Wrestling with God

         In Genesis 32, Jacob is on his way to meet his brother Esau and beg forgiveness for all the tricks that he pulled when they were younger; specifically, stealing the birth-right and the blessing of the first-born.  After sending everything that he had including his family on their way, Jacob stayed back and spent the night by himself.  During the night a “man” comes and wrestles with Jacob till dawn.  This man turns out to be God in flesh…whether this was an angel, God himself, or maybe Jesus (my choice) we can’t really know.  But this passage and story made me think about how I often wonder what God is going to do in my life over the next few years, maybe even 5-10.  I wonder this because I really would like to have an idea of what God plans for me so I can start now getting ready to do whatever it is he has for me in the future; as if I could get myself ready for God’s plans.

          We all are like this…we want to know what’s coming down the road so we can “prepare” and be ready.  Like Jacob, we wrestle with God seeking his blessing, seeking his name, seeking information that he may not want to give to us yet or at all.  This wrestling with God can prove to be painful because sometimes we won’t give in; like Jacob we won’t let go of our wants and sometimes our stubbornness hurts us like Jacob’s dislocated hip that God gave him in order to get him to release.  I constantly have to remind myself that God has me where I am for a reason.  God has me where I am right now for a purpose, for a plan, for a season of joy, for a season of growth, for a season of pain, for a season of learning…whatever this season may be for and however long this season is I must learn to be okay with the NOW; for the will of God has me here. 

          One of my biggest fears is…what if God was trying to tell me something and I missed it?  What if I missed his voice that was speaking to me about some new facet of his will and plan for me?  What if I didn’t hear him when he was trying to show me something?  Maybe I did miss something…in fact I probably have missed many things God has tried to tell me over the course of my life.  And it wasn’t because I wasn’t looking for a sign or word from God, maybe it was because I was holding on too tightly to what I was hoping to hear from him.  Maybe like Jacob I was holding on too tightly…holding on to MY vision of MY future that I wanted God to bless and give ME the “green light”.  Maybe it was my own stubbornness thinking that I knew better than God what was best for me, but how stupid of me to think that way.  How could I ever think that I; a flawed and arrogant (what a ironic combination isn’t it) human being, could ever know better than the God who made me, the God who loves me, and the God who redeemed me.  How could I ever assume such idiocy? 

Because I am broken…because I am just like my 2 year old son who thinks he can do this or that and gets mad at me when I try and help him.  I, Darrell Asche, am but a child who has no idea what is best, yet I constantly tell God to bless what I am doing instead of seeking what he is already blessing and joining in.  This is what we are called to do: “Seek God First!!”  

Seek God first…stop…listen…and his voice will be there whispering in the silence, “Follow me…don’t ask where we are going…just follow…Stay with me step for step…don’t get ahead and don’t lag behind…this isn’t about you…this is about my plans and my ways…Stay with me step for step and I will lead you to where I want you...For, I know the plans I have for you…to teach you…to prosper you…to use you for my glory…my plans are not your plans and my timing is not your timing…Stay with me step for step…I’ll catch you when you fall and love you despite your desire to run ahead of me and get lost…Stay with me…walk with me…talk with me…live with me…

What I am called to do is Why I have breath

It is my firm belief that each and every one of us has a calling and a purpose.  Your purpose may simply be to exude the Joy of Christ to the world around you or perhaps God has something else that He desires you to fulfill.  Whatever my purpose or your purpose we are called by God the creator of all things to fulfill that role. 

 

It is also my belief that if you have breath in your body God still has something for you to do.  God gives us each and every day that we have; the ultimate question we have to answer is, "Are we striving to fulfill God’s purpose for our life?"  Some people might say that they don’t know what that purpose is, but I believe that if you are following God’s will (which we discover and learn more about every time we open the Bible or come before Him in prayer or listen to Him in silence) then He will use you for His purpose.  Sometimes we may have a firm grasp on that purpose and sometimes we may not, but when we ‘man up’ and take God and His Word (the Bible) seriously He will use us in ways that we can’t imagine or understand.  In fact the full affect of our lives on this world may not be revealed to us until God shows us on the other side of this life. 

One of the prayers I often pray is that my son, Joshua, will grow to be a man of God. I pray that he will seek God’s will at all times and fully rest upon the truth that God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do.  When we trust God that way and live lives that prove our faith, then we can all have confidence because the death & resurrection of Jesus promises that one day God will say to Joshua, you, and me: “Well done good and faithful servant, you are my child whom I love and I welcome you into my eternal presence.”  

Life Goals vs. Life Purpose

I wrote this article back in April 2009 and recently came back across it and wanted to share...Enjoy!!

A few months ago I finished reading Tony Dungy’s book Quiet Strength.  In case you aren’t sure who he is, Tony Dungy recently retired from being the head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts. He took a team loaded with talent that just couldn’t make it to the Championship game and he led them there and they won the Super Bowl.  There is obviously more to the story and the book tells it all in great detail, but the reason I mention him is because not only was he a great coach, but he is also a strong Christian.  In his book he made a comment that has stuck with me ever since I read it.

