god

Does God Want Us To Be Happy?

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“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses).

Tonight at Kairos, Chris Brooks asked the age-old question, “Does God really want us to be happy?”

I admit that for years the answer has always been a knee-jerk version of “No, God doesn’t want us to be happy. He wants us to be holy.”

Maybe happiness and holiness aren’t mutually exclusive. Maybe holiness doesn’t have to mean a dour demeanor and grumpy face. Perhaps there is happiness in enjoying God and His good gifts.

The problem isn’t in seeking happiness but that we seek for it in the wrong places. We seek to find fulfillment and joy in the created rather than in the Creator, and in the gifts rather than in the Giver.

It’s not that we desire too much but that we desire too little. We can glorify and make an idol out of just about anything (or anyone). Careers, possessions, relationships, children, morality, and even worship (more accurately, the worship of worship and the adrenaline rush it brings).

We can’t seek happiness and joy outside of God because it doesn’t really exist. At least not true happiness and joy. We often end up over-stimulated and under-satisfied. Nothing apart from God brings a lasting gratification.

That’s why there’s always the push to do more, buy more, consume more, and be more. It will never be enough.

God is enough and in Him are joys and pleasures and happiness that will never end.

 

More Thoughts About Joseph

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I do love the story of Joseph. It’s a beautiful tale of God using one man’s misfortune to bring about the salvation of a nation. It’s God taking what was meant for evil and turning it into the ultimate good.

I noticed a few things about Joseph recently (thanks in part to a sermon series at The Church at Avenue South and the rest of the Brentwood Baptist Church campuses).

Joseph didn’t wait until God placed him in favorable circumstances to be faithful. He trusted God in the pit, in Potiphar’s house, and in prison. He was faithful where he was.

Something I heard today has been resonating with me all day– sometimes when God calls you, you won’t have time to get ready; you will have to be ready.

I think that starts in being faithful and available where you are. It’s called blooming where you’re planted.

Too many of us will miss opportunities to serve and hear God speaking because we’re too focused on looking ahead to what’s next or looking behind to what might have been.

The key to staying faithful for Joseph was the knowledge that God was with him. Over and over throughout the story, the account relates that God was with Joseph. That’s where Joseph found his strength and courage to continue.

When God does call on some of us, it will be those who have surrendered their schedules and made themselves completely and unconditionally available to God and His purposes who will be used. It will be those who have already been faithful in the small details who will find themselves entrusted with much larger plans.

I doubt very seriously that when he was a teenager Joseph ever imagined he’d be second in command over an entire nation. He probably couldn’t see any farther than his own family and their troubles.

But God saw that a people who would be come His own nation would  need saving and chose Joseph as the means of saving them. It all started with being faithful in the small stuff.

 

Keeping Vigil

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“There is a difference between waiting and keeping vigil. Anxious, fretful, impatient waiting is nothing more than waiting. Waiting with purpose, patience, hope, and love is vigilant waiting. Would that all of our waiting could be a vigil–a watch in the night or in the day hours. So by all means, find a way to make your vigils sacred. Learn the art of holy waiting. Whether you choose, on occasion, to get up in the middle of night, or whether you make an effort to turn your everyday moments of waiting in sacred vigils rather than impatient pacing, you will be blessed through this spiritual practice” (Macrina  Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day).

The difference between waiting and keeping vigil is expectation. Simply waiting is assuming the worst, while keeping vigil is holding out hope for God’s best. Waiting fixates on hoping the circumstance will change, while keeping vigil is knowing that you will be the one to change (and trusting that God will do the changing).

Keeping vigil is waiting intentionally. Instead of being idle or unfocused, we are using the time to pray about the matter and create spaces in which God can move and speak.

I’ve learned through time spent waiting that it’s better not to pin my hopes on a certain desired outcome (that job offer or that certain someone to like you or that package in the mail), but rather to put my confidence in God who sees a much bigger picture than I do and has a much more vast plan in mind than I can currently conceive.

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is ‘timing’
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way” (Fulton J. Sheen).

 

 

September Song

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Hello-September-Graphic

“By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather,
And autumn’s best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.

‘T is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget”

(Helen Hunt Jackson).

September is here. That means that all my checks that I write this month– both of them– will have a 9 for the date instead of an 8.

