This morning, I was reminded of a very frustrating topic by a good friend. We were discussing how to accomplish a particular goal in our ministry here at IAA, and I realized that I was getting increasingly annoyed and frustrated by the circumstances surrounding this issue. After getting off the phone, I started wondering why I had gotten so frustrated and how I could move past these frustrations. Here are five steps I’ve come up with to understand and deal with frustrations:

1. Recognize Frustrations

For me, my back becomes tense, my stomach curls up in a knot, and my throat tightens. What are your signals? Recognizing a frustrating situation is the first step to dealing with it. Frustration tends to come as a result of assuming responsibility that doesn’t belong to us. So, the next step in dealing with it is:

2. Stay Humble

We get frustrated because we assume responsibility for something that doesn’t belong to us. This often points to a sinful attitude of pride: We believe that we know better or can handle better than the person(s) legitimately responsible for something. This is why Peter instructs us to, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7). To be humble is to recognize that I am nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing apart from God. Recognizing this moves me one step closer to the next step:

3. Cast Your Cares on God

God cares for us, and He is waiting eagerly for us to ask Him for help! The idea of casting your cares on God is a common theme, but what does it really mean? The Greek word used in 1 Peter 5:7 literally means “to throw upon.” The idea is that we are relinquishing responsibility for these things which are frustrating us and committing them to God. How do we do this?

4. Pray!

Nehemiah provides a positive example for us. In response to profound frustrations throughout his experience, he prayed. When he got news of the state of Jerusalem, he prayed. When confronted with opposition, he prayed. His primary, first response to stress and anxiety was prayer! We can learn much from the contents of his prayers as well.

5. Recognize God’s Promises

Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11 begins, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.” Nehemiah recognized that God is faithful to His promises and to His people! As the author of Hebrews reminds us, “For he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”" (Hebrews 13:5-6). If God is for us, who can be against us?

Nehemiah then recited specific promises God had given His people. We should do the same. By memorizing and claiming God’s promises, we strengthen our faith and drive away our frustrations.

How do you deal with frustrations?

We serve a great God!!!

“He is not the God of the ‘half-empty’ or the ‘half-full’ in our lives. He is the God of the ‘Exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think.’

“His will for is not just joy but ‘great joy’
Not just peace but the ‘peace that passes understanding.’

Not just love but ‘fullness of love.’

Not just to be a conqueror but to be ‘more than a conqueror.’

“When he fills our cup, it is overflowing.
When He flows through us, it is as rivers of living water.</br
When He meets a need, he does it out of the riches that are in Christ.”

(Roy Lessin, minister, co-founder of Dayspring cards)

“It is by beholding the glory of Christ by faith that we are spiritually edified and built up in this world, for as we behold his glory, the life and power of faith grow stronger and stronger. It is by faith that we grow to love Christ. So if we desire strong faith and powerful love, which give us rest, peace and satisfaction, we must seek them diligently beholding the glory of Christ by faith. In this duty I desire to live and to die.

“On Christ’s glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy.”

- John Owen, The Glory of Christ (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 7.

Oh, that we might take our eyes off of the world and put them on Christ! In order to look earnestly at Christ, we must earnestly stop looking at the “carnival of counterfeits” the world parades constantly in front of us. We must put down the TV remote, turn off the movies, silence the music, shelf the books, and unplug our electronics. Only then, in the stillness and solitude of own Gethsemane, will we really begin to appreciate how lovely and wonderful and completely, totally indispensable Jesus is.

HT: Of First Importance

This summer is shaping up to be the best, most significant, most awesome summer I’ve had yet. And that’s something, because my summers tend to be pretty good!

God has truly opened the storehouses of heaven and is raining on me blessings like I could never have even imagined.

First of all, He led me through my authorities to reassess my life purpose and develop a greater sense of vision and direction. I did this and for the first time came up with something that was specific, spot-on accurate, and highly actionable. This was a riveting, exciting discovery. Truly exciting.

Then, my senior leaders arrived for Quest. As I’ve mentioned before, Quest is my life. My baby. The message and vision of Quest are closely aligned with my personal message and vision, and my experiences with Quest have consistently been tremendously fulfilling. The senior leaders are the core of each summer’s programs—they are the ones who make the program happen, who guide and direct the team leaders, who handle many of the various responsibilities, and who end up doing quite a bit of the counseling and one-on-one time that is a hallmark of our program.

