Oct 15 - Question 1

Out of the wilderness …

and into the Promised Land …

Yesterday we asked the first of four questions – What do you complain about most?

Yesterday, I confessed that I’m constantly complaining about – let’s call it – “busyness.” According to my complaints, I’m continually frustrated by how little I accomplish in a day.

But diagnostically, what does that say about my faith in practice? When I’m constantly focused on what I can accomplish, I’m regularly forgetting God’s power and provision.

How about you?

Here’s question two: 1) Remember to email me your answer, and 2) remember, my answer to this question is below.

Where do you go when you’re hurting?

Some of us plop down in front of the TV. Some of us go to the refrigerator. Some of us escape into a bottle. Some of us try running out of town, thinking a change of location will change the hurt within. Where do you go when you’re hurting?

RIGHT

NOW,

WRITE

ME

YOUR

ANSWER

…

BEFORE

I

SHOW

YOU

MY

ANSWER.

JUST

BELOW

IS

MY

ANSWER.

BUT

I

WANT

YOU

TO

THINK

ABOUT

YOUR

LIFE

ACTIVELY …

BEFORE

FOCUSING

ON

MINE

PASSIVELY!!!

SO

WHERE

DO

YOU

GO

WHEN

YOU’RE

HURTING?

When I asked this question, one friend quickly said, “I know where I go when I’m hurting. I escape into a book. I’m more interested in someone else’s reality than dealing with my own.”

That reminded me of another friend. She’d read at least a dozen cheap novels a week. By her own admission, she couldn’t remember any detail about any book! So why read? She kept trying to escape reality for hours on end.

As I pastor, I know another way to escape reality. I see it all the time. Too many people are self-medicating for this same purpose. It’s an epidemic. Our generation keeps trying to escape … because it’s easier than trying to deal with our own reality.

Is that why I turn on the TV? That’s where I’ve always gone when I’m … tired. (And yes, I said “where I go when I’m tired” rather than “hurting” because busyness and exhaustion are what seem to make me hurt most. But …) when I’m tired and hurting, I constantly plop down on the couch. But here’s the question …

Am I escaping reality?

Or just postponing it?

•      I need to be less busy.
•      That means – as I confessed yesterday – I need to trust the results to God.
•      I need to take a real Sabbath (which means I need to trust the results to God).

In Christ’s Love,

A guy who needs quit escaping to the TV

(actually, we cut cable, but

my substitute addiction is my iPhone)

hmm … maybe I’m …

… a guy who needs to quit trying to escape reality,

and start embracing God’s power to change it!!!