Anyone that knows me well knows that I consider myself a spiritual person, meaning that I have a personal relationship with God and that we speak to each other.  Over time I’ve learned that God will speak to me in the most unusual manners and in unexpected places.  A few years ago I had an experience on an airport runway and I immediately wrote down what I was discussing with God.  I bring this up as one of the key points in that discussion is something that I continue to use in many discussions I have with people surrounding decision making (as alluded to in my previous blog post “The Binary Myth.”  Given the relevance, I thought I’d take that write up and make it a blog post.  I hope you enjoy.

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“I was sitting on the runway at DTW about to take off this morning, just pondering a few things about my work situation.  I travel almost every week, and while I don’t mind the travel at all (I actually like it — wish I could do more and bring the family with me) I do find it a struggle sometimes because I don’t necessarily enjoy what I’m traveling for.  I probably wouldn’t have to go too far out on a limb to say that most of us have components of our jobs that we don’t care for, and when you tell other folks about the areas of “dislike” the typical response that comes back is “yep, that’s just how it is” or something to that effect.

As I started to think about that “yep, that’s just how it is” God chimed in and said “NO, that’s NOT how it is…If Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly, then what makes you think that the profession in which you work to provide shouldn’t be enjoyable”.  This really spoke to me…but what God said next really floored me (I’ll share that in a moment).  I’ve been reading and listening to things about prayer, the power of positive and negative statements and how these statements can nullify our prayer requests (in effect cursing them) and make them of no effect in God’s hands.  I’ve really been meditating on how my attitude really affects how I take things in and enjoy them; when I do what Ephesians 5:20 says and “Give thanks always for all things” then things aren’t so bad, but when I focus on the negative or how I don’t like something then it’s dog fight just to make it through the week.  When I focus on that negative I wonder “Father, where are you???  I could use your help now” but it’s silent…then I focus on the praise (knowing that God inhabits the praises of Israel…meaning his people) and his presence starts to flow (Note — it never went anywhere, I just cut it off with my negativity).  When I do the latter then anything I do becomes more enjoyable because it’s not about the task; it’s about enjoying the presence of the Father.

Anyhow…back to the plane… I’m thinking about the above on the plane and talking to the Father, and I basically say “but Father, there are so many other things I enjoy doing besides this; how do I go about moving myself into that realm” and the Father spoke back “I can’t bless NOTHING; You have to make a Choice, and then I will bless the CHOICE”.  That one got to me…and I’m sure there are many things that the Father has revealed to you all already and I’m the laggard (who knows..Fenn’s series on God’s Will, etc. may have spoken to all of this…I only read portions of it, but not the entirety).  But I started to think about it — I chose to be at my company and to do what I do, and while it’s tough he’s always blessed me in this position.  I’m SURE that if I chose to do something else, he would bless that as well because he said he would (Abrahamic Covenant my people).  At the same time, if I choose not to do anything different in my career but just choose to do it more cheerfully, then he’ll bless that.  Regardless of the choice, he will bless it (of course, as long as it doesn’t violate his nature).

Then I keep on moving and I flip across to my Andrew Wommack daily devotional..WOW…it’s exactly what I was just discoursing with the Lord about.  Take a read, but note that the Lord used what was willingly given to him to bless the people…he didn’t make something up from nothing.

Hey — I’m coming in for a landing (literally — we’re about to land in NYC) so I need to shut down…but take a read.  Would enjoy any thoughts from the gang.”

 

PICTURE TIME

I took this picture of a mural located on a wall down at Detroit’s Eastern Market.  I’ve always liked this mural as it calls out the fact that we are active participants in our own growth.  The rate of that growth is dependent upon many things, however, the primary action is for us to make the choice to put our hands to something.  There’s no guarantee that the journey will be painless but it will be worth it and produce growth if we pay attention.