The Sweaty Prize

I am slowly plowing through a book I've tried to read two or three times before, The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. Each previous time I failed to get past the first chapter, putting it down before I got into the meat of the book. It's not that it's difficult to read, but it is a book that makes you think - thus you need to be ready to invest some time and brainpower. I guess I just wasn't ready before. This time the payoff is proving to be well worth the effort.

Isn't that how most things work. You really only get out of something what you're willing to put into it. And things that are easy rarely yeild anything of real value. I enjoying sitting down to watch a movie with my family. But while a few moments of escapism can be "fun", seldom is there a real lasting payoff. The time spent with my family around a flickering screen is cheap in compairson to time spent with them around a gameboard or in conversation. Sadly, we're often unwilling to pay the price to build real deep relationships.

Over the next few weeks I'm planning on investing some time reading The Divine Conspiracy. As I do I'll use my blog to share some of the insights gained as a result of my work. I'm not an especially deep person. Most of my wisdom and insight are drawn from the wells dug by sweaty entrepreneurs who labored before me. However, I hope to share some of the water brought up from Mr. Willard's fount.

How to save more than just money!

God's providential timing always amazes me. He can take what seems an ordinary occurrence and use it for His eternal purpose. Yesterday He let me watch.

I attended what turned out to be a rather long and boring presentation on how to save a few dollars on rental vehicles by establishing a corporate account. In attendance were a bunch of fellow youth pastors and after the first hour of so we were starting to exchange yawns. As the meeting mercifully came to a conclusion, the pastor sponsoring the meeting asked the company representative if we could pray for her before she left. Suddenly the meeting changed - God revealed himself.

She asked if we could pray for her relationship with her son, a nine year old who can be out of control. As a single mom who had often been away from home, their relationship was strained and she desired for him to have a male influence. She opened her heart and shared her struggles, and God moved in our midst.

And all it took was a simple question - "can we pray for you?". How often do we miss out on seeing God work, simply because we don't take the time - because we don't ask the really important questions. Too often I stay at just the surface level.

"How are you today?"
"Great. and you?"
"fine"

Could it be that we miss seeing God work simply because participating in His work takes time and causes inconvenience to our busy lives. Isn't it much easier to avoid the real, messy parts of peoples lives? Yes, but it's there in the mess that God meets us and reveals His grace. We just have to take the time to ask and listen.

What a shame if I had learned how to save a dollar on renting a car and had missed out on seeing God work. And all it took was asking a question - and then listening.