each one he found the strength and power to keep going.  Nehemiah faced challenges but by staying focused on his purpose he made it through and rebuilt the walls which helped rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.  Think about Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She chose purpose over popularity and while it wasn’t easy, she found strength and power to make it through all the challenges of life.  So did Jesus.  Time and again Jesus chose his purpose as the Christ, the savior of the world, and that was the motivation that pushed him through the pain of the cross to the power of new life.

Pain and obstacles will come into all of our lives and if every day we choose our purpose we will find the strength and motivation to move forward.  Things will get hard in school and at work and in our families but we won’t give in or give up because we have given ourselves to the great work laid before us.  A sense of purpose and living for someone and something larger than ourselves gives us strength and power to overcome.  The power doesn’t come from us, but from God who gives us the purpose.  The Bible says, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  

Choosing purpose also empower us to please God.  Since God’s purpose for us is to love Him and to love others, when we give ourselves to that purpose we know that we are pleasing God.  Giving ourselves to the daily purposes God has for us will help us please God and that in turn gives us more power to live out the small and big purposes God has for us.  The disciples show us this.

After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, the disciples were given a purpose, make disciples of all nations.  They were to talk about Jesus and share his message, love and power with others, but the world around them was still very hostile to Jesus and his way so to live this way and make this choice, was not easy.  The disciples faced opposition and persecution but they chose purpose over popularity.  They choose purpose over comfort and safety and each time they did they received more power to live in ways that pleased God.  Both Peter and John had been arrested for preaching about Jesus but because they remained faithful and committed to the purpose of sharing Jesus, they were set free from jail and said to their opposition, We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29)

And they did.  Peter and John continued to live out the purpose God had for them, they pleased God and not the world.  They put purpose before popularity and their lives were changed and the world was changed through them.  When we are willing to choose purpose over popularity, our lives will be changed and through us the world is changed.  Maybe not in big earth shattering ways, but in very small and yet profound ways we bring life to others.  I got a sense of this the summer I worked in Rocky Mountain National Park.

My purpose in being there was not just to work at a job but to be part of ACMNP and provide worship services on Sunday.  Everyone knew I did this because I was one of only three people who got Sunday’s off.  Since everyone knew I was a Christian. I knew there were times I had to choose that purpose over popularity.  I chose purpose over going out to get drunk.  I chose purpose over hooking up with different people all summer.  I chose purpose in how I treated people and responded to different situations at work and at the end of the summer a woman who, let’s just say choose being popular, came up to me and said, don’t let anyone ever change you.  I hadn’t realized she had seen anything different in me, but she had.  My choices had made a difference, maybe not a big difference, but a difference.

When we choose purpose over popularity we not only live the lives God wants us to live, find power to get through the pain and please God, but we are shaping the lives of others and pointing them to Jesus.  While there is value in being liked by people, there is greater value in being loved by God and living in response to that love.  Choose purpose over popularity.  Choose Jesus and choose life.

 
Next Steps
I CHOOSE
Purpose Over Popularity

1. What choices have shaped your life?
• Best choices I’ve made:________________________
• Bad choices I’ve made:________________________

2. In what ways do you seek to be popular?  How might this keep you from God’s purpose and from living out your faith?

3. What is the BIG purpose of your life?

4. What is the DAILY purpose of your life?

5. Purpose diminishes distractions.  Read Nehemiah 6.
What is the great work God has given you to do in this season of your life?

6. Purpose pushes you through the pain.  What obstacles and pain are you facing today?  How does living for Jesus help?

7. Purpose empowers us to please God.  Identify one daily purposes of your life that is a blessing to others and is pleasing to God.  Commit to that purpose each day this week.

Prayer for the week:  God, there is power in purpose – especially Your purpose.  I am asking You to refocus my attention to the passions and plans You’ve placed in my life.  Help me to make pleasing You the main thing.  AMEN

What will guide you in the New Year? ~ A Star. A Book. A Voice

New Year’s Day is the time people make all kinds of resolutions to live differently.  We make plans to eat better, get more exercise, spend more time with family and save more, spend less and practice better financial management.  All of these things are good, but what will really change our lives in the new year will be the spiritual practices we develop and for that we need to look at the journey of the Magi.  There were three things that guided the Magi on their journey and it is these three things that need to guide us in the New Year; a star, a book and a voice.  

The star is what we usually think about when we think of this story.  The Magi were most likely some sort of astronomer / astrologer who studied the stars and looked for signs and messages in the heavens.  Tradition says that the Magi came from Persia in the East but I read an interesting article this week that said maybe they came from Sheba, which today is known as Yemen.  I have to say that the article made a lot of sense.  Sheba was known as a very wealthy nation that had accumulated a lot of gold from the mines of Africa.  But it is also the only place, other than Africa, where the Boswellia tree grows and that is the tree where we get frankincense.

The Commiphora tree, where we get the resin to make myrrh, also only grows in the Arabian peninsula.

So Sheba would have been rich in gold, frankincense and myrrh which were the 3 gifts given to Jesus.

But Sheba is also talked about in the prophecies of Israel.  The Queen of Sheba brought great gifts to Solomon and Jesus talks about how one greater than Solomon has now arrived.  The prophet Isaiah also talks about gifts of gold and incense coming from Sheba to be given to the Messiah.  Isaiah 60:1-6.

While we don’t know where the Magi came from, it is interesting to think about how they may have come from Sheba which would connect them to them prophecies of the Messiah found in the Old Testament.  What is important, however, is that they came and they came because they saw a star.  They saw a new star that appeared in the sky at the time of Jesus birth and that star spoke to them – it told them that a king had been born in Israel.
The Magi allowed a star to guide them.  They paid attention to the creation around them, studied all that God had made and all that God was doing and they observed the world and learned from it.  What they learned they used to guide their lives.  In the New Year we need to allow a star to guide us.  We need to slow down and take note of all God is doing in the world around us.  In so many ways, God speaks to us through God’s creation if we will take the time to stop and look and listen.  Romans 1:20.

