James Sayers
6/5/16
Life On Loan: “A Bigger Picture”
We’re talking about living a life on loan from God. God created us and then saved us for something. We looked at extending grace to all at the intersections of life. Last week we talked about investing that life on loan in mutually beneficial ways—it’s good for God, for others, and for ourselves. I hope you are feeling the challenge to live well the life that God is loaning you right now. This morning I want us to look for a bigger picture of the life God’s given us.
A Bigger Picture of life. Usually come in moments of crisis and chaos. From the bottom of the barrel, we see that there is something bigger than we are. Terrible temporary circumstances push us to look for something beyond them. We search for hope, for peace, for something eternal. We can get some clarity about what really matters. In the middle of the storm we look for an anchor, a place of safety and stability.
2 Corinthians 4:18 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” The root of the word for “fix our eyes” means to look at one thing to the exclusion of others. It really truly captures your attention. What always grabs your attention?
A very long time ago, my parents put me in Little League baseball. I was pretty young, hadn’t played any organized sports (soccer hadn’t been invented yet), and was mostly a klutz. I went to a couple of weeks of practices, sold pecan turtles to raise money for uniforms, and then the first game rolled around in the town park ballfield. I wasn’t playing quite deep, deep roving right field, but I could see it from there in the outfield. It was a great park—lots of shade, surrounded by the Tippecanoe River, a long winding road went all the way around in a loop—and there were a LOT of motorcycles that rode through. In my first game, I was scoping out all the motorcycles that came past the diamond and missed the one ball that was hit my way. Never saw it. Lots of hollering and waving, and I was oblivious. Motorcycles still grab my attention.
Perhaps for you, it’s not motorcycles that grab your attention. It’s the chaos that is swirling around you, the circumstances that look like they will sink your ship. Financial disaster. Health diagnosis. Marriage difficulties. Parenting challenges. When those loom so large, we start asking, “What am I doing? What is my primary purpose in life? Am I doing anything that matters?” You’ve found yourself asking that question, right?
Are you doing God’s will? Ask these questions:1) What has God given you to give away? And, 2) Who needs it? You’re living a life on loan from God, remember? Not just giving things, but giving your moments, your experiences, your abilities, your successes, your failures, everything that’s a part of your story.
What has He given to you to give away to someone else? Invite Him to help you make some choices about these significant gifts He wants you to give away.
Albert Schweitzer said, “If there is something you own that you cannot give away, you don’t own it. It owns you.” What owns you? Where are you focused?
Possessions? We all know the rich young ruler from Mark 10:21, whoseproblem was not just possessions, it was about focus. He didn’t learn to handle his treasure, how to be generous, how to live with less money and more perspective. His perspective stood in the way.
Experiences? Even after a complete healing from a wound, there may be a scar forever. We can learn from our scars. Painful experiences can bring healing, new life to those wounds. When you serve others and live out your life on loan for God, there is healing power and hope available. Are you allowing your scars to keep you from living a life on loan for God? Or are you allowing them to motivate you to life that life for Him? What you have learned, what you have seen, what you have experienced may be just the thing someone else needs.
Influence? Queen Esther’s position came along (Esther 4:14) for just a time as this. Is God setting a path of influence in front of you? What could you do where you are with the influence you have? What kind of legacy are you leaving? What have you done, what will you do, with the influence you have?
Time? Everyone wants it. Some need it. It’s one of the few things we cannot create or duplicate. That means we have to do the most and best with what we’ve got. Prioritize! At a leadership seminar, pastor Gene Appel encouraged the preachers to narrow down all of the responsibilities of ministry to just SIX things we really need to do. Make a list of all the things you’re doing and then start paring down the list of the things you HAVE to do. Make it six, or five, or ten—I’m not sure it matters as long as there is some intentional focus on protecting and capitalizing on our time.
What does God want from you? Only everything. Your abilities and skills and interests, your possessions, experiences, influence, and time. The thing is, it really all came from Him in the first place! He has given them to you to be used HERE. To be used NOW. To be used for HIM. Will you join Him in what He wants to do in the world?
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