The busy-ness of obedience…
April 10, 2009
In season’s like this, where fear and uncertainty spread like a virus through the masses, it’s easy to see why the words “do not be afraid” appear in the bible some 365 times (depending on the translation). Though I once questioned how “believers” can live in even the most mild state of fear, I realize now that I was sometimes attributing fear to other instinctive emotions that are not necessarily signs of doubt, but can actually be the activity of genuine faith in a time of danger. For that, I repent of my former arrogance and ignorance concerning this matter, and I simply pray through my own times of deep concern… and always find peace in the very moment I clear my my heart and mind and soul of all earthly matters and set my all back on Christ… asking Him not simply to take care of the issue, but far more… to take over all of ME, so that I never again return to a place where I had to reset myself. I pray the same for you. In a faith where His ways are all that matter, I pray for you that His presence in you is truly ALL that matters. From there, as the Beatles quoted mother Mary, “let it be.” Words of wisdom indeed.
I’m in a season of tremendous busy-ness right now… with lots to “let be.” Thus the low activity at JesusDNA over these past few months. Times like these remind me of how grateful I am for the Old Testament record… and for the epistles… and history books and archaeology that prove the incredible obedience through great hardships so many have endured to ensure we would each be blessed with the Gospel… to prepare for similar hardships of our own. So I press through, and thank God that I truly love the type of work I do, as any real artist should, as any true believer should. And I trust that soon — Like Paul during his post-Demascus Road years as an inconspicuous tent maker — God will move me out of this busy-ness into the full activity of preaching the Gospel… from rootops, from temple steps, from seaside boats, from grassy hillsides, from underground caves, and from devices of modern design. I know this work He has me doing now is His will, for reasons of His own, and though I believe I can see His threads weaving through my work, I know it’s far more important that I “live” the Gospel through this season of busy-ness… for the sake of my staff, and my partners, and my friends and family, and for anyone else who may be watching. I believe it was St. Francis Asisi who said (to paraphrase), “In everything I do I live only to preach the Gospel, and sometimes, I will speak.” I get it.
I’m working on a web project that should offer a “rooftop” for every person who lives in my little town of Charleston, SC. It is at GreaterCharleston.com. Give it a look, and maybe it will speak to you as a “proof” of His movement in me, but at very least it should prove that “considering the birds of the air and flowers of the field” are as much a Gospel effort today as they were when He compelled us to do so from that grassy hill at the sea of Galilee. For this, I simply do what He made me to do, and though I weave, I do not spin. Though I clothe, I do not dress up. His beauty is all that I see (see Paul’s words in Philippians 4:8). Cheers in your own season of busy-ness.
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