CRCF\u201d\u201d7-11-10<\/p>\n
ME\/WE<\/p>\n
Mario Andretti<\/p>\n
\u201cIf everything seems under control . . . [Slide 1]<\/p>\n
\u201cyou\u201d\u2122re just not going fast enough!\u201d [Slides 2-3]<\/p>\n
My name is Chad and I\u201d\u2122m a recovering control freak.<\/p>\n
Are there any others like me in the room this morning?<\/p>\n
It seems to be the down-side of human nature to want to be in control of our lives.<\/p>\n
Invictus<\/p>\n
“Out of the night that covers me, black is the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever God may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud, under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade and yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment with scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
\n–William Ernest Henley<\/p>\n
Jack Welsh
\nControl your destiny or somebody else will.<\/p>\n
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche
\nHe who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures.<\/p>\n
Michael J. McCarthy
\nYour are in charge. You have the ability to master you destiny.<\/p>\n
Do all of these self-confident statements of control really pan out in real life?<\/p>\n
My Plans
\nand God<\/p>\n
James 4:13-17<\/p>\n
Assuming that my plans will happen is arrogance toward God.<\/p>\n
That\u201d\u2122s the crux of this wake-up-call-kind-of-passage from James.<\/p>\n
GOD<\/p>\n
James 4:13-14a (NLT)<\/p>\n
13 Look here, you who say, \u201cToday or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.\u201d 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?<\/p>\n
James 4:14a (MSG)<\/p>\n
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today\u201d\u201dat the latest, tomorrow\u201d\u201dwe’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Does this mean we don\u201d\u2122t plan at all?<\/p>\n
No, Scripture is full of instructions about being diligent and prudent, both of which require planning. As James goes on to say, it\u201d\u2122s HOW we plan that is important.<\/p>\n
James 4:14b-15 (NLT)<\/p>\n
Your life is like the morning fog\u201d\u201dit\u201d\u2122s here a little while, then it\u201d\u2122s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, \u201cIf the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)<\/p>\n
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.<\/p>\n
Proverbs 16:33 (NIV)<\/p>\n
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.<\/p>\n
Proverbs 20:24 (NIV)<\/p>\n
A man\u201d\u2122s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?<\/p>\n
James 4:16 (NLT)
\n16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
\nJames 4:16 (CEV)
\n16Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud.
\nJames 4:17 (NLT)
\n17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
\nAssuming that my plans will happen is arrogance toward God.
\nJohn Piper
\nI can imagine some American pragmatist saying, “What practical difference would it make in my business planning whether I believe my life is a vapor? Do I stop planning, because my life may be short or uncertain?” I think James would say, “No, you don’t stop planning. You don’t drop out of society. You don’t become a hermit, waiting for your little vapor of life to disappear.”
\nSo what is the point? The point is that for James, and for God, it matters whether a true view of life informs and shapes the way you think and how you speak about your plans. Your mindset matters. How you talk about your plans matters. Ponder this. Believing that your life is a vapor may make no practical, bottom-line difference in whether you plan to do business in a place for one month or one year or ten years. But, in James’ mind – and he speaks for God – it makes a difference how you think about it and talk about it. “Come now you who say . . .”
\nWhy? Why does that matter? Because God created us not just to do things and go places with our bodies, but to have certain attitudes and convictions and verbal descriptions that reflect the truth – a true view of life and God. God means for the truth about himself and about life to be known and felt and spoken as part of our reason for being. You weren’t just created to go to Denver and do business; you were made to go to Denver with thoughts and attitudes and words that reflect a right view of life and God.
\nAssuming that my plans will happen is arrogance toward God.<\/p>\n
This leads us to ask a question so we can leave here knowing what to do about all this.<\/p>\n
YOU\/ WE<\/p>\n
If assuming that my plans will happen is arrogance toward God, then how should we live our lives in light of this? What\u201d\u2122s the right way to go from day to day? How do we plan but not be arrogant toward God?<\/p>\n
Even as I make my plans, I must remember Who is really in control and submit my schedule to Him so that others see an unusual humility and God-consciousness in our lives!<\/p>\n
Maybe the following story will help us understand how we\u201d\u2122re to live our lives\u201d\u201dhow our plans go together with God\u201d\u2122s control of our lives.
\nJust Pedal
\nAt first, I saw God as my observer and my judge. Keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited Heaven or Hell when I die. But when I met Christ as my Savior, it was as though life was rather like a bike ride. But it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal.
\nI don\u201d\u2122t know just when it was that He suggested that we change places, but life has never been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable, following the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, through rocky places at breakneck speed. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said, \u201cPedal!\u201d
\nI was worried and anxious and asked, \u201cWhere are you taking me?\u201d He laughed and didn\u201d\u2122t answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into adventure. And when I\u201d\u2122d say, \u201cI\u201d\u2122m scared,\u201d He\u201d\u2122d look back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed; gifts of love, acceptance and joy. They gave me gifts to take on my journey, My Lord\u201d\u2122s and mine, and we were off again. He said, \u201cGive away the gifts. They\u201d\u2122re extra baggage, too much weight.\u201d So I did, to people we met, and I found that in giving I received and my burden still was light.
\nI did not trust Him at first, in control of my life. I thought He\u201d\u2122d wreck it, but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp curves, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, and how to fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I\u201d\u2122m beginning to enjoy the breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ. And when I\u201d\u2122m sure I just can\u201d\u2122t do any more, He just smiles and says\u201d\u201c\u201dPedal!\u201d
\nI must remember Who is really in control and submit my schedule to Him so that others see an unusual humility and God-consciousness in our lives!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRCF\u201d\u201d7-11-10 ME\/WE Mario Andretti \u201cIf everything seems under control . . . [Slide 1] \u201cyou\u201d\u2122re just not going fast enough!\u201d [Slides 2-3] My name is Chad and I\u201d\u2122m a recovering control freak. Are there any others like me in the … Continue reading