Category: Purpose

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Finding Peace

Finding peace in challenging times is extremely hard. It is exhausting to filter out the cultural chaos of the constant and sometimes conflicting media reports to understand the truth. Making it more difficult is that we live in a time when the truth is relative. There is so much information; you can prove almost anything as true. The saying is: “Figures lie, and liars figure.”

Even as Christians, we are on opposing sides. After Abraham Lincoln’s death, the following note was found in his papers: “The will of God prevails – In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war, it is quite possible that God’s purpose is somewhat different from the purpose of either party.”

During the Civil War, Lincoln met with a group of ministers at a prayer breakfast who tried to encourage him. They told the president that they had prayed that “God would be on our side.” Lincoln corrected them, saying, “No, gentlemen, let us pray that we are on God’s side.”

Remember, God wins.

I rest on one simple fact; God loves me unconditionally and wants the best for me. That is the filter I use to judge all thoughts and actions. We have the Presidential Election, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter protests all climaxing to distract us from our one real focus. Everyone who prays will not get the answer they desire. Peace will not come from the right party winning or the distribution of a vaccine or even resolution of centuries of bigotry and hate. Something else will always rise to take their place. We will never live in a perfect world this side of heaven.

So how do I stop my mind from leap-frogging from issue to issue seeking peace? How do I convince myself that just like the latest car or a better job or a bigger house won’t provide long term peace, neither will solving worldly problems? It is paramount that we continuously strive to eliminate injustice, famine, and disease, but that fight will never end, it will just change venues, and we should change with it. It is part of our Christian charter to fight evil on all fronts.

If you believe that you can not achieve peace and joy until all of the world’s problems are solved, you will remain an unhappy camper until your death. You have to find something above that. You have to find something that is long-lasting and perfect. Folks, it is not here.

No matter how any of this flush out, I rest in the palm of God’s hand. He will not allow harm to touch me. I may suffer, but it will not shake me. For me to put my peace in the hands of non-believers doesn’t make sense. To have the world work out to the benefit of those who do not love Him doesn’t bring me peace. The only peace I will ever have is the peace I receive because I have accepted His way over mine.

The truth remains that had all of us, worldwide, chose to live according to God’s promise, little of this would have ever come to fruition. We would have solved the problems before they became problems; we would have treated each other with love and respect. But we didn’t.

To expect to have peace only after all have been blessed with peace is foolish thinking. My peace comes from my relationship with Christ, and the world’s peace comes from their relationship with Him. When I make my peace conditional to their peace, I lose.

Fight the good fight. Make a positive difference in the world. Never accept inequality or evil. But remember your strength does not come from the fight, but from the God, for whom you fight. Fight for Christ to rule over all, and peace will follow. Both sides can’t win, accept that God’s plan may not be our plan.

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A Journey to Joy

I have had a few tenuous days. At times I become hypersensitive. I let small things become big things in my mind. Like a petulant child, I stamp my feet and demand attention. I hold my breath until my face turns blue, somehow thinking others will stop me. Mostly it entertains the people around me as they await the body to overcome my silliness with its natural desire to survive.  Today, pure joy has filled my heart.

How do we transition from self-centered hypersensitivity to pure joy? Let me tell you about my journey. It started a few days ago when I felt slighted. The curious thing about this act of betrayal is that the person I perceived slighted me, had no idea of the event. You see, it wasn’t a betrayal, it wasn’t even an oversight, it was a logical decision. But I took offense.

The Takeoff

Now, because I see myself as a good guy, I wasn’t going to draw attention to the offense. Really, why would I air my concern, talk it out, realize my stupidity, and apologize? That doesn’t seem Godly. No, I internalized it. I got whiny and selfish and self-centered. I prayed a lot, I hiked a lot, and I didn’t sleep much. I wrote 2,314 words trying to understand it. Emotions are peculiar things; they defy logic. You can absolutely know something is right or wrong, yet feel the opposite. I know my place in the universe, yet I keep getting lost. I feel God’s presence; I can almost feel his touch, but my garbled inner thoughts are what I hear.  As I said, I’m an ordinary all-American good guy.

This quote ricochet through my mind ““Don’t ruin other people’s happiness just because you can’t find your own.”

The Journey

The way I distract myself is to throw myself into a project. This project gives my mind something to do besides vent. It puts distance between me and the problem. The project I launched into was a project for the very same person whom I thought had slighted me. You see, my father gave me an overwhelming sense of commitment. You say you are going to do something, you do it, end of the story. I don’t know if you noticed, but I am a really good guy, so despite the slight, I will keep my commitment.