As I spent time with the group leaders (Ryan, Cameron, and Jonathan) and their Assistants (Jesse, Matthew, and Ryan) I rejoiced greatly to find a serious, sober-minded, mature set of men. These guys all had a clear sense of their burden and a passion to fight the same battle. The level of unity and the level of likemindedness was staggering. We bonded, and I thank God for sending me such an amazing team to work with.

This past weekend, the team leaders arrived. As we got to know each other and started working through orientation and a hike/camp-out, I was excited to detect a level of unity and bonding that was significantly higher than I had anticipated. These guys have a high level of drive and a common sense of vision and passion for reaching young men with the message of Christ.

Over the past few days, I’ve stood amazed as God has worked through events, through opportunities, and in my teaching to build these guys up to a high degree. God has answered my fervent prayers and blessed us enormously. He has given me a greater degree of joy and of insight into the Scriptures than I’ve seen before and has filled my heart to overflowing with a raw passion for His message.

As I am continuing to strive to improve the Quest program and am looking forward to Quest 2009, God has blessed with me deep insights into how this program works and how I can tweak it to improve.

These blessings are not financial or material. They are not the sort of "blessing" most of my peers are seeking and asking for. Indeed, why are they asking for it? To spend on their own lusts, as James says. "For many, of whom I …tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." (Phil 3:18-19). My heart cries within me when I see young men my age spending their lives amassing better cars and faster computers and more music and girls and entertainment. They may claim to be Christians, but their treasure reveals their hearts: Their god is their desires. They are set on these earthly things that will all burn up an instant. When they die, what will they be left with? An eternity in hell? I seriously question the state of their souls when their love is so evidently vested in earthly matters and their affections so keenly directed away from God. I want to grab these young men by the hair (ala Nehemiah) and shake them and say, "Good heavens! Do you see it? Don’t you see what you are doing? Don’t you see that you are wasting your life? Can’t you see the end of this? Can’t you see that there is something better than all this?"

For my citizenship is in heaven, and from it I await my Savior. I’ve kissed this world goodbye. They can have their toys—I have found something that is far more satisfying. I have found a treasure worth selling all I have to claim. I have found a joy, a satisfaction, a gladness that is so rivetingly amazingly, awe-inspiringly incredible that words can not measure it. It is like the difference between a ditch on the side of a road and the Grand Canyon. Sure, you can be happy with nice toys. That might be compared to a small rise in a field. This joy I have in God is more like the Rocky’s or the Alps or Everest.

John Piper’s analogy is highly relevant: He explains the nature of Evil by saying that it is like standing at the fountain of living water (God), a beautiful waterfall of fresh, satisfying water, and tasting some water than spewing it on the ground, exclaiming with disgust, "Bleh!" and walking away into the middle of the desert of the world, digging into the ground, pressing our lips onto the dry dirt, and saying, "Yes, this is fun. This is pleasure."

NO!!!

I am experiencing that fountain of Living Water. I am experiencing the real blessings of living in God’s will.

If you are a young person reading this, I want you to consider how you spend your time. What are you doing this summer? Why? If you are not actively doing God’s Work, you are missing out on the best life has to offer and you are in serious danger of eternal condemnation. "Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

If you are a parent reading this, consider carefully how you are guiding and guarding your son or daughter. If you endeavor to keep them safe, to protect them, to give them a comfortable life, you are complicit in destroying their life. I say this with all seriousness: Scripture emphasizes that teachers are subject to extra scrutiny and are held to account for the impact of their teachings on their students. Jesus clearly stated that "For whoever would save [protect, preserve] his life will lose [destroy fully] it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."  (Luke 9:24). To many Christian parents are raising their sons and daughters in a safe, comfortable manner, protecting them from physical harm or inconvenience, supplying their monetary needs, and setting expectations of them to continue in that path. Is it any wonder they leave the faith?

A lot is at stake here. Recognize it. Embrace this opportunity. Seek God’s Kingdom above all else!! Go out and win one for God!

