Theology from a Cloud of Dust

Today was a slow day at work. After three days of running all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey with tools for the demolition company, today the Nextel two-way radios were dead silent. There was nothing to do. That's bad because it means that the other two guys at my work don't work. One of them is the fill in boss for two weeks while the real boss is on vacation. The other is the permanent driver. The real boss always finds work for us to do even on a slow day, these two guys look for ways to goof around. So due to my Christian convictions I'm suddenly self-employed in a warehouse full of tools.
At first they found a soccer ball and kicked it around. I was sweeping. Then they got tired of that and found a softball and had a catch. I was sweeping. Then they hit the jackpot--arcade games the owner stores at the yard. I was sweeping.
On a day when I was well-rested and had spent a half-hour with the Lord that morning it probably wouldn't bother me. But I'm tired and this is ridiculous. I'm behind a push broom choking on a dust storm in a poorly lit hot warehouse. I'm allergic to dust. I wear contacts and the dust is getting in my eyes. A cheer goes up a shelf over--someone got a high score.

I spiritualize my frustration. "God, this isn't much to ask. Couldn't their boss show up unexpectedly? You could do that. Amen." My expectations jump at the sound of every passing car, but the boss's F-150 is nowhere in sight.

But I've got time to think--why does God let these things happen? The storm of self pity slowly starts to abate with these reasons:
1.This is a chance for my light to shine. I like sitting in the air-conditioned truck listening to Rush Limbaugh making deliveries, but my light doesn't shine there. When we're busy, there's no chance for me to live the gospel in front of them. It makes no sense for me to be sweeping and them be to playing games--that's why the gospel gets a chance to shine.
2. I'm not as far along in my sanctification as I'd like to think. It's easy to use a push broom--having a good attitude about it is ten times harder. Shouldn't I be thrilled for a chance to have the gospel make a difference in my daily life? But my knee-jerk reaction is to whine.
3.It reminds me how patient God is with me. I've squandered countless hours being entertained when I should have been working for His kingdom. And God graciously loved me.
4.It's not my job to play judge. My cloud of dust is nothing compared to the cloud of fire those two guys will endure for eternity if they don't come to know Christ. My blend of anger and self-righteousness melt into pure pity.

I'm rebuked. Now I know how the disciples felt right after their suggestion to call down fire on Samaria. I start praying that Christ would come into their hearts instead of the boss coming to the yard.

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Lord willing, one of the frequent elements of this blog is going to be "guest bloggers." I can't be witty and clever all the time, right? I'm honored to have my first guest bloggers be Michael and Katie Hull. They've been married for just a couple of weeks and have now settled down to their doctorate work on chemistry at Notre Dame. Besides being great personal friends, I admire them because they have a passion for blending theology with daily life. I think this note by Michael reflects that. Feel free to ask Mike questions and comment on what he wrote.

We had some families over to our apartment last night. There were both young and old, married and single, with kids, without kids, grand kids and plus. There were new Christians and old Christians; and even Northerners and Southerners. We spent the whole evening talking about our Lord. In an unsolicited manner people shared their testimonies, their trials, and the teaching the Lord has been doing in their life. There was no discussion of the
latest movies or sports game--not a single reference. Believe it or not Katie and I barely said a word, and yet we both left encouraged and knowing that the Lord, in a sense, had prophesied through His people that evening. To be more specific, one family shared how the Lord took everything away from them: job, home, income...and brought them to the point that they were depending upon groceries left on their porch. To use the illustration from
last night, they said God had them in the tool shed and was working the rust off of them, sharpening their axe to go cut in the forest/harvest. This was an encouragement to another couple--now empty-nesters--who has been out of work since March, and just recently been able to obtain a low-level job. They are barely making ends meet, but praising the Lord that He loves them enough to try them in the fire.

Katie and I's hearts resound with the note that trials are hard, no fun, and that working the rust off and sharpening the axe hurts (when you are the axe). Katie's boss makes a great storm cloud, that seems to daily hover over us. And yet, we left refreshed and encouraged, knowing that the Lord is doing His work. We never said a word in conversation last night about our own struggles and what a rough week we had had. And yet the Lord caused His people to sit in our living room and caused His sons and daughters to prophesy in our midst. The exhortation of the night was this: "count it all joy when you encounter various
trials," for the Lord is exhibiting His love in that He loves you enough to purify you; and while you are there, express the humility and teachability enough to learn at the Master's feet. He suffered so much more for you." Can one ask for more from the Lord?

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The following is an exact reproduction of an email forward:

Three Bullets

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an
old shotgun and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out and kill something for dinner. As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit and he shot at the rabbit and missed it. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. As he went further, he saw a wild turkey in the tree and he had only one bullet, but a voice came to him and said "pray first, aim high and stay focused. However, at the same time, he saw deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattle snake. Still, the voice said again to him, "I said, pray aim high and stay focused." So, the man decided to listen to the voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat. The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.
Moral of the story: Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot
high in your goals, and stay focused on God.
Pass this on in order that someone else might be blessed.
Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God knows our
future and that he will not put you through any more than you can bear.
Wait, be still and patient, & keep God first and everything else will follow.

FROM ONE FRIEND TO ANOTHER...


Cast your vote! Which is more tragic?

A. Someone, presumably not under the influence of illegal drugs, seriously forwarded this to my mom.
B. Someone else, presumably not under the influence of illegal drugs, actually tainted the English language by using it to write this forward.
C. You didn't get the full experience of reading that dumb forward because I took out those annoying <<<< marks after every two words that make you scroll down ten times to read one sentence.
D. When you were done reading it, you didn't have a shotgun with three bullets to use.
E. It took you until letter "E" to realize that shotguns don't use bullets.

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No Apologies

I don't apologize for going through phases. If you lived in a magnificent, sprawling mansion with thousands of rooms, wouldn't you have a couple rooms that were your favorite? And when one day you stumbled across an intriguing room you hadn't seen before, you wouldn't apologize for spending more time in that room. A phase is just a room of God's truth that is new to us so there's more for us to learn there. Don't feel silly for hanging out more in a new room. (Don't be extreme either; some rooms aren't designed to be living quarters)

Recently, I've been spending a lot of time in the room of relationships. Relationships: holistic, sacrificial, consistent contact with people for the purpose of pointing them to Christ (that's my sketchy definition, anyone got a better one?). In other words, we spend time with people even when it is not fun so we can make them more like Jesus. God does such a perfect job of relating to me. But why is a healthy, biblical relationship so hard for me to maintain with people? Relationships seem to be everywhere right now--my Bible reading (Christ and the disciples), pleasure reading (C.J. Mahaney's Why Small Groups?), personal life (Sarah) and list goes on. I'm wandering around, drinking in a whole new perspective on the Christian life. And when I get familiar with this room, I'll move to another one--without feeling the least bit sheepish.

Anyone care to share what room they're hanging out in?

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