Suck it Up! …sayeth the Lord?
Let me start by saying…I’m tired. I have three jobs, two kids (in diapers), one (loving) wife and an insane amount of things that need to get done by next Friday. My guess is that many of you can feel my pain. Even though I’m sure the pressure that you feel is different, my guess is that it is likely to the same degree.
The fact is, we work in a very fast paced world that is performance oriented and demanding without apology. The fact is that somewhere inside of this craziness that we call life, God has a plan for us and we must seek to follow Him. So, how do you follow God’s plan for your life in the midst of a high demand, performance oriented, suck-the-life-out-of-you society? Well, basically I think you just suck it up and follow Him.
Let me explain from Haggai 2.
At this time in Jewish history the Jews have just come out of Babylonian captivity. They returned to Jerusalem and started to rebuild the temple (knowing it was first priority). They flaked out, became selfish, and now 16 years later the temple is still in ruins. Then Haggai comes on the scene as the first prophet in about 85 years and kicks them around a little in chapter one. Now, in chapter two they have started to rebuild the temple again. They are only four weeks into a four year building project and they are already burning out because there is so much work to do. Here’s what Haggai has to say.
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.
Haggai 2:4-5 (ESV)
Be strong. Or as I read it, suck it up.
God calls us to tough things. If following God were easy, we would have no need for His guidance or the presence of the Holy Spirit. But, God asks us to think big, to live large and to follow His plan.
When following God’s plan for our lives gets tough my advice is, be strong and keep going, fueled by the very presence of God that drives out fear and despair.
Check out this post on the need to stay strong. I happened on it after beginning work on this post, funny how God works.
June 10th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Thanks for the link to my blog… I’ve been “lurking” on yours for a while and figured I’d post a comment!
Thanks for a great post!