Impressed

Beauty and the Beast part VII:

Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot?
Clean it up, we want the company impressed

Boy, do we want to impress. We want to impress our peers so that we'll be popular. We want to impress our bosses so that we'll be promoted. We want to impress our parents so that they'll be proud. Our teachers so that we get 7 A's, our crushes so that they like us back. And so it goes on.  Our lives revolve around social media, the place where you put your best filtered foot forward and show off #livingyourbestlife.

In such a world, spots are not very welcome. Spots are hidden and avoided, covered and filtered away. Heaven forbid someone would see that we are not fully perfect, that we have bad days, that we make mistakes and have some flaws. We are being conditioned to hide our imperfections and it's creating a world with very high (albeit very fake) bar that is impossible to meet.

Let's change that. Let's not judge the spots we see on other people, and perhaps even harder to stop, let's not judge the spots in our own lives. Yes, let's identify the spots and weaknesses and work on improving and strengthening those things. But also, let's not pretend they don't exist. Let's not project a perfect life, but let's be open and honest while walking together with other flawed people, trusting that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.

It reminds me of some of the lyrics from a song by Rend Collective called Create In Me:

You're not finished with me yet
By Your power I can change, I can change
'Cause You're not finished with me yet

It's not over yet. This is not the end; it's not as good as it gets. Jesus is still at work, even when we can't see it. We will not see perfection this side of heaven. There is still work to be done and that is okay. But don't hide away. Be free and live, even in your imperfection. Fight that need to always impress, just do your best and trust God for the rest.

You Have Failed This City

I was watching Arrow, and Oliver said his classic line of "You have failed this city." I've heard it many times over, but this time it made me stop and think. I would never want to hear those words said to me. I don't want to fail my city, I don't want to fail the people in the place God has put me in this season.

Thinking about how I could / could not fail my city brought to mind what God says in Jeremiah 29:

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

I believe not failing this city can be done in both big and small ways. In the day-to-day it involves being kind to everyone, speaking the truth, obeying the laws of our land, doing our jobs well, caring for the widows and orphans, feeding the hungry, giving to those in need, sharing the gospel and basically just living our normal lives out like Jesus.

On a bigger scale, something like City Story who are, to quote their website: a passionate group of Christian individuals whose focus is to build networks and serve our city and see her grow into a hub of excellence by connecting networks and individuals in different spheres of life and empowering them to bring about a powerful collaboration of giftings and passions that spark remarkable change in the city. Through intentional prayer, online platforms and supportive engagements we facilitate collaboration across the spheres.

City Story also acts as a platform for stories of hope and testimonies to create awareness and build faith for our city. Check out their website here. On it you can browse through an online booklet showing some incredible NGO's and the work they are doing in the eThekweni Municipality. I think it's a great example of Jeremiah 29 being lived out and I can't wait to see what unfolds into the months and years ahead.

Napkins Freshly Pressed

Beauty and the Beast, Be Our Guest continued...

Spot the difference between the reactions to the arrival of a surprise guest:

Most days we just lay around the castle
Flabby, fat and lazy
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!

It's a guest, it's a guest
Sake's alive, well I'll be blessed!
Wine's been poured and thank the Lord
I've had the napkins freshly pressed

Option one is an oops-a-daisy moment, but option two is excited and even blessed by the opportunity.

How do you react to surprises, challenges, questions in your life? Do you constantly feel unprepared, unfit, caught off guard?

Or, as I wrote about a few weeks ago, are you sharpening yourself, even in the dry down time? Are you investing time in pressing the napkins in your life, so that you are ready when the time comes?

2 Tim 4:2 "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season."

1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

The Hamster Wheel

Life can be a lot like a treadmill. It can feel like no matter how many steps you take, you make no real progress. There is always something more, always one more step to reach the goal. And as you get within reach, the mat pulls you back and there is yet another step to take.

For example: I'm currently single, so I am asked many times when I'm going to get a boyfriend. My friend who is in a relationship gets asked when she's getting married. Another friend has been married for a few years, so she is now expected to have babies. And so the hamster wheel goes.

"Now you're a manager, when are you going to be become a senior manager?"
"Now you drive a this car, when are you going to buy a that car?"
"Now you live in this area, when are you going to move to that area?"

There is something in society that pushes us to have more, to want more, to ascend the neverending ladder. And yes, it's good to grow. It's good to have goals and dreams and develop through the seasons of our lives -- we don't want to stagnate.

But there needs to be a balance. There needs to be contentment in the season, in the moment we're in. Otherwise we're going to run ourselves ragged on the treadmill of life. Always busy, always striving, but achieving very little of eternal value. Because getting the boyfriend changes into needing a fiance and then a husband and then the father of your child. It will never be enough.

