Let’s get it done

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9)

Iremember a man came and spoke at Rotary several years ago and he shared the quote about how we, “Win some and we lose some.” Sometimes it feels like all we do is lose. Since December it seems like the Blonde (my wife Jennifer) and I have been stuck in a season of losing. I’ve been thinking about changing my name to Charlie Brown, Eeyore or Debbie Downer. I think it was the MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen that told us, “You can visit Pity City but you can’t live there, so leave Pity City and get it done.” I’m trying but Uhaul won’t send a truck! I’m just kidding but it has been a rough season.

Here’s the deal. God does not respond to our complaints per se, or our pity parties. He responds to faith. Faith often comes down to perspective. Do we believe fundamental precepts like, God is for us, yes or no (Romans 8:31)? When we find ourselves buying a timeshare in Pity City, we need to ask ourselves a question that we see in Psalm 42:5, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God: for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

What the wr iter is encouraging us to do is to focus. Eugene Peterson tells us in his paraphrase The Message is to, “Fix our eyes on God, He puts a smile on our face and we will soon be praising Him again.”

So, why are you so bummed out? Has your perspective gotten skewed? Are you trusting the Lord in your outward circumstance? Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose but “Weeping only remains for the night, joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5)! God’s love for you, His mercy is “created new every morning for you” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

What I’m saying is wake up and get up and be excited about what God has ready and waiting for you as you put your hope in His plan for your life! As my friend from California just told me, “Jesus does not disappoint.”

Solomon had a depressed view of life. In Ecclesiastes 1:2 he said, “Vanity of vanities…All is vanity.” That’s about hopelessness. He says life is all smoke, nothing but smoke.

Before you send in a change of address, before you send for your stuff, before you g i ve into despair, before you give into the stress of life and sign a lease to have Solomon as your roommate can we talk?

Get o ff o f s ocial m edia for a hot minute. Not everyone is eating Mexican food, sitting by the pool and thin. And if you think they are, just go to Walmart. If you feel like everyone or everything has rejected you, listen: there is One who will never reject you and as I said earlier He has a plan for your life.

While life for the Christian is still hard, God is good and as we surrender to His perfect plan we experience joy, peace and strength like we have never had before, we become patient people that have the ability to love others, forgive others, be kind to others, to be gentle and enjoy every day that God gives us. Wow! Who doesn’t want that kind of life? A life filled with purpose! Let's get it done!

He told me to tell you that.