Waste and Shopping

I'm usually not one to gush about something I've heard or read; but in this case, if I'm to be honest, I have to say that 2 books I've recently read have changed me - or, more accurately, that God has used these 2 pieces of literature as instruments of change in my life. Gradual, just-beginning, slow, painful, marvelous and much-needed change.

The first of these, Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper, has caused me to seriously rethink some of my life goals and as a result, how I spend my time. How can I live the moments of my everyday life in order to best enjoy and display God's supremacy for the joy of all people? This is the heart of the matter. I long to boast only in the cross of Christ, the blazing center of the glory of God, and nothing else. I long to pour my life into something that really matters - to make a durable difference in this world. I long to embrace pain and hardship as that which draws me so much closer to Jesus Christ. And after reading this book, I long to die well (whenever and however that may be) - as someone who prizes Christ above life itself.

God's glory shines more brightly when he satisfies us in times of loss than when he provides for us in times of plenty . . . When everything in life is stripped away except God, and we trust him more because of it, this is gain, and he is glorified. (p. 72-73)

In his concluding prayer: This is your love, O God, not to make much of me, but to do whatever must be done so that I waken to the joy of making much of you through all eternity.(p. 186)

It sounds silly, but after finishing the last sentence on the last page of the last chapter of this book, I felt like a cartoon character who's just been knocked down and sits there, stunned, with little birdies flying around his head. I knew that nothing would - nothing ever could - be quite the same. And yet, I'm so weak. When Jesus tells the disciples that "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak", that resonates with me in every area of life. But what to do about it?????


Enter the second book: Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed. I believe God practically handed me this book on a silver platter! I was almost through reading about how not to waste my life, when Danny found this book in his office (having no idea where it had come from) and brought it home for me, thinking I might benefit from it.

Wouldn't you know - the very next day I got sick - so sick, in fact, that for 2 days I was pretty much couch-bound, with no strength to do anything but read this book (and watch the season finale of LOST)!

And in the 94 pages of this little volume, I found a wealth of practical ways to apply the first book - to begin to put feet to the desires of my heart. Carolyn and her daughters share valuable insight on five ways to make the best use of time: 1)Rise early (ugh), 2) Sit still, 3)Sit and plan, 4)Consider People, and 5)Plan to Depend.

Without getting too specific, I'll just say: I know what I need to do, and I'm trying by God's grace, to do it. I am deeply grateful for any prayers sent up on my behalf about all of this; I feel like more than ever before, my own inadequacies loom large before me, and I guess maybe this isn't a bad thing - just hard. I've had to face some difficult realities, one of them being that the way I spend my time and live my life speak to the fact that I don't treasure Christ above all else. Wow, that's really hard to type out. The flesh is indeed weak. Maybe I'll elaborate more in a future post; but for now, I pray that He will become greater in my life, and that I will become less.

But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Galations 6:14