September
10, 2013 Marty Sarkissian
I
like to write. So much so that originally I had blocked out a few
hours to reflect and write this first blog on Richard Stearn's
"Unfinished". Yet after reading and re-reading these
sections, I am left with just a few distilled thoughts:
Young OR old...
- if you ever lay awake at night wondering what you're supposed to be doing with your life,
OR
- if you find yourself always empty, feeling "there must be something more", OR
- if you wish you could have a greater impact in the world around you,
...THEN you know well the pain of feeling "Unfinished".
The point of this book is simple, yet its application complex. As believers in a risen Savior in the person of Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility under the direction of scripture to "preach the gospel in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). So as followers of Jesus then, we are called to the role of telling everyone we can about the good news of the Resurrection. Living life outside of that role takes us "off-script ", and this causes the "pains" of drifting and emptiness.
Our world has much to offer to satisfy the void and to fill that emptiness. Much of what it offers may in fact be "good" (but not centered on faith in Jesus); yet there is plenty that's not. In my life, I must admit in different seasons I've employed both - which has always left me searching for deeper purpose. I've had seasons of unbelief, and seasons of belief in my self - my own efforts - which always left me broken. By God's grace alone I've been brought through those seasons.
So now in my forties the matter is settled. I can't say when, but over time Jesus met my messy self centeredness, emptiness, and drifting with a gradual collision of grace, and through many people...fellow Christians...helped me realize that my talents and gifts are there to be used to spread His message instead of my gain in this life. And the funny thing is that rather than being broken from that collision, over time I've been made more whole.
Perhaps that's what CS Lewis meant when he said, "The place for which He designs them (what he has created) in his scheme of things is the place they are made for. When they reach it their nature is fulfilled and their happiness attained: a broken bone in the universe has been set, the anguish over. When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy."
******************************************
Young OR old...
- if you ever lay awake at night wondering what you're supposed to be doing with your life,
OR
- if you find yourself always empty, feeling "there must be something more", OR
- if you wish you could have a greater impact in the world around you,
...THEN you know well the pain of feeling "Unfinished".
The point of this book is simple, yet its application complex. As believers in a risen Savior in the person of Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility under the direction of scripture to "preach the gospel in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). So as followers of Jesus then, we are called to the role of telling everyone we can about the good news of the Resurrection. Living life outside of that role takes us "off-script ", and this causes the "pains" of drifting and emptiness.
Our world has much to offer to satisfy the void and to fill that emptiness. Much of what it offers may in fact be "good" (but not centered on faith in Jesus); yet there is plenty that's not. In my life, I must admit in different seasons I've employed both - which has always left me searching for deeper purpose. I've had seasons of unbelief, and seasons of belief in my self - my own efforts - which always left me broken. By God's grace alone I've been brought through those seasons.
So now in my forties the matter is settled. I can't say when, but over time Jesus met my messy self centeredness, emptiness, and drifting with a gradual collision of grace, and through many people...fellow Christians...helped me realize that my talents and gifts are there to be used to spread His message instead of my gain in this life. And the funny thing is that rather than being broken from that collision, over time I've been made more whole.
Perhaps that's what CS Lewis meant when he said, "The place for which He designs them (what he has created) in his scheme of things is the place they are made for. When they reach it their nature is fulfilled and their happiness attained: a broken bone in the universe has been set, the anguish over. When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy."
******************************************
A
fun side note: For all the country fans who smiled at the pun of the title of
this blog, the Rascal Flatts are mere copycats :) of the original writer
Geoff Moore. And -- whether you do or don't know what I'm referencing here,
here's a link to the original version by Geoff Moore. Enjoy a beautiful song
about our love for others, OR our relationship with The Lord.
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
My brother you are so rite. Along the way grace reaches out to all us. It's when we decide to except that unwarented undeserved love that we begin to blossom into the person God purposed us to be. When we begin to walk daily in his calling we step into a level of a joy filled life that sadly few Christians experience. Why is this? Why not want all that God promised us. You and many others in the CLC family
ReplyDeleteHave found what it is to be a servant. Pure joy. Each in a different way, all necessary parts of one body, one heart beat, one cause. To go and spread the gospel to all of our neighbors and the ends of the earth. Then we can all go home. But untill then there is work to do and we all have a part. Blessings!!!!