September still means hot weather. We are talking about Tennessee weather where summer sticks around like the unwanted house guests from old movie Madhouse (starring John Larroquette and Kirstie Alley). Seriously, it won’t leave.

It also means that fall and everything pumpkin spice is just around the corner. Soon enough, the weather will turn crisp and the leaves will turn golden and autumn will make a quiet and solemn entrance.

September means a much-needed holiday weekend that 99% of the working world has been looking forward to since July. For real.

September means that we are closer to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas– the holy trinity of holidays for retailers.

It’s easy to get so caught up in wanting to jump forward to the next season that you forget to pay attention to the present. You can be so fixated on the future that you auto-pilot through the present.

I’m reading an excellent book called Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day. The goal is to live intentionally and mindfully through each day, so that you don’t miss what God is saying to you in the present moment.

To slow down and savor life is hard. It’s easy to want to rush through the day to get to the evening. It’s just as easy to blow through week to get to Friday. In that way, the days turn into weeks that turn into months that slip by unlived and unloved.

I’m looking forward to all the pumpkin spice, bonfires, s’mores, flannel, and crisp air that I can lay my hands on, but I’m also looking forward to tomorrow. I want it to become the best today possible.

 

 

The Workplace as An Altar

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“When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music” (Kahlil Gibran).

There’s a famous little book written centuries ago called Practicing the Presence of God that came out of a monastery. The author was a man whose livelihood was as a cook and dishwasher.

There has been a false dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. There has been an underlying and unspoken rule that you can only worship in places considered sacred and holy. You can only worship on Sunday.

The truth is that the admonition is to do all that you do to the glory of God and to offer your bodies as living sacrifices as your act of worship. That includes your work day.

When you view your job not as drudgery and a paycheck but as a calling and a mission field, it changes the way you work. You go from doing the bare minimum to giving your very best. Your job goes from performing tasks to serving people.

You may not be in your dream job. You may wish that you could be someplace– anyplace– else other than where you are. The best advice I can give to you (that did not originate with me) is to bloom where you’re planted. Thrive in your present circumstances by learning to cultivate a heart of gratitude.

I can certainly attest to what it’s like to go through long periods without having a job. Not only does it drain the bank account but it affects your sense of self-worth after a while.

The best testimony I know of is someone who does everything with joy and gratitude. That’s what makes people stand up and take notice. No one cares about your faith if you have a bad attitude and a poor work ethic.

So make your workplace an altar and your job an offering.

 

More Than You Can Handle

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The old saying goes like this: God will never give you more than you can handle.

It sounds good. It sounds biblical. The only problem is that it’s not.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but will provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure.

The key difference, as Chris Brooks explained tonight in Kairos, is that we are often given more than we can handle by ourselves. Our strength lies in community and our ability to endure rests in fellowship.

If God never gave me as an individual more than I could handle, I’d more than likely slip into self-righteousness and be completely lacking in grace toward others who are struggling. I wouldn’t know the sweet communion that comes from prayers of desperation and surrender. As it is, God often allows me to go through circumstances and situations that force me to rely on God’s sustaining strength and the combined power of community.

The problem with God never giving me more than I can handle is that if I’m struggling, then the fault must lie with me. I must not have enough faith. I must be doing it wrong.

Even the apostle Paul and his companions went through situations that were beyond their ability to bear. Paul himself was given a thorn in his flesh that he begged God to remove, but God declared that His strength would be made perfect in Paul’s very weakness he felt he could not endure.

I love what Chris said. He said that yes, God will give you more than you can bear. He will give you more grace, more love, and more mercy than you can handle. Not only that, but His mercies and grace will be new every morning.

I confess that God Himself is more than I can handle sometimes. If I could completely comprehend and grasp all that is the Eternal Mystery with my finite understanding, then what I am beholding isn’t the Infinite God but a god of my own creation.

God is so much more than anything I could dream up or imagine on my own. He’s big enough for whatever is too much for me to handle and strong enough to get me through what I cannot bear and tender enough to surround me with those who will be able to bear with me through seasons of trial and temptation.

 

Forgotten

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I love the story of Joseph. It helps that I know the ending where Joseph becomes one of the most powerful men in Egypt and sets in motion a plan to rescue many people from surrounding nations, including his own family who had previously sold him into slavery.

