Three Star Night

It's important to live with clear goals in mind. It's far too easy to drift through life: a few hours wasted on the Internet, a few years wasted at a job, decades of neglecting a family. Without goals, we become lazy and complacent. At the same time, it's important to make sure we have the right goals. Without a goal, we won't have direction, but with the wrong goal, we'll be headed in the wrong direction twice as fast. That's what a friend recently reminded me.

I'm a very pragmatic person. Have a goal; get it done. This is awesome for things like resumes and filling job descriptions. However, it's less awesome in our Christian walks.

First, it's completely bottom-backwards. The whole point of Christianity is that we didn't have a goal, we didn't know what we were doing (though we thought we did), and even if we wanted holiness for ourselves, we weren't able to accomplish it for ourselves. Christianity is not goal-oriented, it's God-oriented (wow, did I really just say that?) It's horribly cheesy (watch for the wristbands- it will be the next big thing!), but it's kind of true. And if that's the foundation of our faith, what makes us think that things will suddenly change post-conversion? It is by grace that we're saved, and it's by grace that God will finish the work that he's started in us. It's not about what we can accomplish for ourselves while pretending we're accomplishing it for God.

And that's the second thing. What my friend made me realize is that a lot of the time, we have the wrong goals. A lot of the time, even our "spiritual" goals aren't spiritual at all. Take something like singleness. Singleness is a great thing. Those who are single can use it as a "training ground" to become a better future spouse or to forge a better career. We can even phrase it in terms of spirituality: become a better future godly spouse and forge a better career for God's kingdom. It sounds godly, doesn't it?

But what happens if God doesn't give us a spouse, or he doesn't give us an awesome career? Does that mean our time of singleness was all for naught? Well, we know that God doesn't waste our time. We know that He has a plan. We also know that there's a good possibility that His plan doesn't include marriage or it doesn't include a great career. Ergo, maybe our goals are wrong. Maybe even the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. Maybe we shouldn't say we will do this or that tomorrow or the next day, when we don't even know the number of hairs on our heads.

What if we made sanctification itself our goal? What if we focused on the process and not the destination? What if we focused on enjoying and savoring and glorifying and living in the presence of God instead of trying to obtain something for ourselves? What if we were OK with not having the answers and not knowing the destination? What if we let God pick for us? Wouldn't that mean that we would always have what we want? That God will give us the desires of our hearts? That our cup will overflow?

I kind of like seeing. I want to know the future. I want clear goals for myself. I want to know where the finish line is. But the finish line is Christ Himself, faith is hope in things unseen, and I have a long ways to go. I don't have that kind of faith, but I do have faith that God can give it to me. And until he does, I will boast of my weakness because it is God who will give me strength.

Of course right after my "I'm gong to get back to a regular posting schedule!" post, I sort of didn't post on time. But I have a good reason! For the past few days, I was traveling to celebrate my friend's bachelorette party and wedding! Scarily enough, I'm getting to that age where I'm starting to go to weddings where I actually know the person getting married, instead of the bride or groom being some relative of one of my parents' friends. This Saturday was the first of that kind of wedding, and my second one will be in August.

As I sit here (single) and sandwiched between two of my friends' weddings, I've taken to thinking about the grand scheme of life (as I'm apt to do). Weddings, particularly like the one I just attended, are exciting and beautiful. They represent joy and families, and coming together, and new beginnings. But there's a bit of a somber aspect, too. "Till death do we part" is an awfully indeterminate (and hopefully long) time. The thought of yoking myself to another sinner for that long is cause for a bit of trepidation, for both our sakes- and that's before you add baby unregenerate sinners to the fray!

Being single isn't the most fun thing in the world, but at the same time, when I think about the responsibility and challenge of marriage, being single isn't a bad place to be. It's at times like this that I'm glad that God's got everything worked out in advance.

While singleness and marriage pose very different challenges, the approach to either is the same, really. If it seems impossible to be the perfect single person or to be the perfect wife/ husband, that's because it is. Thank God we don't have to be! Christ's perfection covers our imperfection. Christ's perfect plan and timing cover our misdirection. Christ's wisdom covers our ignorance.

So in singleness and in marriage, we can learn the secret to contentment and joy. Praise to Jesus Christ who gives us the victory, and we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

Dear Readers,

Wow, that was a longer hiatus than I intended. If anyone's still sticking around, I owe you my apologies and my thanks.

Truthfully, I had been wondering what to do with the blog for some time now. A lot of my material came from my old pastors and my friends from my old church in Los Angeles. Sermons, Bible studies, conversations, jokes, and the like. After I moved, it became harder and harder for me to write the blog- not only had I lost the main sources of my material but I also had to deal with struggles of my own. It has not been an easy year. But in any season of life, no matter how difficult, there is grace. If I had to summarize my year, I have no choice but to say that I have been blessed beyond what I deserve. It is to continue testifying to God's grace and blessings that I want to continue to blog.choice but to say that I have been blessed beyond what I deserve. It is to continue testifying to God's grace and blessings that I want to continue to blog.

I enjoy writing. There's a certain power in words: in the story and in the telling. The world was spoken into existence, and I believe that when we use words, we reflect a part of the Father's nature, the divine image that He so graciously gave us when he breathed life into dust. Writers are compelled to write, and so I shall.

That being said, I'm not sure how the format will play itself out. I might go back to the comic format, but for now I just want to write. I have some ideas in my head that I would like to pen first. It's been awhile, and I want to get back to a regular posting schedule of anything at all before I restrict myself to a certain format. There may be changes, but I hope that you will stick with me.

Thanks,
Jo

PS I just got "Practicing Affirmation" in the mail yesterday, so you can expect another book review in the coming weeks as well!