W.I.P. Bins

Have you ever asked yourself, "God, why am I going through this in my life right now"?  Do you ever wonder why we struggle with problems?  Do you wonder why God allows certain things to happen?  Why do bad things happen to good people?

When I worked in an automotive plant, I worked for the Materials Department.  Part of my job was to order enough W.I.P. bins to meet the needs of production in the plant.  What's a W.I.P. bin you ask?  It stands for Work In Progress.  Raw material would come into the plant and get processed.  Sometimes, when that part still required processing, it was put into these W.I.P. bins until it reached the final process of manufacturing.  

I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am not perfect.  This might come to a surprise to some of you, but sarcasm aside, I am a work in progress.  I am being processed from what I once was to what God wants me to become.  But what does God want me to become?

In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul says to the church, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  He goes on to say later in the letter, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:9).  See, we all start in this raw form which is our sinful nature.  There is no one that is different in this world. (Romans 3:23)  We all start off in the darkness of this world.  Paul says to Titus, "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." (Titus 3:3)

However, when we accept Jesus Christ into our life, we enter into the W.I.P. bin of life.  We become a work in progress. 

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:21-24)

 We constantly have to remember that the old life is dead and the new life is alive in us.  We are going from our raw state of sin and being transformed by the Holy Spirit into a person of light, not by our own doing, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us.  We don't deserve to be light bearers, but God grants it to us despite what we have done or what we could do through grace.

The beauty of this W.I.P. bin of life is that we have a hope despite what happens in our life.  Paul puts it to Titus like this:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

What a joy of being a work in progress. We have an eternal hope.  So why do bad things happen to good people?  Why do we struggle?  I believe that it is all a part of the process to become more like Christ.  Good things happened to Jesus.  He was worshipped as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem.  Bad things happened to Jesus.  He was beaten and bruised. But He still kept going because He saw the Father's purpose in it all ... and it was for us.

I don't know what you are struggling through today.  However, realize that you're a work in progress when you have Christ in your life.  That means that no matter what you are struggling with, keep going because there is hope.  We get to spend an eternity with the Eternal God who loves us so much that He sent His only son to die for us. 

So ... in my imperfection, I climb willfully into this W.I.P. bin called life and strive to be more like Christ despite the good, the bad and the ugly.  I have hope!

Difficult to Trust

Life doesn't always go as you want it to go.  Sometimes, you try to control things and try to force things a certain way.  But you cannot always control what happens in your life because you are not in this world all by yourself.  You share it with the people around you and they influence you and if you let them in, they can change the course of your life whether you like it or not.

I didn't always want to be a pastor.  Actually, for the longest time, I wanted to be an airline pilot.  "This is your captain speaking ... " but because at the time my eyesight wasn't good enough (.4 of to be exact) of what was the allowable limit at that time in aviation transportation, I didn't get to follow my dream.  I was disappointed for years.  I was even lost about what to do.  There were a couple of times when I heard God calling me into ministry, but I wanted to be a pilot ... not a pastor.

The thing is, I chose to submit my will to God's will when I became a Christ-follower.  That meant that I had to let Christ in.  That meant that I was giving up my will for His will for my life.  He wanted me to be a pastor ... and after some stubborn arguing with God, I wound up eventually going to Bible School and now find myself enjoy ministry in a church as an Associate Pastor.

I also let someone else into my life who I eventually married.  That didn't go as I had planned either.  I had expected it to be a husband and a father but because of situations beyond my control all that came to an abrupt end and finalized with divorce.  Those are the moments that are hardest to accept.  Those are the moments when you are challenged the most.  I would love to say that I came out of it with flying colours, but it took a while for me to bounce back from that situation.

The truth in all of that was that God never left me.  He never abandoned me in my struggle.  He allowed me to go down the road that I went, and even though I didn't know it, He was still with me!  That's because God loves me just like he loves you!

After my separation I had resigned from the church where I was a Youth Pastor.  That was just one more thing that I never expected that I would have to do in my life.  However, in doing so, I had the distinct privilege of speaking one more time to an amazing youth group.  The words that I left with them which still stick with me today are from Proverbs 3.  Verses five through seven say,

 ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
      do not depend on your own understanding.
 ⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
      and he will show you which path to take.
 ⁷ Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
      Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Little did I know that God was going to use those words which I was leaving for the youth to bring me back to a place where He could once again impart into my life and lead me.  I learned what God's Grace is really all about and I was humbled.

If you are going through a struggle, a situation that is impossible, or a low spot in the journey of your life, please realize that you do not walk alone.  God is with you!  He is standing right beside you and He is there whether you are aware of His presence or not.  Don't give up!  Keep trusting God to lead you and look to Him because He will direct your path!  Press on!

101 to 1 Odds

Well, I am at the churches office on a Sunday night where we normally hold MERGE, our young adult group.  It is rainy, cold and windy out and as you can probably guess, if I am on here, that means the people that I should be ministering to never showed.

I often wonder sometimes if our efforts are like the weather.  When it is sunny and warm, do we feel like giving it our all or do we have a cold and rainy day when we just want to stay in and hide from the elements.  My feeling is that we need to give it our all and let our heart shine no matter what we feel like doing.  It goes back to the whole idea of Colossians 3:23 which says, "Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly as though you were working for your real master and not merely for humans"(GWT).  That said there are times when you just have a hard time kicking your butt into gear, but when push comes to shove, if you remember who you're doing it for, then it makes it worthwhile.

As I said in my Friday blog, I preached on Rahab and her faith and how it was credited to her as righteousness. (James 2:25)  She put her faith into action.  She knew that faith without works wasn't faith.  It was just a thought!  I know that for me personally, that I want to put my faith into action.  I want to do the things that please God because that is who I am living for.  I don't always get it right, but at least I try and give it my best.  That's all God requires of us, that we give our best.

Back to the empty room ... My desire is that this room is filled with a plethora of young adults that have a desire to seek God in all they do.  Whether there is a 101 or only one, I will give my best effort because I know that I don't do the things I do to please the one, but I do it to please the One who has called me to serve the one.  I guess that means that I will speak to myself tonight, but every change has to start somewhere.

Let's be the one ... hoping for 101.