It is at this point God said, “Thank you for shutting up; now I can talk.” You see, everything I had done up to this point was to explain to God my righteousness. I was selling God from my point of view. Remember, I am the good guy in this story. I am the offended party. I deserve restitution. Job and I had a long talk about this and concluded I was right to feel offended.

Galatians 6:4 “Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else. “

I needed the official company name to finish the project, so I went to my friend’s website to find it. What I found was the friend I dearly love. They have this incredible way of writing that shows the love of God that is beyond description. At that moment, God settled me down and spoke to me. He took the anxiety, fear, self-centeredness, and turned it to joy. I was transformed in a moment.

James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

The Landing

Here is my advice for overcoming hypersensitivity. Find a Godly author who truly speaks to you, that person, whose cadence, tenor, and flow, is in sync with the beating of your heart. The writers in the Bible all speak and think differently. Contemporary Christian authors each have their distinct voice. When you find your voice in the words of another, treasure it, protect it. In times when your own words fail, you can lean on them.

I have mine, and it is a privilege to know them as an author and a friend.

Philippians 2:14-16, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life”

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Jumping over the Bar

Acts 20:35, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

A hard lesson for me to learn is that life has never been about me. As a strong “A” personality, I never really thought about life being about me, as much as I thought it was about being all I could be. There is a slight nuance in that statement.  The nuance is that I tried to optimize my performance with the resources God gave me, but not for the betterment of anyone else. I wasn’t narcissistic, just ambivalent. It was like God set the bar, and it was my job to jump over it. To me, this was a righteous attitude.

The Approach

My approach didn’t intentionally belittle anyone else, although, in hindsight, it was probably a by-product. Other people had their relationship with God, good or bad, and they had their bar. Their performance was their issue unless it hampered my performance. Then I use biblical principles to remove the obstacle, through mentoring or outplacement (I always hated that term). My life was my little private war. We should all play to win, that is the only way to play.

I know the moment it all changed. I had just given a kick-off talk at our annual all-hands meeting. I was looking over the crowd of employees; there were quite a few. The thought came to me, “What about them?”. What about them; they have their private war to fight. Then the light came on. It was never, ever, been about me. It has always been about them.

Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

The Take Off

I don’t know how I could have been so stupid. If we back up and look at this for a moment, we will see that it is intuitively obvious. God’s greatest joy in life is to serve us. I know that sounds backward, but hang with me a moment. God wants us to be utterly dependent on Him. By God giving us what we need, He experiences joy in that we recognize we need Him to accomplish anything. Everything we have, or ever will have, comes from Him. God gets pleasure from us, asking, and then receiving blessings from Him. The caveat to this, less we start to think of God as Santa Claus, our asking has to be within His will. He will not give us things that are bad for us.

How does this translate back to us? It is not a matter of will I, but I will receive joy by blessing others. I started to recognize, in my little way, God had given me resources that I should use to bless others. I now try to do this at every opportunity and receive great joy because I do. Not that they should become dependent on me, they should always be dependent on God, but God could bless them through me.

Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Think of the good feeling you get when you help someone out of a jam. That is a mild version of what God feels when we turn to Him in our hour of need. Then think of a time when someone was too stubborn to accept our help and how that made us feel. Do you not believe God may have some of that same feeling? God heaps resources at our disposal; it may be material resources; it may be spiritual resources; it may be experiential resources; we have a storehouse of blessings waiting to be distributed. We are part of God’s supply chain. If we hoard these resources, eventually, our warehouse will fill up, and our supply will dry up. One of the silly visuals I have is someone angrily running around reorganizing their warehouse so they can store more things. I want to shout “Dude, give some of it away, then you can get more.”

Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

The Finish

God loves us. He wants everything for us. There is no limit to the amount of joy He receives by blessing us if we will let Him.  There is no limit to the joy we can experience if we allow God to work through us. The bar in front of us is to serve others in much the same way God helps us. Be a plentiful resource for others. Get joy from their asking and your providing. Always remember to give glory to the provider of all things.

2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

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Don’t Ring the Bell

Admiral William McRaven gives one of the most inspirational graduation speeches I have ever heard.

The culmination of this speech is his final point -Don’t Ever Ring the Bell. He tells of how a Navy Seal recruit only needs to ring the bell, and he can leave training. He can leave behind the exhaustion, harassment, and no one will think less of him for trying. Applicants have only a 6% chance of being accepted into training and a 25% chance of making it through. Admiral McRaven’s last directive is, “If you want to change the world, never, never ring the bell.”