Phil 4:11-13 says: "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

Do we really know what it is to be content? Are you content with your current relationship status, your work title, your home address, your bank balance? Yes, improve, grow, invest and develop into your potential. But do it from a place of contentment, a place of knowing that whether or not you get the promotion or the boyfriend or the baby - Jesus is enough. He alone is enough.

Hebrews 13:5 says "Be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Because of that, we can have the courage to step off of the hamster wheel and embrace the moments we find ourselves in. And there we will find peace, contentment and hope for the future seasons of our lives, whenever they may be.

P.S. Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Oops-A-Daisy

Beauty and the Beast lyrics continued.

Too long we've been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills!
Most days we just lay around the castle
Flabby, fat and lazy
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!

Are you wasting your life? What about your time, are you wasting that? Your talents? Your energy? Are your skills growing rusty as they lie hidden behind heavy unopened doors?

What are you doing right now to sharpen your skills? What are you doing to shine up your character? How are you exercising your mind and getting your talents in shape?

How about taking your homework seriously in a way that develops perseverance, enhances your critical thinking and teaches you self-control? How about learning an instrument, or language or art or sport? What about looking for opportunities to improve your public speaking, your writing, your one-on-one people skills?

If "one day" you want to be a preacher, are you drafting preaches now, getting stuck in the Word, preaching to yourself in the mirror, asking for opportunities to preach at lifegroup, just generally speaking to groups of people without dying of nerves?

If "one day" you want to impact the people of outer Mongolia or Timbuktu, are you teaching yourself another language so as to awaken your brain in that regard? Are you interacting with diverse people and cultures to grow your global acumen?

If "one day" you want to be a powerful business leader, are you leading yourself well right now? Are you taking responsibility for the things and the people and pets in your care? Are you working on your time management and prioritisation and multitasking skills?

And I say "one day" as I do, because you never know when that day will be. It may well be much sooner than you think. And when that opportunity does present itself, I imagine you don't want to be found flabby, fat and lazy and crying "Oops-a-daisy!" Don't be caught napping like the virgins in Matthew 25.

Can I challenge you to think about your "one day"? What do you need to make that day a reality? And what are you doing about that in this moment?

Jesus backs you fully. His divine power has given you everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), but it's up to you to keep it all in working condition. Shake off the dust and the rust. Ask God what it is He has for your right now. Improve your strengths; work on your weaknesses (Hebrews 12:12).

Dream big God dreams and then take all the little day-by-day steps to get you there.

A Firm No

Personally, I'm not a fan of alcohol. I have always really disliked the taste of alcohol in all forms: the sherry in trifle on Christmas Day, a friend's wine at a dinner, beer at the cricket, gin & tonic at a party. I have yet to drink alcohol in any shape or form that I've actually enjoyed and due to that I see it as a complete waste of both common sense and money. That, coupled with a firm conviction that getting drunk is against God's ways, has resulted in me being 100% sober for life.

Being a homeschool kid, I wasn't exposed too much to the pressures of drinking. My closest friends were from youth and for the most part they shared my convictions. Through the sport I played for a local school, club and provincial, there was a little more pressure to drink, but as I was not a so-called 'legal eagle' at this stage, no one overtly tried to force it on me.

Cut to varsity, where I was just the goody two shoes overachiever nerd that almost no one would have even invited to a party or place where there would be alcohol. I never reached out to anyone outside my core group, and even they were just 'varsity friends', someone to sit next to in lectures. So still, despite now being legally able to drink, I hadn't found myself in anything close to an alcohol-soaked rage or even just being offered a beer.

At the age of 21, I graduated and began work at an accounting/auditing firm. You've probably heard this before, but there is a huge misconception that all accountants are timid, quiet, introverts that wear baggy grey suits and sit in cubicles doing sums on their calculators. Boy, did my new work environment prove that whole idea wrong. I found myself working and interacting with some of the wildest, loudest, most outgoing people I've ever met.

For the first time in my life I consistently found myself in somewhat uncomfortable places and conversations. Have a drink, come to the club, have a cigarette, swear, oh come on have just one drink, why don't you have a boyfriend, hook up with that guy, here's a drink I bought for you- you have to drink it now. It was incessant. I genuinely worried that this is what the full 3 years of my articles would look like. I joked that I should get the words "NO THANKS" tattooed on my forehead, as it felt like all I ever said.

