Have you ever wondered why joy is so hard… so temporary…

Why?

For such a simple thing why is it so unnatural… evasive.

Do I completely trust in God?

Obviously I have a long way to go… But it is an important question to consider because this trust will only ever be my one source of both joy and peace (Rom15:13)

 “A flower never wonders what it’s supposed to do…it simply looks beautiful, it provides nectar and it receives pollen…that’s what it does. A bee does not wake up in the morning and say, ‘You know, this whole honey making business is just not very life-giving for me anymore. I really just feel like, maybe I should be doing something else. Maybe I’ll take a class on spinning webs so that I can catch insects…

A bee never asks that question. A bee simply wakes up in the morning and knows that it’s purpose is simply to pollinate that flower, extract that nectar and make honey. ‘That’s what I do, that’s what I was made for, I don’t question it, I don’t doubt it and it was never a mystery to me, I just knew it all along.’”

Why is it that lower forms of creation get the blueprint? They do exactly what they’re supposed to do with no need to be told. They just know and then they act. Yet for us high forms of creation, humans made in the image of God, there exists the need to be told what we’re supposed to do.

(Hipps, S., 2010)

We often talk about ‘building of faith’… but what does this look like?

Reflecting on my only life I discover the question really goes straight to the core… simply because it revolves around that which is at the core – my purpose.

Now if I was to ask who had a clearly defined purpose in life who could confidently put there hand up and say yes….

I suppose a more general question would be who thinks it is important?

Well hopefully in what I briefly share I am able to stir some thought and challenge you as God as been challenging me... Because our purpose (the why) transpires to vision (the where) shaping the mission (the how to) which ultimately determines values (how I live out everyday).

Hidden within the gospels is one of the greatest pictures of what it means to worship.

…Let me paint the scene…

Jesus has been invited out for a feed. He has His posse there and they have just kicked back at the table.

Now their host for the evening was one of those religious guys… a real political heavy weight at the time. An election around the corner… a sudden change in the leadership of the party… what better time to wine and dine a guy such as Jesus!

Radical in dress, behavior and philosophy… going from town to town with a rough group of guys… yet an amazing ability to draw crowds in the 1000’s… In the eyes of any political leader this guy was a wild card you probably wanted on your side.

It is an amazing concept isn’t it – time. Arguable the building bricks of life… It starts so innocently baby steps… school… it appears to speed up for a period of about 40 years until finally… wife by your side… caravan on the back… line in the water we drift of to sleep dreaming about the 300 yard drive we hit straight down the fair way this morning.

 You can just hear the words of “Maximus” echo in the forest; mounted on a horse, stirring the hearts of his troops… “WHAT YOU DO IN THIS LIFE ECHOS IN ETERNITY!”

 Yet considering it’s importance – despite being the fabric which makes up a human life isn’t it amazing how seldom it takes centre stage…. But still the time ticks on: seconds… minutes… hours.

 It is going too fast! We need to slow it down… if only I had done this differently… I wonder what would have become of that choice… I wish I never made that mistake….

 Yet on it ticks…