Breaking Away
Suppose you’re invited to an elaborate feast. You walk into the large banquet room, ready to partake of the exquisite foods that entice your senses to draw near. The mouth-watering turkey glistens with honey-colored glaze; the scent of cookies reminds you of Christmas time; and the touch of soft, fine table linens makes the experience even more delightful.
Yet as you approach the first of many rows of tables that compile this tasty smorgasbord, you notice something different: there are no utensils. Everyone is picking up food with their hands, not using a serving spoon or a fork, unaware of the taboo in which they’re partaking.
You glance around, certain to find someone as appalled as you are. But nobody else seems to mind.
Still, you decide the feast can’t be enjoyed properly without a spoon or fork, so you exit the banquet hall.
Unfortunately, you won’t only be missing a sumptuous meal; you will also be abstaining from the joy of camaraderie.
Had you simply taken the food the way it was served, you would have sat down to enjoy conversation with others who were vocal about their nervousness, yet found the new manner of eating to be fun, adventurous, and uniting.
Similar to the fictitious feast, oftentimes as Christians we fail to experience the fun, adventure, and unity as the body of Christ—all because we’re afraid to abandon the comfortable and familiar.
In their book, The God Who Hung on the Cross, authors Dois Rosser, Jr. and Ellen Vaughn portray the Christian life as a faith-filled adventure. Vaughn references Luke 5:4, where Jesus commanded His disciples to “put out into deep water and let down [their] nets for a catch.”
Vaughn writes, “And then the shimmering fish leapt into the nets, the men strained to haul the catch, and Peter fell at Jesus’ feet, overwhelmed by the power of the living God.
“That’s what Jesus does! He woos us constantly to come farther in and farther up, to dive deeper into the river of His grace.
“Sometimes I resist. I like comfort and the illusion of being in control. But if I stick with what is familiar, I box my faith. It becomes human enterprise rather than godly exercise.
“But what if we take even the smallest step of willingness—‘Oh, Lord, I know not what lies ahead. I can’t control it. But I trust You!’—we break out of the box.
“Then God takes us on new adventures we could never have imagined.”
However, the adventurous Christian life is impossible apart from yielding your will to the Lord’s.
Webster’s Dictionary defines yield as “to give way to someone or something superior.” In essence, when you yield your will to the Lord’s, you “give way” to Him because of your understanding that His ways and His wisdom are superior to yours. (Romans 11:33)
Vaughn says one of the most practical ways to begin yielding one’s life to the Lord is to start each morning in prayer. “If we start each day on our knees asking the Lord, ‘What would You have me do to fulfill Your eternal, holy will for this day?’ He will do wild stuff.
“If there’s any sense that I would love readers to carry away from the book, [it’s] the sense of surprise, of miracles, and of the power of God at work. And if we can even just taste a little bit of that, it gives a fresh sense to our everyday lives, no matter what you’re doing.”
The God Who Hung on the Cross is based on Rosser’s experiences traveling the world, working in partnership with international believers and ministries to spread the Gospel by planting churches in remote, often hostile, areas. And this was Rosser’s second career.
At the age of 59, this entrepreneurial businessman felt God tugging at his heart to use the business skills he had acquired to partner with mission-minded people and ministries. “The whole thought behind the book is just an attempt, through the use of stories and experiences, to share what God is doing, not what we’re doing,” shares Rosser.
“The pure evidence of that is the fact that we wouldn’t have thought of some of the things that have happened and have unfolded as we, maybe in ignorance almost, just stepped out believing. [God] would reveal to us awesome things in the lives of these people as we moved throughout the world.
“I sit here every day in complete amazement of what I’m seeing; it isn’t that I’m sitting here with a big five-year plan. We just want to be where God is, and we believe that He’s given us a tool. In my personal life, I feel like he equipped me in the business world all of those years for doing what I’m doing now.”
It is scary, though, to leave the familiar behind and wade into uncertain waters. Caleb and Joshua knew that all too well. They were among 12 spies sent on the furtive mission to report to Moses what Canaan was like.
While the other 10 spies returned with negative reports about how big the giants were and how different the cities were, Caleb and Joshua saw the adventure that was wrapped in the bundle of risk. Numbers 13:30 tells us that Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”
He understood the fear that comes with risk, but was willing to make necessary changes in order to experience the abundance of God’s plan. He knew that God was trustworthy and powerful.
What is it that God is asking you to break away from today? Spend some time in prayer, and ask Him to reveal to you the key to enjoying the feast He has prepared. It may be as simple as beginning your day in prayer, as Vaughn suggested. Or it could be as dramatic as going to a distant land.
