Hard Calling

Do you ever get lost in the grind of life? I was looking at my calendar this past week and just got depressed. The summer is half over and I feel as though I have not had time to breath yet. I mean don't get me wrong I am really excited about some of the stuff that is coming up in the next couple months, and I have some margin built in. But as I looked at my schedule I looked at it with eyes full of expectation. And not the good kind. I have stuff coming up with the church and traveling to speak and taking a trip to Peru to serve the people. And then I start my school job again already and the cycle goes on and on. I should say here that my school job is great. It is not my dream job, but it helps pay the bills right now. And when I look at it like a job it drains all of the joy from it.

Monotony. Expectation. Kids. Daily grind. Same old thing.

But that was just the problem I was already mapping out what my day would be like a month before it ever happens. And the lack of adventure the thought of the same old thing killed me. Some of these things could go exactly how I imaging them, but then there is this God factor too. He throws things in my life all the time to wake me up out of my routine.

When I have a different outlook it changes everything. Like with my job with the school. I get to be with kids everyday, and have the chance to have an impact that could shape the rest of their life. I have these random opportunities to encourage, shape, challenge and share hope with.

It reminds me of the need to die daily. Like Jesus talked about in Luke 9:23. To wake up every day and pray for and be ready for the unexpected.

I mean I have been getting these kind of unexpected things for the past few weeks, and they come in all different shapes and ways. Some are incredible opportunities. Others are tests. Some painful. Some tempting. Most unexpected. All difficult, but all to help me grow.

I am learning to plan out my days, but watching... waiting... for opportunities to join God in his work throughout them. I am learning to push myself to do difficult things and step out of my comfort zone. I am learning to take risks and do things that require sacrifice. I am growing deeper in my understanding of faith, and what it means to trust God. I am learning that this life with Jesus is a hard calling if I truly want to follow him and trade in my selfishness. But I am also learning that there is no adventure, no life, nothing else like it. I would not trade it for the world.

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. Galatians 6:7-10