There are messages all around us if we will stop and really observe the world.  On a hike through the Smokey Mountains a number of years ago I tried to listen to God and look for messages from God in the beauty of the world.  One day there were two messages I heard from God in his creation.  One came as I was hiking uphill and I saw a tiny flower growing where a trickle of water ran down the hill.  It was a tiny flower but so beautiful and I thought, Why would God put a tiny beautiful flower here where no one can see it.

Then I heard God say, I can see it.  God creates beauty and puts it in places no one travels to, or creates flowers that bloom and die that no person will ever see it, but God sees it and God creates it because God finds joy in.  God creates beauty because God is beauty and power and majesty and wonder.  God creates beauty because it simply spills forth from God’s very nature and God finds pleasure in that.  If there is no person around to enjoy it – God does.

That little flower told me something about God that I never forgot; God is simply beautiful, full of beauty.  But then I heard something else from God.  I heard God say, You can see it.  I realized that if no one else saw that little flower which might only be in bloom on that day, I saw it.  I’m not saying God made it just for me, but God made it and I was able to enjoy it and that is part of God’s nature – to provide beauty for our lives.  Please, in this New Year, make time to see the beauty of God which is all around us and allow the beauty and power of creation to guide you.  Allow the beauty of creation to remind you that God made you to be a beautiful part of creation and that each one of us adds beauty and value to the world simply by being here.

A second message came to me was when I was hiking downhill.  I was looking down a stream with fallen trees and centuries old rocks strewn in a creek and I thought once again how beautiful it was

and I realized that I was actually finding beauty in all the brokenness of life.  Broken limbs, fallen trees, the cracked earth – what makes much of life so beautiful is actually it’s brokenness.  Sun streaking through storm clouds is beautiful.

Mountains themselves are a sign of brokenness as the earth is pushed up and then eroded away and their brokenness is beautiful.

The grand canyon is beauty that has come through the constant breaking away of land caused by a river.

Beauty through Brokenness.  God often brings beauty and strength through brokenness.  All of our lives are broken in different ways but God still makes something beautiful out of us.  The church is a collection of broken people, broken pieces, and yet when we come together in Christ – we make something beautiful.

The Magi followed a star because they took the time to study the world around them.  They observed creation.  They looked at the world, considered what it was saying and listened for the messages that were all around us.  May our new year be guided by a star.

But it wasn’t just a star that guided the Magi, the star led them to Jerusalem where they asked where they could find this new king.  No one seemed to know about him so what did they do?  They consulted a book.  Matthew 2:3-6.  The word of God needs to guide us in the New Year.  Regular reading of God’s word is vital to living the way God wants us to live because  God’s word is filled with messages and direction for our lives.

I want to invite you to read through the bible with me this year.  We have provided several different reading plans for you to look at.  Some read through from Genesis to Revelation, some provide a variety of material for you to read each week but the key is to read it regularly.  I would also encourage you to think about a 5 day plan so that if you miss a day you don’t get behind, frustrated and give up but so that there will also be time to listen and reflect.  While reading God’s word is important we really need to learn to listen.

By following the star and then a book, the Magi learned to listen so that when they heard a voice they knew enough to follow it.  Matthew 2:12.  Herod’s plan to kill the new king in Israel was to have the Magi find the child, report back to him so that he could go and have the child killed.  God spoke to the Magi in a dream and told them to go home a different way, or to not go back to Jerusalem in order to protect Jesus and his family.  The Magi now followed a voice.  God also spoke to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee with his family to Egypt, which they did.  Again, God guided his people by a voice.  We need to learn to listen for God’s voice.

I honestly believe God still wants to guide our lives and deepen our faith by speaking directly to our hearts.  I don’t think God speaking to people was only for biblical times, it is for today, but we won’t hear God if we aren’t listening.  We won’t hear God if we are not tuning our hearts and minds to the right frequency or maybe I should say we won’t get God’s word unless we are using the right network.  God provides the free wifi, we just need to connect and we connect by taking the time to look for God in the world and listen to God in his word.  The more we allow The Star and the The Book to lead us and shape us the more we open ourselves up to hearing The Voice of God.

Following the star and the book also quiets our lives enough so that maybe we can hear God.  Taking time to sit quietly and enjoy the world can help us hear the message God may want to share with us.  Taking the time to sit and read and reflect on God’s word can help us hear the message God may want to give to us.  God is speaking to us all the time but much of the time we aren’t listening, so make this New Year a year to listen.

Because the Magi followed the star, the book and the voice, they found the fullness of God in Jesus and they worshipped him.  They also gave life to the world by not returning to Herod.  If we will follow The Star, The Book and The Voice, we will also experience the fullness of God and then be able to share God’s love with others.
 
Next Steps
What will guide you in the New Year?
A Star. A Book. A Voice.

1. A Star. Take time to observe the world around you.
• Plan a trip with your family to a state park.
• Set aside time every week to take a walk.
• Learn about one area of creation this year: oceans, forests, animals, stars, planets, flowers…

My plan to follow the star in 2017:

_______________________________________________



2. A Book. Read through the Bible in 2017.
• Reading plans are available in the lobby
• Many more reading plans can be found online.
• Join a small group, Bible study or Sunday School Class to read God’s word with others.

My plan to follow the book in 2017:

_______________________________________________



3.  A Voice.  Listen for God speaking to you.
• Ask God to speak to you.
• Set aside time every day or once a week to sit in silence.
• Listen for God speaking to you through others.

My plan to follow the voice in 2017:

_______________________________________________