Over the last two weeks quite a bit of time has been spent thinking about life, where I am at right now, what I am doing with my time and relationships, and so on. Initially there was a bit of despair as I journeyed through thoughts about this all being in vain. I believe that we honor Christ most in the excellence that we bring to the execution of the passions that God has placed in our being. Yet when balancing so many things I am passionate about it is easy to feel as though the time I have to put towards excellence leaves my results less than excellent.
At this point the title, Excited for Life, probably isn’t making all that much sense. It isn’t that I’ve been disingenuous above, only that those feelings only express half of the reality I have the privilege I had forgotten I get to experience on a day to day basis.
The reality is that these last two weeks have pushed me into prayer about where I am at and to spend time reflecting on those things I am juggling in life (work, family, church, and seminary). I do often feel the tension and weight of my responsibilities yet it is in the midst of this tension that I’ve felt God’s pleasure through the works of my hands. It isn’t that this sense of God’s pleasure has been missing in my life, but rather I’ve just stopped appreciating it. A short next step would lead me to start ignoring it. In some ways I think I was beginning to ignore God’s pleasure in my work in little ways.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, but taking that extra time to pray and lay everything down before God again has brought the reality of His pleasure back into focus. This is so exciting to me. To experience God’s pleasure in the little things I do day by day fuels my motivation for excellence. Knowing that, as one of His sons, I represent Him in some small way it is an honor to give all I was, am and will be to him.
So I find myself here – now – Excited for Life.