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What does the Bible have to say about desire?
When reading in the Gospels, I’ve learned to pay close attention to Jesus, specifically what he says and does but, maybe more importantly, also what he doesn’t say and doesn’t do. The action of God in the person of Jesus is recorded for us in Scripture. We don’t have to wonder what God would do if he were a person. He is a person, and here is what he did. And so, as we enter into Mark 10 and a pivotal moment in the life of a man named Bartimaeus, pay close attention to Jesus. We meet Bartimaeus along the road from the city of Jericho. He was blind, he was a beggar, and he had no other hope.
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place to another. As Jesus passed by on the noisy street, Bartimaeus called out as loud as he could, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47 NIV).
A PRACTICE: SAY WHAT YOU WANT MOST
For the next twenty-four hours, practice pausing when someone asks your opinion on simple things, such as where to eat lunch, which outfit looks better, or what the order of events should be at the meeting, for example. Pausing is important no matter if your personality is hesitant or assertive. If you’re hesitant, the pause could serve as a good reminder: what you want matters. If you’re traditionally more assertive and say what you want quickly, the pause could help you discern what you want more. This is a mini version of our decision-making practice: create space, name the unnamed things,
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nine Make the Most Important List
Is the life you’re living the same life that wants to live in you? Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
Generally, in our culture, we say something was the right decision if it was a success and the wrong decision if it was a failure. But what do success and failure really mean, and who gets to decide? Life is filled with choices, and we make many of them without much thought. But when it comes to choosing between two equally good things (or worse, two equally awful things) how do we know when to say yes and when to say no? How can we
But a pro/con list has at least one major flaw: it assumes every line item weighs an equal amount, and we all know they don’t. A list could have ten cons on it and only one pro. But if that one pro is your family or your health or your safety, well, then that one item on the pro list outweighs all the items on the con list. Another major flaw with the pro/con list? We tend to make them only when we’re feeling desperate, under the pressure of a deadline. Our final call on an important decision is fast approaching, and the pressure is mounting. Regardless of the outcome, I don’t enjoy making
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PRACTICE: MAKE THE MOST IMPORTANT LIST You may already practice a similar reflection on a smaller scale called the Daily Examen, which is a simple technique of prayerful reflection you can engage in at the end of every day. This is an ancient practice of looking back to discern God’s movement in your life that day and prayerfully paying attention to how he might be directing you. This is one of my favorite spiritual practices, and the Life Energy List is even easier to engage in when I am in the practice of reflecting daily. For now, choose a category and a time frame, and make your own Life
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ten Quit Something
You can never get enough of what you don’t really want. Rick Hanson, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it forever.
Maybe you need a reminder to release your pursuit of what is productive, profitable, impressive, or expected and instead consider this: What is essential?
Essentialism is not about how to get more things done, it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.1 If it feels hard for you to decide what is essential, here are three ways to clear the soul clutter and get back to the basics. One, be picky who you listen to. We’ll talk about this more in a later chapter, but if somebody’s words, plans, or advice make you want to
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eleven Stay in Today
twelve Be Where You Are
thirteen Don’t Rush Clarity God’s ideas are not always obvious, and are always more clever than we can imagine. Even though the circumstances may be the same as many times before, God may have a different and better idea. So we are wise to ask for guidance each time. Jan Johnson, When the Soul Listens
Two, let go of your expectation of certainty. I mentioned Marie Forleo before, and I fully believe she’s right: clarity cannot be rushed. We must be patient. But, paradoxically, do you know what else she says? “Clarity comes from engagement, not thought. When you take action, you’ll access your natural knowing.”2 We must act. As you listen to
Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly” (KJV). If you think about holding a candle in your hands, you know that if you walk too fast, the flame will blink right out. You have to take slow, measured steps, maybe even block the candle from the wind as you go. So, for now, walk slowly with the flame still lit and continue to ask your friend Jesus about the next step. If he lives within you, then that means he speaks, even now,
through his Word, his people, and your own deepest desires as you confess them in his presence. Trust the voice that comes from within. If there’s a longing or a vision growing within you, or if you have an idea, a project, or work you can see even though you can’t see it, carry on. Walk slowly. Listen closely. And let that candle burn.
