echoes of redemption | steven dilla

We are dog-sitting for my sister this week while she is at camp. This morning while I was getting ready her dog stared intently at the closed door out of our bedroom.

Behind her was a room with toys, her bed, food, water - even another dog to play with. But she couldn’t get her focus off the closed door.

So many times I find people living their lives focused on the door that is closed. Never mind the opportunities, relationships, dreams - even limitless potential that surrounds them. All they can focus on is one closed door.

We all have doors in our lives that have closed - the real question is: Do we know what God has unleashed around us, or are we focused on the door?

The team took a half day today to recover from the busiest week we have in ministry all year. We can’t stay down too long, our biggest event of the year is just four days away - but the short time to rest up and catch up on stuff at home is welcomed.

I’ve spent the day on cmconnect.org, twitter and catching up on people’s blogs - great to disconnect from what I’ve been doing and reconnect with some folks I haven’t talked to in a bit.

What do you do to recover after busy times in life?

The Bible draws a picture of the Lord as our portion. It’s an interesting thought: God is completely and totally all you need.

So many times in my life, God is not my portion, He plays a part of what I need, mixed in with everything else.

What would it look like if God was our portion? If everything we needed came from Him? Could it be we would go through a week without the empty longings for things in the world? Could it be we would feel freedom like never before from the things that hold us back? Could it be the guilt we carry from our past no longer crushes our spirit?

The problem we have when God is not our portion is that He cannot shape and bless our lives to the fullest because we have pushed Him out of so many places.

Living with God as our portion is all about pushing everything out we have come dependent on for our life, outside of God, to make room for our dependance on Him. It is finding the things we are dependent on and asking God to refocus our dependance on Him. It is finding the areas we are captive to and praying our hearts out for redemption. Living with God as our portion is about taking our focus off the small time we live here on earth and moving it to the greatness of God and the story of His kingdom.

For more see Psalm 119:57 and Psalm 142:5.

I’m working on a talk for our student ministry right now. One of the key thoughts in the talk is a statement that helps me focus my life:

You can’t out-dream God.

God dreams for you. He has brilliant plans for your life. Some of them He weaves into the fabric of your being from the very beginning. Other’s He presents to you as you journey with Him.

Yet so many people try to out-dream the Dream-Giver. The danger is two-fold:

• If you accomplish all of your dreams in life, but aren’t focused on God, you will find your dreams empty and meaningless. 
• If all you do is accomplish only the dreams you have at this moment, you will miss out on so many of the massive things God dreams for you. 

We must stay focused on God, above our dreams - so the dreams He has entrusted to us from the beginning can come to life in ways we could never imagine. We must also stay flexible to the opportunities He will present to us on our journey - so the dreams God has for us, that are so much bigger than us, can redefine both the story of our lives and the legacy we will leave.

One of the keys to living life successfully is having a mentor to help you grow, and a strong base of models to challenge your thinking.

There is a difference between the two.

A mentor is a close friend, someone who has gone before you, who is strategically pouring into your life as you forge your journey. For me, I have had a couple different kinds of mentors.

• My dad - the first, and most significant spiritual mentor on my life. My dad taught me what it means to be a Christian. He challenged me to memorize verses that were key to our faith, trained me to live as a Christian and helped me tame a wild tongue.
  
• Scott - my first professional mentor, Scott was a former Dallas cop and a seasoned Paramedic, he taught me to be an aggressive paramedic - “There’s nothing you can do to someone you can’t undo with what’s in this box (ambulance), get to work and don’t second guess your training.” His carefully training made me a stronger paramedic than I ever could have been on my own.

If I beeped, would you pay more attention to me?

I have trouble balancing routine and randomness in my life. I’m fairly convinced both are central to a healthy, creative life.

I need enough routine to spend time in Scripture every day. Enough routine to pray without ceasing. Enough routine to show my wife I love her. Enough routine to pour into the ministry God has entrusted with me. Enough routine to see dreams transform into realities.

Balance.

I also need enough randomness to experience God in fresh ways. Enough randomness to keep the conversation ardent. Enough randomness to pursue my wife fresh and vibrant ways. Enough randomness to serve other people and the ministry God has given them. Enough randomness to dream new dreams.

Balance.

It’s not as much about the destination as it is about how we travel.

Here is a quick update on everything in my world (for the moment):

Update: Well, it’s the end of the day, I shot this video nearly 12 hours ago… first video blog was incredibly difficult to get on the web - but it’s up! Enjoy.

Interesting conversation going on at flowerdust.net.