But thank the Lord, I stuck to my guns. Despite the threat of being unpopular and lonely, (by the grace of Jesus alone) I managed to root myself in my identity as a daughter of God. I developed a thick skin that allowed words like lame, prude, hectic religious, etc to roll off me like water off a duck's back. I held onto the bigger picture of life and eternity that caused the callous words to lose their potency. I learned that there is no shame in saying no and that people tend to respect a firm, convicted no way more than a wavering yes.

In the midst of the no's I did my best to love, to be consistent and kind and approachable. I continued to hang out with them even when we were on opposite ends of the sober scale. I actively tried to break the stereotype of judge-y, haughty Christianity. I showed up and I opened up.

To the shock of Day 1 at Work Kelsey, despite my thousand no's, these very same people grew to accept me and respect me and want me around. Possibly just for my sober driving skills at first, but with many, it grew into actual friendship. To the point where someone I now hold as one of my dearest friends said to me one year in, "I know you're hectic about what you believe, so I was waiting for you to judge me, but you haven't, you've just loved me." That pretty much sums up my life's goal!

So I've learnt that my convictions and unconditional love for those around me aren't mutually exclusive. I've learnt that I can say no whilst still being open to the very people who ask me these things. I pray that in doing this, people continue to see glimpses of Jesus in me. I pray that my no's give strength to the backbones of those around me.

Not Okay

Before Psalm 102 starts there is a little prologue that struck me:

"A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord."

God, in his infinite wisdom, when authoring the Bible, knew that there would be days when we feel weak; days when we feel afflicted and done. And I believe he put this Psalm in so that 1) we have a prayer to pour out to him in those darks days, but more than that, 2) so that we know that it's okay to not be okay.

God is not repelled by our weakness. He is not surprised by it. The world is a hard place. Jesus said that we would have troubles in this world, guaranteed. But he also said that we can take heart because he has overcome.

So it's okay to be not okay, but we don't have to stay that way. Bring your unokayness to Jesus. Ask him to remind you that he has overcome, that he is bigger, that he knows all and sees all yet still loves you perfectly, that he has a plan for you that is incredibly good. Pour out your heart to him. And as it says in the Psalm:

"He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea."

The struggle is real, but so is God. 

A Soul To Wait Upon

Beauty and the Beast lyrics unpacked some more:

Life is so unnerving

For a servant who's not serving

He's not whole without a soul to wait upon

We were made to serve. Just as a cheetah was made to run, and a shark to swim, there is something in our wiring as human beings that causes us to give our lives to something.

A 'non-religious' person may say, "That's not true, I serve no God, my life is my own..", but I challenge that. Maybe it's not a God that you're serving, but think about this: As you invest your time and effort into climbing the corporate ladder, are you not serving your career? As you love and teach and discipline your kids, are you not serving them? As you put money aside each month into your pension, are you not serving your future self? With each moment we live, Rand we spend, calorie we burn, we are serving something, someone, some dream of ours.

So now my question is, what do you choose to serve? Is it yourself, your wants and dreams and ego? Or, with your time and resources and talents, are you serving others?

The problem with serving ourselves and even with serving others, is the inevitable disappointment that comes with it. You will let yourself down. It will be thankless. The rewards will too often be fleeting and unfulfilling.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  - Matt 6:19-21

Serving Jesus, the only One who is guaranteed to never disappoint: that is where we find wholeness. And yes, serving Jesus will definitely involve serving others, developing our kids, building our careers, spending our money etc. But the motivation, the why we do what we do is rooted in something so much bigger, something eternal and unfading.

Jesus said that when we do something as simple as giving a cup of water in His name, we will certainly not lose our reward. Giving a cup of water is just meeting a basic human need of another person, but when it's driven from a place of the love and compassion of Jesus, it gives that simple action a whole new meaning and purpose.

So why do you serve? And what is your soul waiting upon?

You're Alone & You're Scared

Beauty and the Beast lyrics part III:

You're alone and you're scared

But the banquet's all prepared

No one's gloomy or complaining

While the flatware's entertaining

Am I a safe place for the lonely and the scared? Can people trust my confidentiality? Rely on my unconditional love and lack of judgement? Depend on my consistency and approachability?

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:18

If this is the attitude of my God, it's how I want to live as well.

I want my life to be a place where broken people (from which I do not exclude myself) can find healing and hope through the life of Jesus in me. I want to be a light in the midst of doom and gloom, light that brings clarity and joy through the wisdom and Spirit of God in me. I want to be a safe haven from the terrors and depression of the world through the peace of Jesus. I want to speak the truth with wisdom and love and grace and zero judgement.

I want to have His heart.

