This blog, for no other reason than accident, starts with a section of shouts… my apologies in advance. If you can manage through the whole thing, I think I can assure you that this will be an exceptionally good blog. It should stand out from my normal junk. At least writing it felt different–better–to me. So, buckle up and please keep all tray tables locked and in the upright position.
I have wanted to journal consistently for pretty much my whole life, but I never have. I guess I lacked the discipline or something, because I would have the best of intentions lead me to buy some really awesome journals, but I hardly wrote in any of them ever, and never consistently journaled in them. Or anywhere else for that matter. But recently I have been changing myself. I realized not too long ago that, while I was comfortable and happy with myself, I was not nearly the man I wanted to be. I have been on a journey ever since. While I can say that many things have changed and that I have been developing many great habits, I’m still not the man I want to be. Although, I am much more him now than I was a few months ago. Part of this reconstruction of self involved daily journaling. A wise man once told me that all great men throughout history journaled, and thanks to that wise man named Bobby Stephenson as well as my father and his recent encouragement to journal, it is a new habit of which I am very proud and from which I receive a lot of freedom, relief, and revelation resulting in spiritual growth.
Side Story: its funny to me, I’ve wanted to do this for years, but never have, but it wasn’t until recently that I began attempting to develop this habit. My own desire to journal, coupled with the practicality and benefits of journaling while on the race, made me really want to start this habit, but something was holding me back. I don’t know what it was. I can’t tell you. But, I do know what little thing it was that made me finally undertake the task of habit-starting. It was my amazing father, to whom my gratitude for everything could never be expressed in human language. He encouraged me to journal a few times, because he knew that I wanted that for myself and he saw the benefits it would have, but besides encouragement, he held me accountable like Christian men should. When something cool or interesting happened in my life he would ask me if I journaled about it. He would remind me to do it before bed at night, and sometimes he would straight up just tell me to go journal. Even though it seems annoying, I thoroughly appreciate it. Without his iron sharpening my iron I don’t know if I would have ever started journaling. His encouragement was the catalyst I needed to initiate the development of this habit I desired to have in my life. So I checked my book shelf and found an old journal that I had gotten as a gift from an old friend, Will Slack.
I noticed something about myself that I would like to share.
Do you all see what the catalyst was? It was my father’s encouragement, or endorsement, if you will. When he got behind the idea of journaling, it was all over but the writing for me, as if all I was waiting for was a green light. And as sweet and heart melting as that may be, it is also incredibly silly. I waited 20 years to start something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time–something that I’ve always known would be beneficial for me–just to hear my father, who loves me and has my best interest at heart, encourage me to go ahead. How silly! It is beneficial. It is healthy. It is fun. It is something I’ve wanted to do. Why did I wait so long for Dad’s approval? Of course he was going to give it to me, that’s a no brainer. Why wouldn’t he?
I’m tired of Christians doing this very same thing in their relationship with the heavenly father. I understand the idea of seeking God’s will for your life, but stop using that as an excuse. Stop making that your sheild. Actively seeking God’s will does not excuse you from actively doing God’s will. What I mean is that certain things are already expressed in the living word. You don’t have to consider them. You don’t have to labor over them. You don’t have to stress over them. You just need to do them.
Let me tell you, I’m sick of people saying they have to pray over whether they are “called” to share the gospel, love the poor, serve the widow, orphan, or least of these. Stop asking if you’re called. Its like asking for permission to do something your father told you to do.
“Dad, do I have permission to have fun? “
Some things are just mandated in Scripture. Don’t ask if you’re called to preach the gospel.
Jesus called you to do it when he was levitating away from this rock to be with his father and chunking the duces to humanity. Don’t ask about it, just do it (Nike style), because in the time you waste asking permission to do what you have already been commanded to do, people are doing and going to hell. That is an unpopular theology, but truth trends to be unpopular. Likewise, I’m tired of hearing things like, “I love missions but I just don’t know if that is my calling”. Yo, what part of Matthew 25:40 do you not understand? I mean, I’ll be more than happy to share with you my limited understanding; serving the low, dirty, unpleasant people of this world is serving Jesus–simple as that.
So come on body of Christ, let’s get it together and stop using seeking God’s will as an excuse to avoid it.
But hey, let me end by pointing out that this is a lesson I just learned, like I mentioned earlier. I don’t want to seem like this is something super basic and you are a Hellion sinner if you have ever said these things. You may have a good reason, I guess. I don’t know. All I know is that It goes back to the whole plank in the eye thing–and this is a lesson I learned from my impaled eye.