Psalm 37:23–26 as a prayer: The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. ❍ A PRACTICE: LET GO If you’ve been searching for clarity that isn’t coming, is it time to let go of your timeline? Is this decision necessary to make right now, or
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fourteen Stop Collecting Gurus
The love of Jesus will give you an ever-clearer vision of your call. . . . The more you are called to speak for God’s love, the more you will need to deepen the knowledge of that love in your own heart. The farther the outward journey takes you, the deeper the inward journey must be. Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love
I love the online space if for no other reason than we can learn anything we want whenever we want to learn it. I am a huge fan of online courses and teaching.
realized that over the course of 2016, I had started to collect gurus. All of these experts arrived in my life (or I sought them out) at a time when I thought I could use what they had to offer. As I combed through my inbox, past all of the advice and instruction, results and evaluation tools, I noticed my breathing became more shallow and my head started to ache. The problem wasn’t the courses, or the email series, or the updates. The problem was I had too many going at once. I was trying to listen to way too many of those voices at the same time.
It is God’s love for us that he not only gives us his word but also lends us his ear. So it is his work that
we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him. Christians, especially ministers, so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Some of the best teachers available to us in our lives are ones we often overlook. I call them co-listeners, and they are infinitely more helpful than a gaggle of gurus.
going to say something I can’t fully prove, and maybe it goes against what we’ve heard all of our lives, but the longer I walk with our Father God, our friend Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who lives and dwells within us, the more I have a hunch that he isn’t so concerned with the outcome of our decision, at least not in the same way we are. But he would be delighted to know that the decision we are carrying is moving us toward community and not away from it, that it is leading us to depend on others more and not less, and that it is turning our face toward his in a posture of listening with the
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What we hope will be life-giving turns out to be life-draining, one more decision we feel incapable of making. This isn’t the first time I’ve stood in the garden center with high hopes, only to feel incapable and overcome once I get there.
For today, when you stand in the garden, the classroom, the office, the paint store, the library, the sanctuary, or the street, accept that there may not be a perfect choice, a right choice, or an ideal. Instead, pick what you like, then see how it grows.
Wear Better Pants
Wearing better pants has become my favorite spiritual discipline.
Dallas Willard says, “If a discipline is not producing freedom in me, it’s probably the wrong thing for me to be doing.”2 Practicing a spiritual discipline
not about trying to earn something, prove something, or win. Practicing a spiritual discipline is more about receiving power to live in the kingdom. It’s about being aware of the presence of God and putting myself there on purpose so that my character might be transformed. It’s about training my mind and my will to practice what my heart deeply believes. It’s about knowing that each moment is packed with grace, but sometimes I need practice to see it. It’s about becoming the person I already am in Christ. Anything can be a spiritual discipline when we recognize the presence of God with us in
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want to remember that true ministry is not something we do but is the overflow of an abiding life with God. I
Author and spiritual director Jan Johnson talks a lot about how our spiritual formation simply happens within the next ten minutes.
“What would it look like to trust Jesus, to be patient, to be loving, or to be content just for the next ten minutes?”
Maybe you’ll listen before you speak. Maybe you’ll offer a smile, a nod, or a hand. Maybe you’ll simply be present with someone without an agenda.
Shauna Niequist say, “With people, you can connect or you can compare, but you can’t do both.”
insisting that everything have an explanation. Let’s be men and women who keep our ears pressed gently against the heart of God, willing to respond to faint whispers and small nudges, and even have an openness to be the wink of God for someone else.
We want to make good decisions, but the decision is rarely the point. We want to live a good life with our good and beautiful God.1 Doesn’t it all come down to trust? We fear we’ll pick wrong, turn wrong, move too soon or not soon enough. We fear we’ll be
Let’s refuse to carry shame for our lack of clarity but allow our questions to linger if they need to as we wait for seeds to grow.
A PRAYER
You told Abraham to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household, but you didn’t tell him exactly where he was going. You told Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, but you didn’t give him a five-week plan. You told Mary she would have a Son and call him Jesus, but she wasn’t offered assurance of his safety or guarantees that her life would go smoothly. You are not a God who offers clear steps. But you invited Abraham outside and told him to look up
at the stars, so shall your offspring be. You gave Moses a vision of a promised land flowing with milk and honey. You whispered salvation for the whole world in Mary’s ear. You never promise clarity. But you always give a hopeful vision. And you always pro...
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