Reason #526
I am so tired I can't even think right now. I'm running on fumes. Today started early and is ending late. And so I am beyond ready to sleep. Ready to close my really heavy eyelids and shut down for a few hours. Sunday mornings always come so quickly, so there may be a nap on the agenda for tomorrow afternoon.
Aaron and I went to watch an outdoor production of Peter Pan this evening which was really cute. Truthfully, I don't remember much about Peter Pan. I remember the main story line, but watching the performance was new to me in a way because it made better sense now that I'm 25. I'm still not really sure why Peter showed up out of no where to take Wendy, John, and Michael to Neverland, and how even found them, but never-the-less, I understood the internal conflict these characters had. Because Neverland sounded like a pretty amazing place, yet the real world was what the kids knew. It was where they were comfortable, and yet Peter was the other way around. Neverland was his comfort zone, so either way someone was going to have to get out of their comfort zone if they were all going to stay together forever.
Well, I think I can tell you the outcome since Peter Pan has been around since the early 1900's. I don't think I'll be ruining this for anyone. Peter stays in Neverland and the kids return back to the real world. All of their lives go in different directions. Peter's stays the same and the kids' lives change dramatically. But what if they had chosen one place over the other? What if any of them had decided to go and stay outside of their comfort zone? I wonder what their lives would have looked like then, and I wonder if it would have made a really big difference? After all, was it really best for them to stay with what they knew or would have been best to choose otherwise?
On the way home from Peter Pan, I read the fourth chapter of our 'Radical' study about going versus staying. About making excuses and categorizing missions. About viewing the work of the Lord and the advancement of the gospel as a mission reserved for certain people rather than everyone's calling. But Jesus told us to "go" over and over again. He never said "stay" and if you look at how He lived His life, He was a man who was on the "go." He commanded His disciples to spread the gospel to all nations, not just their own.
I thought about this and I thought about Peter Pan. You see Peter lived in this really nice little fantasy world of singing and joy and laughter. A place where people weren't challenged and didn't have to grow up. They were never stretched or pressed but did what they want. And Peter was the prime example of that. And what's more is that Peter was completely self absorbed with what he was capable of doing on his own, always taking credit. And he even led others in singing this defiant song that he would basically never do anything that he didn't want to do, namely grow up. He would live in this fantasy, childish world forever. Keeping himself in a box and ignorant of anything else. And what's more is that Peter was willing to miss out on the real joy of change and of growth.
Aaron and I discussed this challenge tonight and I don't think this will be the only time we'll talk about it. As much as I love reading 'Radical,' sometimes I just want to close it. I don't want to be challenged in these thought processes. I don't want to question my lifestyle, my finances, my career choice, my relationships, or my residence. Why, you ask? Because I am like Peter. I like to be comfortable and stay where I know I'll enjoy being. I basically find myself singing that same defiant song about only doing what I want to do. And so God says "go" and I say, "That's okay, I'm really happy where I am." I'm happy in this comfortable world that I have created. A place where I feel safe and secure. A place I know really well that's full of all of the things I love, my things. And I can just keep following my beloved routine because I call the shots here. A place that I have created and deemed perfect, so I'll just stick with what I know.
But what good does it do for me to just live inside my own little world? To stay here and never leave? What difference does it make? Because what if I decided to be brave and step out of it into a different world? One that didn't look the same, act the same, or operate the same? One that really challenged me and taught me more about who God is? A move that might be quite scary and difficult yet full of adventure and blessing? What if I chose to stay right where I am and miss out on the joy of being His hands and feet and serving like I have been commanded to do? What if I stayed in my own world and never changed a life or, for that matter, never even changed my own life? What kind of life would that really be?
I won't lie, this chapter was a real challenge. By that, I mean it was scary and tough. Because, once again, I realized where I am choosing to abide. I realized how often I respond to "go" with "no." And God let's us decide. He'll let us stay if we want to stay. He won't make us go against our own will. But He asks us to go, and after all that He has done for us, the least we could do is honor and obediently do what He asks of us.