Tenacity

I was reading Psalms 27 this morning. Admiral McRaven would love David. He would delight in the tenacity of David to have confidence that the Lord will save despite his circumstances. Have you ever known someone who would never give up? Someone, who through pure strength of will, would not give up on something for which they had passion. You half admired them, and half pitied them.

Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Edison is the same man who admitted, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” That is how many failed experiments Edison went through before he invented the light bulb.

Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Jesus said, “With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Our Story

The story that God wrote for our lives before we were even in existence is a life worth living. It is an adventure written by one of the most prolific and gifted authors of the universe. Our story filled with challenges, disappointment, love, joy, overcoming incredible odds, and ends in the most beautiful and breath-taking way you could ever imagine. It ends with the triumphant homecoming of a victorious adventurer.

The story you live is His, not yours. He created your story out of love that you might know Him better. God has lined up the floats, and the bands are warmed up, waiting to celebrate your victory. God does not fail. Do not give up on Him.

Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Our Victory

Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

We are victorious even before we started. When the world pushes back, remember you are already victorious. When dark clouds gather, and the storm is inevitable, you see the rainbow. It has already been written. Don’t look down, look up. Don’t despair over what you cannot see, rejoice in what is to come.

Isaiah 40:29-31, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

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Pandemic Pause

In speaking, there is a handy tool called the silent pause. This pause enables the speaker to fill their lungs with air, allowing the audience to absorb what was said and create pictures in their minds. In Sales, there is an adage, the first to speak after a silent pause loses; that is, they have lost ground in the discussion. You see, people hate silence in a conversation. These drawn-out moments that require us to absorb and think are awkward. One of the reasons the “connected society” is so popular; two people can sit at the same table in complete silence, focused on their phone, and not feel awkward.

Lockdown

Lockdown has thrown the world into a silent pause. Thomas Lecocq, a seismologist at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, stated the volume of the earth’s noises dropped significantly once the lockdowns started. He said it was a unique time in history because now they could study seismic events that they could not in the past. It was like the world implemented a white noise filter.

Trains and buses and factories shut down, people stopped commuting to work, and concerts, sporting events were canceled. Airplane traffic dived as destinations closed. The world went silent.

This pandemic pause created a unique opportunity for all of us. Like many opportunities, it can have a good side and a bad side. The good is a chance to pause and reassess; it is an opportunity to improve and move forward. The bad is that we may have time to look too deeply at ourselves and not like what we find. We may dwell too long in the awkwardness of it.

Listening to the Silence

It took me a while to adjust to the new normal. I usually wake a 4 a.m.; I’m at work by 5. The early quiet in the office allows me to get the bureaucratic tasks under control before the hum of the day starts. It starts to crescendo by nine, and then it is off to the races. Now, well, it is different. The crescendo never arrives; there is just a constant hum. So, I sleep later and work later. I have trouble knowing what day it is. If I need to take a break mid-day, I do. If I think of something in the middle of the night, I get up and do it. I now run on a 24-hour clock. It is decidedly more peaceful, less stressful, less urgent.

But it is filled with silence, at times, mind-numbing, deafening silence.

It took a while to learn to fill that awkward silence in my head with something meaningful. I had to shut off the random thoughts freely flowing through my brain. It was like listening to a crowd of madmen spouting anything and everything. I needed a new order for my thoughts. I had to set goals and channel my thoughts to achieve them.

 Hearing the Music

What brought me back to moving in the right direction was scripture; It has great stories that entertain, it has beautiful poetry and sound advice. When I get stuck in a cul-de-sac of lousy thinking, there is always a verse that pulls me back.  

When I’m thinking along the wrong lines, I go directly to:

Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.”

I’ve gone there so many times I know it from memory.

When I start to think about my inadequacies, I think of:

Moses– He was a murderer, and his people rejected him:

Exodus 2:4, “The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”

But in the end, God spoke to him face-to-face as a man speaks to a friend:

Exodus 33:11 , “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.”

David – The Bathsheba ordeal is mind-boggling:

2 Samuel 12: 7-9 ,”This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down, Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.”

And still, God thought of David as a man after His own heart:

Acts 13:22 ,”And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

There are more; this is just the start. There are great passages that tell stories about great people, all of them flawed, all of them a lesson in Character.

