Making Material

Of all the weird things I've thought of lately, it's the fact that the disaster relief efforts in the Gulf are about to change. I've considered this fact in A Third Trip?

One of the weird ideas that popped into my head this morning was something I'd thought of a few months ago: "are there classes where people can learn the basics of construction?" The answer to that question is "yes." The answer is "yes," not just in Google, but also in MSN Live Search and even in Yahoo! Search.

The odd thought I had was whether there are people in the world who have taken classes and training in construction just for doing disaster relief work. I knew somebody who was trained in search and rescue--finding people trapped in debris and rubble. That person must've trained just for that specific ability, is there any reason why somebody wouldn't train themselves just to be able to rebuild after a disaster?

Takeback!

Ever hear the quote: "The best offense is a good defense?" Or was it the other way around: "the best defense is a good offense?"

Perhaps this is the reason why the psalmist writes: "I have hidden your word in my heart / that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11).

I've noticed that in the past couple weeks, my struggle with anger has been single-handed. A downhill battle has ensued because I haven't been relying on God for strength. When I say "downhill" I don't mean a gentle slope, I'm thinking more of a jet-powered luge, bobsled, or skeleton race! We don't just need God for defense in the actual battle, but also for setting up a strategy for that battle.

Having a well-organized strategy won't keep me from being a target (Matthew 12:43-44), but I believe that's where a "hidden word" can be useful. I've used them like spiritual "land mines"--and I've set off a few before and seen what a difference they can make. The right word at the right time can remind me that I am always in God's sight, or it can remind me that God won't ever let me get overloaded (1st Corinthians 10:13). That can be just what I need when I'm struggling.

I could use a few extra "hidden words" in my list. When it comes to resisting the urge to sin, which verses do you like to keep in your arsenal?

Develop

The calling of a lifetime, right? Live the inverted life, right? But what is that life? Is the inverted life just a way to get back to Louisiana and volunteer more? Is it about staying here in Ohio and working to help keep things going here? Is it about praying for the volunteers, the troops in Iraq, or the children of drug addicts? I am finding that the inverted life isn't something that I can apply to others--because I am not that special and I am not better than anybody else. My life is not a standard by which other lives are judged.

Actually, the inverted life is something that each of us has to find.

I believe that this is a "general" calling, something that everybody receives from God is a calling to follow Him (Matthew 11:28-30). The message isn't for specific people, but for "all you who labor and are heavy laden," for anybody and everybody who is carrying their own guilt and sin on their backs. This is a message for everybody.

My calling is no different from yours--to live the inverted life, where we put God above all of our other priorities in life.

Discovered Attack

I've spent the entire day angry, even after trying to leave my anger behind me. The anger seethed in the background for most of the day, and I excused myself from work because I was certain that I would explode if I was given the slightest reason.

I will not blog while I am angry, so I waited all the way until now before I wrote anything at all.

Wouldn't it be nice if humans could forgive and forget? Wouldn't it be nice if we could turn off our memories of when people insulted us or hurt our feelings? I've had trouble with that in the past, and today might be the same. I believe that forgiving is an ongoing process where we must first say: "I decided that I would not become angry about what happened." I believe human memory can be encoded very rapidly from short-term to long-term memory, creating my problem of forgetting. Once an incident gets into my long-term memory, it's there for the long haul. I've only deliberately forgotten one or two things in my entire life. Things that make me angry are hard to forget.

If I am to live the inverted life, I have to be willing to forgive somebody "seventy times seven" times (Matthew 18:15-22). If you do the math, that just means "490 times." That's a lot of times to forgive a person. What the verse really means is "always forgive people who do bad things to you." Keep doing it until you've lost count.

I can't turn my memory off like a faucet or a light switch--that means I can't control when something will remind me of a bad memory. My anger might flare up, my adrenalin might surge, I might relive the whole situation. I might've been livid at the time, but that's when it's time to say:

"I decided that I would not become angry about what happened."

At least for me, forgiving is not a one-time action, it is a day-to-day process. Most days, I don't get reminded of bad memories, but on some days, I have to consciously force myself to relinquish the anger of the past. That is not an easy thing to do, and for me, it doesn't always work either!

I leave you with a favorite quote of mine:

"Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

Positional Play

So what do you do when you're waiting on that call from God? The "sealed move" is that calling whose opportunity is not yet come, possibly a thing that He has "prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10) in the future instead of right now. Maybe God has something that He needs you to do, but there are things to do first. In Chess, the things that you do (build pawn structure, develop pieces, control space) to set up your strategy are "positional play." You do these little things to get yourself in position to make the big move. Once you're ready, then you begin making the big moves that change the course of the game.

The stuff you do to get ready in life may involve study, exercise, preparation, and something else that is paramount: prayer. Without God's guidance, how does a person answer a calling in life anyway?

The inverted life is not about forcing God to accept you for what you are or forcing God to use you for a purpose that you have chosen. The inverted life is about recognizing that God accepts you now and that He is the one who will change you into what you need to be, and set you on a course for what He has chosen. That may be a thing that you do not want, a thing that takes you out of your comfort zone, or perhaps something completely unexpected.

In Chess, the positional play is just as important as the endgame. If you do not set up your strategy the right way, your options will become limited, and you may even lose the game! It is no coincidence that the inverted life mirrors Chess in this: we must "run in such a way as to get the prize." (1 Corinthians 9:24) Just like Chess, the inverted life requires a plan.

Thankfully, God has that part "prepared in advance." It is up to us to trust that plan as we go.