i have a heart and livejournal user name change...plus a really good exerpt.
You Do What You Are
I am not in the habit of endorsing movies, and yes, I know, I could get in trouble for referring to this particular movie because it is Rated R and is has some violent scenes…but I just couldn’t help be arrested by this one particular scene:
Alex: You do what you are, Jesse.
Jesse: You mean, you are what you do(?).
Alex: No, I mean, you do what you are. You are born with a gift. If not that, then you get good at something along the way, and what you’re good at you don’t take for granted-you don’t betray it.
Jesse: What if you do betray your gift?
Alex: You betray yourself. That’s a sad thing.
The movie was “Along Came A Spider” a twisty thriller where two “investigators”, Alex and Jesse, help one another as they help pursue the bad guy. The movie: OK. The advice Jesse gives Alex: priceless.
Everywhere I go, and almost every creative believer I know has, or is, struggling with what exactly to be doing with their lives. Will this count? Is this God’s will? What if I miss it? Just maybe, the answer is as simple as this line: “you do what you are”. Maybe finding out who we really are is the key to discovering what we really should be doing.
Many would argue that the answer here is too simple. Maybe we should look to revelation, or the Bible, or to a spiritual leader for direction. I am not sure. One of the problems I have always had in trying to discover God’s will through revelation is that it seems to set us up for an abrupt, unpredictable directive…one that must surely be unrelated to any of our present thoughts. It is though we want to believe that God’s will must come like some divine intervention that interrupts everything in our lives to sweep us off to some place we have never been…and never dreamed of going. Maybe in rare cases, but mostly I think that is just wrong. I also think it stems from the false notion that all of our dreams and our pursuits even after being covered with Christ are all inherently carnal, selfish, and ungodly. I will also add that it is handy to have “God told me” on every life decision as it practically release us from any personal responsibility for the consequences…to us our our families.
The obvious challenge with the Bible being the guide to God’s will for our lives is, though it speaks eternal volumes to the principles of God’s will and the history of it’s exercise, it rarely contains our names in the lines of directive. Often when people have superimposed their names into Scripture they have been confronted with the reality that even though the Bible reveals God’s character it may not reveal the exact intent of God in the present moment…as though God always wanted us to develop a communicating relationship with Him, not just with a book. Isn’t this just like our wonderful, intimate God? He gives us enough of Himself in the Word so that we will recognize His loving voice when He speaks, but He still desires that we draw near and hear Him for ourselves!
Anyone who has been around me or the brCG family for five minutes knows how important we believe Godly leadership to be. Without elaborating to much, it is safe to say that we place more emphasis on mature believing relationships than on most institutional forms of counsel, and still I believe that God’s will is not found in the lonely voice of our favorite spiritual guru…or even the weight of agreeing counsel…unless, of course, it helps us to grow into Christ…and who we really are. No man knows the mind of God for me. Others may affirm my process, give insight into my past and future, and help test me to see what comes out, and if any of these three are closest to being a real help it is definitely Godly leadership, but discovering what God is requiring of me is an intensely personal responsibility and I refuse to make anyone else choose for me. They may choose with me.
This makes me think of the runner in “Chariots of Fire” who, when confronted about the assumed trivial nature of his Olympic dreams by his “missionary” family, answers to the effect: God made me fast, and when I run I feel His pleasure. Eric had discovered, at least in the present season of his life who he really was, and in the discovery decided that all the greatest mission pursuits in the world would be an ill fit for him at the moment. He, unlike many of us, was satisfied to be fully and completely himself and was unwilling to strive to be anyone else. There was no greater calling than to be simply himself. He ran. God loved it. Eric loved it.
What could be greater than feeling the Father’s pleasure? Than feeling His smile?
What could please the Father more than children who were overjoyed to be themselves? What good Father would find pleasure in changing His child into something, or someone else, who could do more, jump higher, or serve in a greater capacity in the household.
Recently my son and I, and our little neighbor Ardessa hunted Easter Eggs together. Yes, it’s a pagan ritual celebrating the fertility goddess, or the mystical union of chicken and bunny, but…whatever, it’s fun. My son took a while to warm up to the activity, but when I though about it why shouldn’t he? We give him a basket full of furry plastic grass (enough to entertain him for hours) and then encourage him to run into the yard to search for eggs (whole ones that he can never touch in the fridge or suffer immediate consequences), and then put them all neatly in the basket…you see where I am going. It was odd. It was to him, I am sure, a very surreal experience that was instigated by the aliens who came to earth and had replaced his parents. It was not until we showed him how to break open the fake eggs and find the chocolate that he decided “aliens or no, I am gettin' the eggs!” When God created each of us He equipped us with abilities, gifts, capacities. He fueled us with dreams, passions, and desires. He positioned us in time, relationship, and place to enjoy a good fit in His family. Why would he make the discovery of His will some kind of “otherworldly Easter egg hunt?”
There are some tough questions in the world, but concerning the question, “what is the will of God for my life?”…trust me, this one isn’t that hard. The best place to start is the exercise of getting in touch with who we really are. What do I love? Who do I love? What can I do? What am I really good at? These are the kinds of questions that help us to dig into who we really are…so that we can discover what we are to do! Yes, the answer, in a very practical and unspiritual sounding way, is that what we are to do is resident in us right now.
A few weeks ago a leadership gathering of twenty or so top notch young leaders from an international missions organization challenged me to put this principle of “discovery” into a concise sentence. It came out like this:
At some point we all have to decide, and if for no other reason than to avoid spiritual schizophrenia, to be simply, and unapologetically who we really are…all of the time…it is the only way to live the Kingdom of God.
So go ahead, discover God’s voice in revelation, find His heart in the Bible, and feel the pressure of His counsel through leadership, but in the end choose to do the one thing, the great thing…choose to be yourself. Choose to do what you are. If you don’t, then you will betray yourself…and if the Creator is purposeful in His creation, then you would have betrayed Him as well…and that…that’s a sad thing.
Revision
4/2002
Ben Pasley
Blue Renaissance Creative Group
www.bluerenaissance.com
(Copyright is held by the Blue Renaissance Creative Group and all rights are reserved, however, any portion of this document may be excerpted to use in presentation, writing, or speaking where appropriate credit is given, and it may be photocopied in its entirety (including this portion) for use in small group studies and training sessions.)
and so now that i have descoverd that, i changed my livejournal user name to "his_bloodistrue" (minus the quotation marks) so, if you are one of the few people who care about me and what i have to say (but not if you are a 12 or 13 year old who trys to be edge/scene because her older sister is...sorry kid your too scene for me.) then add me...ill add who ever. (josh...you better add me bro your the only one who cares on this live journal thing!) ok, good bye and God bless.
-Matt Jaffe