When I start to feel down, or I just need a lift me up:

Romans 8:38-39 ,”For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Matthew 6:25-27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged; for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Psalms 18:28, “My God turns my darkness into light.”

Isaiah 40:31, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Silence is when God speaks. He won’t compete for your attention unless it is absolutely necessary. God will wait for us to calm down, relax, and start to listen. It is there that He speaks to our hearts.

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He’s Got it

We have an excellent opportunity to distance ourselves from the field of humanity. In this turbulent time, we have hope that most people do not. We have an experience that they do not. We have a God with a plan and the power to back it up.

A lot is going on in our lives and the lives of the people around us that we do not like. It could be as simple as having to socially distance ourselves from people we love and we want to be with them. It may be the hardship of losing our job, or worse, someone about who we care. There is ample reason to be concerned.

God made times such as these for people such as us. This time is an opportunity to rise above the white noise of society to deliver a message of hope and peace.

Philippians 2:12-14, “For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and arguing.”

But to do that, we have to believe what we say we believe. All of this is part of a plan; none of this is a surprise to God. All of this is in His control.

It is human nature to want to know why. It is part of our DNA to ask questions with an expectation of getting some form of an answer. There are a lot of unanswered questions out there. How did this start, how bad is it, and when will it end? Will my job be there when it is over? What about my schooling? Will life go back to normal?

God has given His people an incredible opportunity for leadership. He has presented to us a chance to show the world who we are. We need to be the person that doesn’t spend time in idle speculation. We need to be the person who does not waste their time in forwarding the latest rumor. We need to stay calm and confident through all of this that God is in control.

We need to feed the positive force that heals.

At times it will be hard and somewhat irresponsible not to want to be part of the clamor for answers. God will provide the answers when the time is right. Many of the answers are not ours to know. That will not stop some people from proclaiming to know them. But we are different. We do not need earthly answers to questions outside of our control. God will give answers to the people he has put in positions to change things.

In most cases, that is not us. In some cases, it is. If we are part of the solution, our focus should be on implementing God’s plan.

We need to distance ourselves from the gossip and rumors. We need to avoid getting sucked into the void of idle speculation, no matter how sound it might appear. We do not need to know who did what to whom. We need to keep our eyes on Christ. We need to keep our hope in Him. We need to remind ourselves that we are not doing His kingdom a useful service by spreading speculation and stories.

Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.”

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Visions of Heaven

Think of this as comfort food for my soul. Being human, and living on the great blue orb spinning through the space, I think in terms of what I know. We all have our personal view of Heaven. My view might help you paint yours.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

When I think of Heaven, I think of a vast expanse of glory. It is covered in a brilliant white light that has no origin. The sky is azure blue with puffy white clouds; there are streets with light posts that actually work. There are tree-lined boulevards and gentle streams.  There are beautiful mountains and rolling pastures.

I don’t want a grand mansion. I want a small shack on the wrong side of the tracks. I’m a guy who will be elated just to be there. I want to walk down the streets and see the true greats of God’s kingdom. I want to meet Agur and Jabez.  I want to remember people who did the small things in my life that kept me going in the right direction, people whose names I have long forgotten or may have never known. These people are pivotal to my being here. It is not only the strong, great Christians that I will always remember for the years they spent mentoring and modeling for me, but it is also the person who saw me in a single dark moment and cared enough to lift me.

I want to go down to the Pearly Gates every sunset to welcome the crowds of people coming home. I want to help them feel welcomed and loved and appreciated. I want them to feel as I do.

What I want, more than anything, is to be sitting in the park by the lake, or maybe a small patio restaurant off the beaten track. As I eat my pizza or hot dog, I remember the great swell in my heart when God called my name.  As I am lost in a memory too great to describe, a person breaks the silence to say, “Hey, are you, Tomme Stevenson?’. He’d say, we met in Kenya, or Kyrgyzstan, or prison, or Roswell Day of Hope, or on the street outside a MARTA station. Maybe we met in a parking lot in Asheville or a McDonald’s in Atlanta or the mountains along the Chattooga River. I had said something or did something that changed their heart. I want to know that I made a difference for His kingdom.

I want to know that there are people here, embracing the God of the universe, reveling in all His glory, that I helped get a ticket. I want to know that there are people who did not get left behind because of me.

I want my sidewalk café and my morning coffee. I want Gracie, the greatest Springer Spaniel to ever live, by my side. Most of all, I want God to call me His friend.