But there were some bumps in the road.

After he was sold into slavery, he ended up in prison, falsely arrested for raping Potiphar’s wife. While he was incarcerated, he met two men from Pharaohs’ court, both of who had displeased their master.

Joseph interpreted both their dreams. One would be restored and one would be hanged. He asked one favor in return from the one who would live– that when he returned to freedom, he would mention the name of Joseph to Pharaoh. As is human nature, when he got out, he forgot all about the person who helped him get there.

Joseph was forgotten.

Have you ever felt forgotten? Have there been times in your life when you feel no one notices you or anything you do?

Many of us have gone through times when we felt invisible and unloved. We felt that for all the good it did, we might not as well have even bothered.

The good news is that God notices. God sees you. No matter if those around us take us for granted, God does not. God is aware of the tiniest of sparrows. He sees you.

Also, that feeling of being forgotten is more often than not a lie. I’ve found out in my own experience that there is usually someone watching you and that someone is often a person you would least expect to notice you or what you do.

You are not forgotten and you are never alone. Remember that the next time your feelings lie to you.

 

 

Perfect

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There’s still nothing better than good music playing in the car with the windows rolled down as the sun is going down. A good song can transport you into a place of calm and peace and make you feel good all over.

I’m still old-school when it comes to my music. Occasionally, I will plug my iPhone into my car stereo and play a random selection of all my downloaded music. Usually, I have CDs.

I know that some people are content to turn on the radio and leave it on whatever station they find. I’m not judging, but I find that I am less and less of a radio person the older I get. I’m less and less of a top 40 songs kind of guy.

What music are you listening to in your car? I really want to know. This isn’t a question meant to take up space on my blog post so I’ll have a bigger word count. I’m always open to broadening my musical horizons, to discovering new artists and new kinds of music.

PS If you want to find me on Facebook, look for Greg Johnson. My profile picture is of my geriatric feline doing one of her sleepy poses. I welcome friend requests.

 

An Early Saturday Morning Post

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“You poor, you nobodies, you of little account by the world’s standards, you are blessed. It is my Father’s good pleasure to give you a privileged place in the kingdom– not because you worked so hard, and not because you are saying all the right things or doing all the right things or becoming all the right things, but because my Father wants you” (Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish).

I had this fantastic idea for a blog post earlier today. At least I believe it was fantastic. Not only can I not remember what I was going to write about, I can’t remember if it was average, good, great, or epic.

Sad.

What I do know is that tomorrow’s Saturday, which means I turn off my alarm and sleep in. The older I get, the more I fantasize about actual sleep– not sleeping with someone, but simply sleeping.

The older I get, I also realize that every day I get to wake up is a day where I’m blessed. More and more people I know didn’t get that privilege. Too many people I know won’t get to live to be my age, much less grow to be old.

I’m blessed not because I particularly deserve it, but because it was the Father’s good pleasure to bless me. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom simply for the joy of giving it.

I certainly have made poor choices in the last 24 hours, both in things done that I shouldn’t have done and in things left undone that I should have done.

That’s why I remain thankful for those mercies that are new each morning when I wake up. I’m grateful for God’s grace that sustains me through the days and weeks. Grace is what got me here, and grace is what will get me home.

 

 

More Musical Goodness for Your Consideration

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Recently, I picked up Natalie Merchant’s Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings. For those of you who missed the 90’s, Tigerlily is one of the defining albums of that decade.

It was Natalie Merchant’s breakthrough as a solo artist after fronting 10,000 Maniacs for over a decade. Listening to that album always takes me to a place where my soul is at rest and worries fade away.

The 90’s saw a renaissance and resurgence of singer-songwriters, particularly female artists. Some of my favorites from that era are Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Fiona Apple, and– of course– Natalie Merchant.

I can’t wait to hear the new takes on old tunes. Of course, I will have to revisit the original recordings first. I can envision a scenario where I’m in my car with the windows rolled down, driving at dusk toward my destination. That’s still my favorite way to experience music.

I’ll let you know my thoughts on Paradise is There. In the mean time, I remain as always open to your musical suggestions. The further off the beaten path of the usual radio fare, the better.