My good friend Sarah quoted me:

“God is good - and not in the cliche, rubber-bracelet sort of way - good in a massive, magnificent, epic, Rocky-Mountain-snow-capped-peak sort of way.”–Sam Kordik

And to add to this with a thought from my journaling yesterday:

"Life is good because God is good. When I get frustrated, upset, mad or offended, it is because I have lost sight of God’s goodness."

HT: Sarah Perkins 

*It does feel wierd to be quoting someone else quoting me; however, this is a great quote (I think!) and it is important to remember.

"In other words, worship is right affections in the heart toward God, rooted in right thoughts in the head about God, becoming visible in right actions of the body reflecting God. These three stages of worship from inner essence to outward display can be seen in three texts:

1. "First, Matthew 15:8-9: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me." So if worship is not from the heart, it is vain and empty, meaning it is not worship. That means the essence can’t be outward. The essence of worship is affection, not action.
2. "Second, John 4:23: "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." Notice, the Father seeks worship in spirit and truth—right affections rising for God, rooted in right thinking about God.
3. "Third, Matthew 5:16: "Let your light hsine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." God intends for his gory to be public. He did not create the world so taht his glory would remain incognito. And he does not redeem people so that they will have merely private experiences of his presciousness. His aim is that his glory be openly reflected in the deeds of his people, whose thoughts reflect his truth and whose affections reflect his worth. Worship is seeing, savoring, and showing the glory of all that God is for us in Jesus Christ.

"The first and ultimate goal of missions is that this worship happens among all the nations of the world—that God’s glory and greatness find a fitting reflection

(from John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 2003. pg. 207).

Guys love martial imagery. We can relate to it. I was studying this morning in Ephesians 5-6 and came across some encouraging insights:

"Finally,be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might."

We are to be strong (obviously) but our strength doesn’t come from ourselves. As I am feeling weak and exhausted, this is an encouraging concept. My strength to keep going, to keep serving, to keep "walking" (an interesting verb used three times in chapter 5), this strength doesn’t rely on my fitness or preparation. I am to be strong in the Lord, and my strength is derived from His might. And what a mighty strength this is! The might of God that created the universe. The might of God that has won battles, parted seas, stopped the sun, brought rain, brought drought. The might of God that plagued Egypt. The might of God that has stopped lion’s mouths and changed king’s hearts. It is so easy to let our familiarity with Scripture dull the impact of these memorable stories. We need to think about them; to let the amazing-ness soak in: We do not serve a tame God, and He is not bound by the limitations of a frail human form. When we talk about the "Strength of His might," we must realize what an awe-inspiring, terrible power we are invoking. And this is the strength that drives us. This is the strength we have to keep going forward, to keep pursuing Him.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

In peaceful America, it is evident that we don’t have a physical conflict. This external peace has a way of lulling us into complacency and ignorance. The reality is grim. We do wrestle against the "power of the air" whether we realize it or not. The spiritual conflict is a reality and ignoring it is a fatal error. The enemy is winning because we have decided, subconsciously, not to even fight.

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm."

The whole point of the armor of God is defensive. It is a necessary part of our Christian life in order to continue resisting the attacks of the enemy. It is necessary so that when we have done all we can to fight and resist, we can continue to stand firm without being pushed over. It is our last stand and it gives us the power to hold out indefinitely. We can defeat the enemy, if we would be willing to keep standing (which is without a doubt a hard thing to do). The ONLY way we can keep standing is with the armor of God.

When we are at the end of our ropes, having done all, we can stand:

…with the knowledge of the truth

We know who wins! We know the truth of our strength; we know the truth of our destiny; we know the truth of our purpose; we know the truth and the truth sets us free.

…with the assurance of our righteousness

Our righteousness is not something we earned and is not dependent on our ability to walk the line. It is was purchased by Christ at the cross; he paid the price and His righteousness and perfection is ours!

…with the peace of the gospel

We do not need to be unsettled or anxious. The largest questions of all, the questions of purpose and destiny, the desire for a community and an identity, the anxieties of unknown futures and the guilt of unsure pasts, all of this has been answered by the gospel. The gospel (literally the good news) is a message of hope and direction, and is a radical call to all of our life. It is the message that Christ has secured for us the "peace that passes all understanding." He has not given us a spirit of fear but "of power and love and self-control."