I love coaching football, and winning a Super Bowl was a goal I’ve had for a long time.  But it has never been my purpose in life.  My purpose in life is simply to glorify God.  We have to be careful that we don’t let the pursuit of our life’s goals, no matter how important they seem, cause us to lose sight of our purpose.

-Quiet Strength by: Tony Dungy-

It’s very simple our purpose as individuals and as the church of Christ is to glorify GOD.  Our goals can be to reach family and friends, to affect your local schools in very positive ways, to see the your ministry grow and do great things; but if the purpose is to have a big ministry with a lot of programs and events then we are missing the point.  If you’re an athlete, if you excel at playing an instrument, or maybe you have high academic achievements, ask yourself why am I doing this?  What is my purpose?  Is it so I look good and people put me up on a pedestal? 

God has given you your talents or abilities for a reason; that reason is to glorify him through your achievements (and yes even through your failures), whatever they maybe. What’s our purpose as humans, why do we do what we do?  If it is to “glorify God” then we’re on the right track.  When our goals are God honoring and our purpose is for His glory, then I believe He will bless us beyond or hopes and dreams.   

The Measure of Success

I've heard of and read about many different methods of measuring success.  So many of these methods are centered around lifting up human accomplishments, lifting up personal greatness, lifting up self.  As much as we should celebrate victories and triumphs, because that can and often does spur us on to the next victory, I think there are some serious problems with how we define success. 

Success IS NOT about bank account levels and net worth.

Success IS NOT about status in one's career, marketplace, or job.

Success IS NOT about the number and worth of owned cars, boats, homes, etc.

Success IS NOT about personal fame, glory, awards, and accomplishments.

So, (even if you don't agree go along with me here) success is not any of these things or any of these categories for that matter.  In fact, to take this to the fullest and truest extent possible; success in it's truest form has nothing at all to do with anything related to one's self.  True success is actually found in the way we affect the world around us.  I have come to believe that the best 2 measures of success and the only 2 that really matter are these: Lives Touched & Lives Changed   

Some might want to push back on this and say that success can be determined in many ways.  And I would say, yes, this is true, because the measure of success is totally based on purpose.  If your purpose is to get as rich as possible and you do so than you might consider yourself successful.  I have come to my methods of measuring success based on my purpose as well, but unlike a worldly, self-determined purpose; my purpose in life is not determined by me.  My purpose in life is given by my Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.  My purpose comes from God's word, God's calling, God's commission; specifically from Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-49, John 13:13-17, and Acts 1:7-8; just to name a few.  My purpose, as the Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, is the reconciliation of the world to God.  God through me and many like me is bringing the world back into a right relationship with Him.  This is my purpose.

So my measures of success come from the lives that God has used me to touch and the lives he has used me to change.  In 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 Paul explains that "God uses some to plant the seed and some to water the seed, but only God can grow the seed."  We all have parts to play in each life we come into contact with.  At times we may be the planters, at times we may be the ones who water.  Some lives we will touch, some lives we will change.  It isn't exactly the most satisfying way to measure success because often we never get to know the touch or change we have made, but God does.  Other times the most we may know is a statement of thanks or gratitude of the touch or change we made.  We must become content and fulfilled with these moments of blessing that God gives us.  Rarely ever are we able to be around to see the full extent of the affect we were able to have on a life.  But those moments are the few and far between that God gives us to really see the way God has changed us all and through these times God gives us renewed purpose to continue being used by Him to be agents of Touch and Change in this World.  

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."  2 Corinthians 5:14-15     

A Blip in Time - Psalm 19

        Last month in "God's Masterpiece" I wrote about how Life is Good.  I wrote about how we have been given an enormous gift called life and we are intended to find joy in it.  God wants us to live a life that brings us joy; sometimes life will be hard and painful, but there is still joy to be found in spite of the pain.  Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us how we are God’s masterpiece designed for a life filled with doing the work of God; living a life of service and love.

        With that said I needed to add something that is of the utmost importance.  The entire chapter of Psalm 19 tells us of the Glory of God.  Verse 1 of that chapter says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of HIS hands.”  Not only does this reiterate what I said last month, but it also pushes me to add this thought. 

        Our lives on this earth are but a “Blip in Time.”  We as humans, in general, live our lives in exaltation of ourselves.  We live for our glory; we spend our time on our pleasures, our wants, our desires, and our purposes.  When Ephesians 2:10 says we were made “to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do” it is proclaiming that our lives are simply a blip in the HISTORY OF GOD.  This life, the history of the world, the earth, and the universe are all platforms for the Glory of God to be proclaimed throughout history.  Verse 14 of Psalm 19 finishes the chapter with, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” 

        Our lives, the masterpieces of God, are solely and completely intended to do the work God intended for us, all for HIS glory.  Though this earth has been created for enjoyment, its primary purpose is to proclaim the glory of God.  That is the primary and intended purpose of all God’s creation, including human lives.  So, this “blip in time” that is our life as we know it, is intended not to live for ourselves, indulging in every desire of our broken sinful hearts; rather, our lives are created, designed, molded, and intended for the Glory of God.