Revelation 21:1-4, “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

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A Lesson from Solomon

Ecclesiastes 2: 26 “This also is pointless and chasing after the wind.”

This morning I was lamenting my last days of employment. You heard that right; I was lamenting the prospects of retiring and of never working in my chosen field for the rest of my life. Trust me, I have heard all of the “are you kidding?” comments from friends and relatives. I love what I do and have done it for almost a half-century. I have committed to retiring at 70, so I will.

My dad drilled into me the importance of keeping your commitments, all of them. Seventy was a long way away when I made this commitment to myself; now, it is here. Fear not, there will be another season, the Lord works out everything for its proper end.

Ecclesiastes 2: 18-19, “Then I despised everything I had worked for on earth, that is, the things that I will leave to the person who will succeed me. And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish?”

Many of you are far from the finish line. Some of you can relate to my situation, and some can’t. I can’t imagine spending a third of my adult life doing something from which I couldn’t wait to get away. But that is another story for another time. Whether to love your job or hate it, this message is for you.

My lament is along the lines of; who will take my place? Not that I am narcissistic and believe I am irreplaceable, I’m not. I have no great idea or vast wisdom, but I have a place. I am a cog in the wheel. It is not the tasks I do to keep the company running as much as it is what I do to support the people around me. I have friends and relationships that I cherish. Many of these are younger people that would never “hang” with me after retirement. Work is part of the cadence of my life; it provides a purpose, direction, and a sense of accomplishment. That is a lot to leave to someone else.

This morning King Solomon was asked by God to help me understand my priorities. Ecclesiastes 2 was my reading for this morning. I think of some of the greatest names in history; they’re names with extended biographies. We intellectually know about them, but they are pieces of data. Much of what they accomplish has been rewritten by those who followed.

I am afraid that everything I do here on earth will have minimal value. Sooner or later, it will either be surpassed or forgotten. Every accomplishment, and every idea, will turn to dust. What will be left is my eternal impact for Christ.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

Here would be my advice, no matter where you are on your journey, serve only God. Use the position God has given you to move His Kingdom further down the road. Treat your situation as your mission field. It is not the money, or status, or ideas, or accolades that will survive eternity. It is the people you will meet again in Heaven.

Proverbs 16:3-4, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster.”

I will miss the past. I have more anxiety for me than then the ones I leave behind. I will miss them more then they will miss me. God has turned the page in my life; a new adventure waits for me. He will use what I have learned to keep kicking that can down the road.

Colossians 3:17, “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Here is the full passage, and it is worth taking the time to read.

Ecclesiastes 2: 18-26 “18 Then I despised everything I had worked for on earth, that is, the things that I will leave to the person who will succeed me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Either way, he will take possession of everything that I have done on earth, especially where I have excelled. This also is pointless. 20 So I came to be in despair about everything I had accomplished on earth. 21 For sometimes, people who strive to obtain wisdom, knowledge, and equity leave everything as an inheritance to a person who never worked for it. This, too, is pointless and greatly troublesome.

22 For what does a person gain from everything that he accomplishes and from his inner life struggles that he undergoes while working on earth? 23 Indeed, all of his days are filled with sorrow, and his struggles bring grief. In fact, his mind remains restless throughout the night. This is pointless, too!

24 The only worthwhile thing for a human being is to eat, drink, and enjoy life’s goodness that he finds in what he accomplishes. This, I observed, is also from the hand of God himself, 25 for who can eat or enjoy life apart from him? 26 After all, to the person who is good in God’s sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the troublesome task of acquiring and accumulating in order to leave it to someone who is good in the sight of God. This also is pointless and chasing after the wind.”

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Run the Race

I just woke from a dream in which I was talking with Bobby Wright. It is the middle of the night. What made me think of Bobby? I haven’t seen or talked to him in over 50 years. It quickly brought to mind Jack Raikes, Steve Collins, Joe Halterman, and Dennis, I’m sorry I don’t remember your last name, but your image is evident in my mind. All of you have woken me, and I can’t get back to sleep.

Why in the middle of the night am I sleepless for having known all of you? My memory was from a half-century ago when we were all filled with youthful potential. Some like Jack exceeded what I thought they would do, and I never knew that Jack. Others, like Steve, died way too early following a path much too dark. I wanted to talk with that Steve to see if he left this earth with the same kindness is his heart as when I knew him. My lasting memory of Joe was a fight in the school library. He grew up to receive a Grammy in Nashville as a drummer. He had children and grandchildren and just passed away. He doesn’t care, but I was proud of him anyway. Dennis, I have no idea what happened to Dennis. It makes me sad not to know.