…with faith to believe in the future and see the unseen

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Next to Hebrews 11:1, in my Bible, I have several different notes scribbled in the margins. Sometime during Quest 2007, I wrote, "I believe God is in control. God wants me to succeed in His service." Faith is how I know God is in control. Faith is how I know and can act on the belief that God will make me successful. Faith is what enables us to keep resisting the doubts and temptations of the enemy. How do we get faith? "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Scripture is the fuel for our faith. In order to keep resisting the enemy, we must immerse ourselves in the Bible!

The Word of God is our sword. Recently, I saw a movie about the Scottish resistance led by William Wallace. This was a time when strong men (how come the Scots come up with so many real men?) fought with swords and shields. I can’t imagine going into a real battle without a sword; it would be foolhardy. One of the compelling scenes in the movie was when William Wallace was asleep and he heard a twig break. He slept with his sword and he heard the twig break and grabbed the sword. That must be how close God’s word must be to us. It is our weapon! We are in a time of war and we must not let it go. We must keep the Sword close at all times; we must study to wield it well, spend time with it, immersing ourselves in until it becomes an extension of our spiritual arm. We must keep Scripture by our side when we go to sleep, when we hang out with friends, when we are going to the store.

It is easy to think of spiritual warfare as being part of frontline ministry. It is easy to think of it as being something to deal with when we go on a missions trip or run a summer camp or go evangelizing in the inner city. We must make the mental connection, however, that it is a reality of all of our lives. If we make the mistake that we are in a safe environment and relax our guard, we stand ready to be killed. Our enemy is ruthless, experienced, efficient, and an expert at deadly covert operations. We must always stand firm, always be aware of the fight we are in, and always walking with the "Armor of God" on and our Sword at the ready.

Paul ends this section with the exhortation to keep "praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints." The prayer must be at all times meaning constant. We should be praying when we get up, when we go to sleep, when we walk to work, when we sit down to eat, when we are talking to friends, when we are hanging out, when we go shopping and when we are studying. Prayer must be constant. We must keep alert because the enemy will be trying to attack us. We must have perseverance to keep on fighting.

Ways to Keep Strong

• Wear the armor! (study this passage, study the components of the armor, know them inside and out).
• Pray regularly! (Especially for other Christians).
• Read about heroes of the faith! (The example of men like Paul, Augustine of Hippo, Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, WIlliam Borden, and Jim Elliot can be encouraging and inspiration to us as we keep fighting!)
• Recognize the reality of the spiritual warfare going on around us! (The books This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis are must reads in this category).

Last night, I watched a couple of short video clips for Hillsong United’s I Heart Revolution CD. I was struck by the message and these quotes

“Every generation needs a revolution.” “To be saved costs us nothing. To be a disciple costs us everything.”

and

“It’s about loving God. It’s about loving others. It’s about being light in dark places. It’s about being the church. It’s about being His hands and feet. It’s Our call, it’s our mission, and the time is now.”

I was chatting with a friend about these quotes and we got to talking about ministry and the needs all around us and the need to LOVE with God’s LOVE. Then we got to talking about what we would do if we knew we had only one day left to live.

I didn’t have a good answer at first, although I found one eventuallyâ��one having to do with ministry, missions, making a difference. But the thought hit us…

Why wait until we have only one day left?

My friend said:

“So…the likelihood is that we have more than one day……Can I take what I WOULD do with my ONE DAY…and apply it to my ONE TOMORROW. (I only have one of those you know).”

The next 5 minutes of your life are the most important 5 minutes! Your whole life up to this point has been preparing for the next 5 minutes!

Instead of thinking about “Who am I going to be in a year?” ask yourself, “Who am I going to be in the next 5 minutes?”

My friend challenged me, “We get so thoughtful about the future that we make excuses for the present.”

So: What are you going to do today? What about your next 5 minutes? Who will you be?

You change your world, I’ll change mine, and we’ll meet in eternity! Deal?

I was reading the April issue of The Digital Journalist and was particularly inspired by the article “An Opportunity Lost” (read it here).