However God leads, think of the journey as an adventure during which you will come to know “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward [you] who believe” (Ephesians 1:19).
Yet as you approach the first of many rows of tables that compile this tasty smorgasbord, you notice something different: there are no utensils. Everyone is picking up food with their hands, not using a serving spoon or a fork, unaware of the taboo in which they’re partaking.
You glance around, certain to find someone as appalled as you are. But nobody else seems to mind.
Still, you decide the feast can’t be enjoyed properly without a spoon or fork, so you exit the banquet hall.
Unfortunately, you won’t only be missing a sumptuous meal; you will also be abstaining from the joy of camaraderie.
Had you simply taken the food the way it was served, you would have sat down to enjoy conversation with others who were vocal about their nervousness, yet found the new manner of eating to be fun, adventurous, and uniting.
Similar to the fictitious feast, oftentimes as Christians we fail to experience the fun, adventure, and unity as the body of Christ—all because we’re afraid to abandon the comfortable and familiar.
In their book, The God Who Hung on the Cross, authors Dois Rosser, Jr. and Ellen Vaughn portray the Christian life as a faith-filled adventure. Vaughn references Luke 5:4, where Jesus commanded His disciples to “put out into deep water and let down [their] nets for a catch.”
Vaughn writes, “And then the shimmering fish leapt into the nets, the men strained to haul the catch, and Peter fell at Jesus’ feet, overwhelmed by the power of the living God.
“That’s what Jesus does! He woos us constantly to come farther in and farther up, to dive deeper into the river of His grace.
“Sometimes I resist. I like comfort and the illusion of being in control. But if I stick with what is familiar, I box my faith. It becomes human enterprise rather than godly exercise.
“But what if we take even the smallest step of willingness—‘Oh, Lord, I know not what lies ahead. I can’t control it. But I trust You!’—we break out of the box.
“Then God takes us on new adventures we could never have imagined.”
However, the adventurous Christian life is impossible apart from yielding your will to the Lord’s.
Webster’s Dictionary defines yield as “to give way to someone or something superior.” In essence, when you yield your will to the Lord’s, you “give way” to Him because of your understanding that His ways and His wisdom are superior to yours. (Romans 11:33)
Vaughn says one of the most practical ways to begin yielding one’s life to the Lord is to start each morning in prayer. “If we start each day on our knees asking the Lord, ‘What would You have me do to fulfill Your eternal, holy will for this day?’ He will do wild stuff.
“If there’s any sense that I would love readers to carry away from the book, [it’s] the sense of surprise, of miracles, and of the power of God at work. And if we can even just taste a little bit of that, it gives a fresh sense to our everyday lives, no matter what you’re doing.”
The God Who Hung on the Cross is based on Rosser’s experiences traveling the world, working in partnership with international believers and ministries to spread the Gospel by planting churches in remote, often hostile, areas. And this was Rosser’s second career.
At the age of 59, this entrepreneurial businessman felt God tugging at his heart to use the business skills he had acquired to partner with mission-minded people and ministries. “The whole thought behind the book is just an attempt, through the use of stories and experiences, to share what God is doing, not what we’re doing,” shares Rosser.
“The pure evidence of that is the fact that we wouldn’t have thought of some of the things that have happened and have unfolded as we, maybe in ignorance almost, just stepped out believing. [God] would reveal to us awesome things in the lives of these people as we moved throughout the world.
“I sit here every day in complete amazement of what I’m seeing; it isn’t that I’m sitting here with a big five-year plan. We just want to be where God is, and we believe that He’s given us a tool. In my personal life, I feel like he equipped me in the business world all of those years for doing what I’m doing now.”
It is scary, though, to leave the familiar behind and wade into uncertain waters. Caleb and Joshua knew that all too well. They were among 12 spies sent on the furtive mission to report to Moses what Canaan was like.
While the other 10 spies returned with negative reports about how big the giants were and how different the cities were, Caleb and Joshua saw the adventure that was wrapped in the bundle of risk. Numbers 13:30 tells us that Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”
He understood the fear that comes with risk, but was willing to make necessary changes in order to experience the abundance of God’s plan. He knew that God was trustworthy and powerful.
What is it that God is asking you to break away from today? Spend some time in prayer, and ask Him to reveal to you the key to enjoying the feast He has prepared. It may be as simple as beginning your day in prayer, as Vaughn suggested. Or it could be as dramatic as going to a distant land.
However God leads, think of the journey as an adventure during which you will come to know “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward [you] who believe” (Ephesians 1:19).
posted by Jerry | 8:00 AM
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