If I had not sought God for years, I can image thinking that it is impossible to get my life straight. I can imagine thinking, “What is the use of trying to find an adventure to live since I had my chance and now I’m old and it is too late.” If that were true then a mediocre life of regrets would be all that is left for me. However, God, who is rich in Mercy and Grace is able to lead us from wherever we are into the adventure of a life lived for Him. He is the “Great Shepherd”. I remember listening to a man who studied the habits of French shepherds. He was speaking French so I missed a bunch of what he was saying but he was really excited about what he was finding out. We don’t really have as rich a history of shepherding in the United States. The shepherds plan from where the herd is now to the end of the day and watch them closely to adapt the plan to how they are behaving. They know the entire lay of the land and all the possibilities and what the pastures are like before they arrive with the herd. You could hand them a herd of sheep anywhere in their territory and they could quickly plan the best path of grazing to the end of the day at the barn. God is the “Great Shepherd” not just because of the size of His herd and the way He protects His herd; God is the “Great Shepherd” because He can work with you wherever you are to grow you and make you productive in His Kingdom. He will use the years you give Him to make your life an adventure lived before Him and bless those beyond you.
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations,”
Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV)
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Page 199 – God calls us to be abandoned to His will. Part of the process is to actively seek out His will in our lives in a day to day, moment to moment process. We are called to practice an awareness of the presence of God and obedience to His leading.
Page 200 – God speaks to our peculiar quirky hearts and he gives us Scripture to correct us when we find ourselves falsely attributing the leading of our flesh and/or the enemy of our soul to the leading of God’s Holy Spirit which is always consistent with Scripture.
What makes us come alive may be a bit tricky to identify at times. We think we know our hearts but God says we don’t. Sometimes God gives us the Grace to go and do something that we would not naturally choose. Sometimes it is painful. I’ve had times of ministry that I’m convinced were ordained by God that were just plain painful to those who were, apart from God’s work, just not lovable.
Page 202 – A quiet time to reflect during major life decisions is essential. Daily devotionals are important but times apart for extended reflection and seeking God are needed.
Page 203 – “That sort of commitment – the refusal to trust God and the reach for control – runs deep in every man” Eldredge identifies a key block to obeying God and following Him with a whole heart.
Page 205 – I wonder if men don’t just forsake their dreams just because of risk or fear but also because they have never spent time before God to have His vision for their lives established and placed in their heart. Seeking God for His vision in your life might be a foreign concept. I pray God would make it a constant part of your life.
Page 207 – Notice that Eldredge points out the need for time away to focus on God’s calling in your life. This also is part of the point of a daily quiet time.
Page 209 – Note that Oswald Chambers stresses the impact of God on our lives making things less certain. If Jesus is Lord then you are not and as you submit to Him your life is likely to surprise you. This places an element of mystery in our lives since God does not reveal everything to us. I have seen an error in some men who elevate uncertainty as a thing that is good of itself and insinuate that uncertainty spiritually superior to certainty. This at least borders on Gnosticism. It has pleased God to reveal some things as certainties. It has also pleased God to not reveal other things. We need to study Scripture so that we know what God has revealed. We should be ashamed if we argue that something that God has revealed is uncertain.
Page 210 – Eldredge makes a great point about the use of marketing and business management principles apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit. We have a desperate need for God and when the marketing works I think it may be worse then when God, by His Grace, lets us fall on our faces.
Page 215 - Eldredge says, “Our whole journey into authentic masculinity centers around those cool-of-the-day talks with God.” Amen
Page 216 – “Further up and Further In” is a reference to the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series and a lead in to our discussion of C.S. Lewis next week.
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