The author, Dick Kraus discusses the coverage of the Ethiopia famine crisis. His newspaper won the Pulitzer that year for International Reporting on the famine, but the Pulitzer for photography went to another journalist, Stan Grossfeld. Kraus draws a comparison between his paper’s photographer and Grossfeld. He had this nagging feel that his paper’s photographs were boring, unimaginative, and missing something. When their photographer returned, he described what it was like over there:

Because they entered Ethiopia on Government Visas, they were required to wait at their hotel for a government vehicle with an escort to pick them up and take them to a government approved relief camp. They could work unimpeded but their time in the camp was limited to a few hours each day and they couldn’t go off on their own at any time.The result was that they spent a lot of time at a top rated hotel in Addis Ababa.

Later in the article, Kraus describes Stan Grossfeld’s experience. It was quite a bit different:

Stan told how he and one reporter were denied visas by Ethiopia. Not to be deterred, the two of them were able to get to neighboring Sudan and under cover of darkness, they hiked across the border. They didn’t have boxes of camera equipment nor did they have suitcases with clothes. They carried the bare minimum of equipment, film and clothes in backpacks. The stayed in no fancy hotels. They came back to Boston weighing much less than when they started out.

The first day in Ethiopia, they came across a large group of refugees who were preparing to leave their drought stricken village to look for food. Grossfeld and the reporter joined them as they set out. After several days of trekking across the desert, they came upon a ramshackle collection of tents. This wasn’t the government sponsored refugee camp where the Newsday team was brought, that managed to get daily food and medical supplies, albeit scanty. This was an ad hoc assemblage where the occasional truck that got past the marauding war lords was set upon by desperate refugees hoping to get a morsel of food to feed their starving families.

I drew two lessons from this story, one as a photographer and one as a Christian.

As a photojournalist here at ALERT, I am tasked with telling a familiar story. It is easy for my photographs to become bland and repetitious, it would be easy for me to go out and check off my list of photos, repeating what has been done in the past and doing the bare minimum to get by. It is certainly tempting to get lazy and just go for the easy shots, regardless of whether or not they tell the full story. But how much better it would be if I was willing to endure hardship, looking for those unique opportunities to tell an exciting story? A willingness to wake early, stay up late, hike long distances and actually connect with my subjects would go a long ways towards finding the right story and telling it through my photographs.

In a broader sense, this story also speaks to Christians. It is easy for Christians, like journalists, to go into a country or a region or a situation and follow the dictates of the local authorities. At times, this would be good, but at other times, this will significantly hamper our ability to impact the world for Christ’s kingdom. We must remember the lives of the apostles and the times of the early church: Leaving cities under cover of darkness, entering areas without government approval, getting beat up, flogged, imprisoned and shipwrecked. These men and women cared little for their own safety and security because they knew that their eternal security and safety was assured. Today, however, Western Christians seem to have slipped into the faulty mindset that personal safety and comfort must come first. We won’t let our kids go into inner city urban areas because it is dangerousâ��but, how dangerous can it be when the Lord is our helper? Does that not speak to a staggering lack of faith? This is not to say we should regard danger callously. We must count the cost, understand the risks and know the threats before taking a course of action. But we must not let fear of injury, threat of loss or security risks hold us back from going where God is sending us. As Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Having an “eternal perspective” is one of those infernal buzzwords that is bandied around in pop conservative Evangelicalism. You know what I’m talking aboutâ��everyone tells us we need to be focused on eternity, act in light of eternity, have eternal priorities, build our lives around eternal values. To be honest, I think we have been so caught up in this cult of eternity that we are forsaking the things that truly matter.

Come to think of it, this philosophy, this way, this set of idealsâ��it isn’t limited to Christianity! Secular authors like Stephen Covey urge us to structure our lives around long-term goals and visions. There is a growing number of people embracing “Life Planning” which purports, in their minds, to laying out a roadmap for their life like it was some sort of corporate product. I’ve tried that. My roadmap looked a lot like Microsoft’s Windows Longhorn roadmapâ��detailed, good-looking, timely and completely wrong. At 16, I was a huge Windows fan. At 21, I am a huge Mac fan. At 16, I was looking forward to an exciting career in military aviation followed by missions work. At 21, I haven’t had any pilots training; I’ve had extensive training in fire fighting, rescue and emergency medicine. I am working full-time in youth ministry, pursuing professional photography, and working on a nursing degree. These things didn’t even enter my mind when I planned my life at age 16. My goals and visions then are mostly irrelevant now.