#526 - For a God who stepped out of His own little world, into our world, to save us.
"Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20
Aaron and I went to watch an outdoor production of Peter Pan this evening which was really cute. Truthfully, I don't remember much about Peter Pan. I remember the main story line, but watching the performance was new to me in a way because it made better sense now that I'm 25. I'm still not really sure why Peter showed up out of no where to take Wendy, John, and Michael to Neverland, and how even found them, but never-the-less, I understood the internal conflict these characters had. Because Neverland sounded like a pretty amazing place, yet the real world was what the kids knew. It was where they were comfortable, and yet Peter was the other way around. Neverland was his comfort zone, so either way someone was going to have to get out of their comfort zone if they were all going to stay together forever.
Well, I think I can tell you the outcome since Peter Pan has been around since the early 1900's. I don't think I'll be ruining this for anyone. Peter stays in Neverland and the kids return back to the real world. All of their lives go in different directions. Peter's stays the same and the kids' lives change dramatically. But what if they had chosen one place over the other? What if any of them had decided to go and stay outside of their comfort zone? I wonder what their lives would have looked like then, and I wonder if it would have made a really big difference? After all, was it really best for them to stay with what they knew or would have been best to choose otherwise?
On the way home from Peter Pan, I read the fourth chapter of our 'Radical' study about going versus staying. About making excuses and categorizing missions. About viewing the work of the Lord and the advancement of the gospel as a mission reserved for certain people rather than everyone's calling. But Jesus told us to "go" over and over again. He never said "stay" and if you look at how He lived His life, He was a man who was on the "go." He commanded His disciples to spread the gospel to all nations, not just their own.
I thought about this and I thought about Peter Pan. You see Peter lived in this really nice little fantasy world of singing and joy and laughter. A place where people weren't challenged and didn't have to grow up. They were never stretched or pressed but did what they want. And Peter was the prime example of that. And what's more is that Peter was completely self absorbed with what he was capable of doing on his own, always taking credit. And he even led others in singing this defiant song that he would basically never do anything that he didn't want to do, namely grow up. He would live in this fantasy, childish world forever. Keeping himself in a box and ignorant of anything else. And what's more is that Peter was willing to miss out on the real joy of change and of growth.
Aaron and I discussed this challenge tonight and I don't think this will be the only time we'll talk about it. As much as I love reading 'Radical,' sometimes I just want to close it. I don't want to be challenged in these thought processes. I don't want to question my lifestyle, my finances, my career choice, my relationships, or my residence. Why, you ask? Because I am like Peter. I like to be comfortable and stay where I know I'll enjoy being. I basically find myself singing that same defiant song about only doing what I want to do. And so God says "go" and I say, "That's okay, I'm really happy where I am." I'm happy in this comfortable world that I have created. A place where I feel safe and secure. A place I know really well that's full of all of the things I love, my things. And I can just keep following my beloved routine because I call the shots here. A place that I have created and deemed perfect, so I'll just stick with what I know.
But what good does it do for me to just live inside my own little world? To stay here and never leave? What difference does it make? Because what if I decided to be brave and step out of it into a different world? One that didn't look the same, act the same, or operate the same? One that really challenged me and taught me more about who God is? A move that might be quite scary and difficult yet full of adventure and blessing? What if I chose to stay right where I am and miss out on the joy of being His hands and feet and serving like I have been commanded to do? What if I stayed in my own world and never changed a life or, for that matter, never even changed my own life? What kind of life would that really be?
I won't lie, this chapter was a real challenge. By that, I mean it was scary and tough. Because, once again, I realized where I am choosing to abide. I realized how often I respond to "go" with "no." And God let's us decide. He'll let us stay if we want to stay. He won't make us go against our own will. But He asks us to go, and after all that He has done for us, the least we could do is honor and obediently do what He asks of us.
#526 - For a God who stepped out of His own little world, into our world, to save us.
"Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20