Some people are not troubled by growing old. Are they content because they lived a full life and feel complete? Or are they glad it will soon be over because the time was so hard? I don’t fall in either camp. Although I am a Christian and know my fate, I am still troubled.

I have done more in my life then I could have ever imagined, I have traveled the world; I have run big organizations and started small companies. I have rubbed elbows with the greats. Not the greats that you would bring to mind, but the truly great. Men and women with a passion for a cause much greater than I could imagine. People who changed the world I live in, some with inventions, some with ideas. I have volunteered in Prisons and third world nations. I have grown from an angry adolescent to a man chasing God.

Philippians 3: 8, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ “

This, I believe, is my discontent. I have robbed God. I have robbed Him of years on my life. I have deprived Him of my worship, my attention, and my dedication to the plan He had for me. I wish I could say I was ignorant of God most of my life and didn’t know better. But that would be a lie. I knew Him since I was a child. I knew Him and didn’t care. My life was not a series of unintentional sins and mistakes; it was willful indifference. And when I grew tired of being me, He picked me up and welcomed me back into the family.

Ephesians 2: 1-3, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

I cannot pass on. For when I do, I will no longer serve Christ on earth. To cross over too soon would be to deprive the person I could have been. My old self is dead and gone, but the memory of him still pushes me forward.

Ephesians 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

It is not about earning God’s love or salvation. It is about being the person He knew I could be. It is about completing the task He has set before me, He has blessed me with health and resources, so I know He is not done with me.  I must run the race marked out for me, fixing my eyes on Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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I Chose You

John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

Let me tell you a story. I remember it was late fall. I remember that because it was dark early and as I walked from the MARTA station to my destination, it was cold. Not the crisp northern cold, but a Georgia winter wet cold. The type that crawls under your jacket and digs into your bones. I was late meeting a friend that I hadn’t seen in a while. Walking head down against the wind, I walked across the courtyard exiting the station and just vaguely remember seeing a shadow of a man. The voice in my head said, “stop.” It seemed loud and real enough that I came to a halt.

I now looked at the man standing in the cold. He had on a trench coat, but it didn’t look warm. He stood looking into the air, moving left, then right. He seemed uncertain as to what he needed to do next. I’m late. I said to myself and started to move on. All I heard was, “To the least of these…” nothing more.

God doesn’t yell or intimidate; He reminds us of both the great privilege it is to know Him and the great joy we can receive by obeying Him. It wasn’t a command or even a request. It was just a quiet voice of truth.

I looked at the man’s face. This moment was the first time I saw him. You know if you avoid eye contact, it’s not real. But I did see him; his eyes were sad and pain-filled. There were a lot of years in those young eyes. He knew disappointment; they were traveling buddies. He had lost something important, and he was at a loss as to what to do. I knew to speak to him was to take on his burden. Once I knew, I couldn’t turn back. Reluctantly I asked, “Can I help you?”

God is an incredibly loving God. He is amazing. This man’s need was everything to him. It was insurmountable in his circumstances. But to him, it was just another hard day on earth. To me, it was simple. I gave him what I had, and it was more than enough. He stood erect, shook my hand with thanks, and a nod. But his eye gave it away, relief and surrender. I started to walk away, but I stopped. I turned and said, “You know, God really loves you; that is why I am here now.” He smiled and said, “Yes, sir, I truly know that.”

Answer God’s call folks. Be that person. I don’t have words that can accurately paint the picture of how it will change your life forever.

There are big things that God will nag us over. He will plant the seed, he’ll water and fertilize it. God will come back over and over to prune it. He just won’t let it go. Those things we eventually come around to acknowledging. They’re BHAG’s (Big Hairy Aggressive Goals). They take time and energy and planning, but they are worth it in the end.

What I love, and crave, are the whispered moments when God has a single opportunity to share. It is like God says, “Tomme, see that rainbow?” “Look, it’s over there.” And when I turn, it takes my breath away. I stand in awe. These are the rocks in my memorial. I pick each one up and remember a time when He loved me so much He asked me to be in His plan for someone else. The stones are the BHAG’s that I could have never accomplished without Him. The rocks are His way of telling me how much He loves me for the little thing that makes life worth living.

I don’t know that man and he doesn’t know me. But I do remember the emotion of the moment when God rest His hand on my should and said “well done.” Be that person.

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