We need to shift our focus from the eternal to the internal. We need to spend less time worrying about the long-term and more time living in the short-term. Rather than asking ourselves, “What kind of life do I want to live over the next 50 years?” we should be asking ourselves, “What kind of life do I want to live in the next 5 minutes?”

We must get past our infatuation with long-term forecasting, goal setting and project planning. Ours is to live in the momentâ��as Jim Elliot put it, “Wherever I am, to be all there.”

Certainly, our core values must be on the things of God. Colossians 3:16 states clearly:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

We are to seek God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. We are to focus our thinking on the things of God. But this is not to be confused with long-term thinking. The context makes it clear. In the very next paragraph, Paul jumps into the nitty-gritty details of daily decision-making:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

This is certainly not a goal-oriented list of sins. This is the here-and-now of Christian living: passion, lust, covetousness, wrong desires. The Greek tense for the phrase “Put to death” indicates a continuous, ongoing process. It is not a one-time deal. We are to be daily, hourly, by the minute, mortifying the continued influences of the world on our souls.

Long-term planning and goal setting is dangerous. I have found, from experience, that I really know precious little about what I will be doing in the future. Ask my friends�it seems like every phone call, my future looks different! James addresses this in James 4:13-16:

Come now, you who say, â��Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profitâ��â��  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, â��If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.â��  As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Our focus must not be on that. Our lives are short and our time is limited; lets focus on the short-term, on making an impact now. Lets focus on doing the next right thing. Think about William Borden. Think about Jim Elliot. Both of these powerful, dynamic, world-changing Christians died before the age of 30.

William Borden, better known as “Borden of Yale”, turned his back on the pleasures and comforts of the wealthy aristocracy he grew up in. He devoted his years to missions work in Egypt and died at the age of 25. His journal, which you should read, was inscribed with this saying, “No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets.” His life, his surrender and his death transfixed the world and impacted God’s kingdom immeasurably. He lived not for the 25-year Big Goal but for the next minute. And the one after that. And after that. Pouring all out on the altar, holding nothing back, leaving it on the field. You can read more about him here.

Jim Elliot is more well-known. From high school on, he devoted his time and energies to furthering God’s kingdom. Although he studied architecture in school, he ended up following the Lord’s leading and becoming a missionary to Ecuador. It was there that he was martyred at age 28. He wrote a detailed and honest journal starting in collegeâ��one you need to find and read. In it, on October 28, 1949, he wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” His death sparked a world-wide revival in missions work and his whole-hearted surrender to God inspired countless imitators to the glory of God. Reading through his journal, you find a man led by God, but focused on the short-term. Jim Elliot didn’t spend his time thinking, “What does God want me to do in 5 years?” but “What does God want me to do right now?”

I fear that far to frequently our focus on eternity, on long-term goal setting, on humanistic project management techniques steals our attention from maximising the seconds and minutes and hours of our lives. Life is not lived by the years but by the seconds. If we make each second profitable, then each minute is profitable. If we make each minute profitable, each hour is profitable. If we make each hour profitable, then our days, and our weeks, and our years, and our lives will amass a great profit for eternity. Oh, if only we could get our focus off of trying so hard to plan out our days and to see our ends and to worry�needlessly�about getting where we need to go! If all we had to think about was the next 5 minutes! What seeds we could sow! Seeds of change�for great actions spring out of a series of smaller actions. Seeds of hope�making a difference NOW, not in 5 years. Seeds of faith�really, truly, honestly believing that this great God we serve can be trusted with our life plan.

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
to me he hath made known,
nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
redeemed me for his own.

But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I’ve committed
unto him against that day.

I know whom I have believed in.

Do you?

I have placed my life in his hands.

Have you?

I have surrendered my time to His will.

Will you?

Forget the long-term. Let God worry about that. Focus on the short-term: the Here and the Now. What does God want you to do in the next 5 minutes? How can you best use the next 5 minutes to further God’s kingdom? Who can you reach out to and touch in the next 5 minutes?

What do you think? Let me hear in the comments.