Never Second Best

Some more Beauty and the Beast lyrics that can be applied back to our lives:

A dinner here is never second best

Would it be so scandalous to say that I believe that Christians should be at the top of every field and discipline and role in life? And I believe that competence matters for Christians because the Christian life is a life of action, and our actions are intended to result in God being glorified.

Am I saying that every Christian should always be the best at everything? Nej, not at all. I'm saying that each of us should be doing our best at whatever it is we are gifted and called to do. And that when we all rise up to be our best, to live in the fullness of our God-given potential, we will see people across every different space of life succeeding and exceeding for the glory of God.

I'm also not saying that this success only equates to becoming CEO or an Olympic swimmer. Why do we limit ourselves to so little? Let us aim to succeed in friendship, in serving, in giving, in discipling, in teaching, in helping, in forgiving, in loving. Be your best in your role as a nurse, daughter, secretary, guard, coach, parent, driver, friend.

Martin Luther King Jr said:

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” 

Being the best also comes down to the little mundane things in our lives: homework, cooking dinner, driving to work, etc. Your life will require you to invest a lot of time and energy in things that aren't big and don't seem to make much of an impact. Habits like working hard, maintaining a positive attitude, living with self-discipline and intergrity bring benefits to our lives now and pay enormous dividends in the future.

Making an effort to be kind to a brother or sister now both shapes your relationship with your sibling and trains you to relate to your future colleagues. Applying your brain to that awful maths now affects your academic future and develops your brain to deal with complex situations later in life.

"Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people." - Col 3:23

If we can rewire our brains to see our every action and word as a chance to glorify Jesus, I believe we will rise up to be our best.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." - 1 Cor 10:31

We all want to do big and important things, but we tend to discount doing our best in the equally important small things that get us there, even the eating and the drinking. The desire to do your best - even when no one around you requires it - takes a special kind of character. Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain and maintain the strength needed to be the best.

Please note that we aren't called to be successful all the time. We're called to be faithful, to take those first difficult steps and leave the results up to God. Failure is a way to grow stronger, not to give up. All effort, even failed effort, builds muscle and stamina.

Let's do our best and trust God for the rest.

Ask The Dishes

There's a line in Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast that makes me think about how I live:

Try the grey stuff, it's delicious

Don't believe me, ask the dishes

What do the dishes, the hard circumstances, the people with me in the trenches say about my life? Am I more than just talk? I tell people about how wonderful Jesus is, but is He really such a reality in my life that, through friendship and random interactions with me, those people can actually "Taste and see that the Lord is good"?

I want to live my life in a way that my words and my actions represent something of the goodness, grace and truth of Jesus. I want to be salty. Not in the new way of being bitter and biting, but salty in the Matthew 5:13 way that enhances flavour, that brings a taste of Jesus to whatever place I find myself in this world.

On Purpose

One of my fears is to be useless. The thought of one day waking up in the morning with no purpose, no meaning, no drive; that scares me. As Bieber once said, to be given purpose is to be blessed with the best gift we could know.

No matter what the world says, I cannot look at my life and believe that the blessings of gifting and talent, position and family, country and freedom, have all been given blindly and without purpose?

I believe that my life has a reason and meaning and a purpose. This is the path I have chosen, to follow Jesus, to shine as a light wherever I find myself. Should a candle in a dark room just assume that darkness is its fate? Should the candle just make peace with the darkness? No. I choose to believe that I am where I am because I’ve been placed right here, not by chance, but by sovereign purposeful design. And this little light of mine wants to shine to all its potential!

That being said, the life of purpose ain’t a walk in the park. Like I have discovered from running in Sweden in the middle of winter, it’s more like running uphill through the snow. It takes courage and determination and perseverance and ignoring the voice that constantly tells me I’m going to fall. It daily involves fleeing from temptation, looking to Christ, fighting the good fight, running the race, and wrestling with myself.

The life of complacency is much more like a gentle stroll on the promenade. It offers a road free from care. I give myself to the very things I should flee from and fight with. So much easier to choose, so much simpler, and just what us humans tend to want. But I cannot deny that there is more for me, so I choose to not want this.

How on earth do I propose to do this? Not in my strength, for it has and always will fail. Not in my previous success for it is insignificant. Not in my own willpower for it is weak and corrupt. Not in any part of my natural being because I have fallen short. I have broken promises I vowed to keep. I have given up more times than I have tried again. There is a powerful magnet in me that always pulls toward easy. I know I have no lasting hope in myself.

So again you ask, how on earth do I propose to do this? I make this resolve solely in the strength of God, in the grace and power of Jesus Christ. In the salvation I know I have through Him. From the righteousness I have received from Him, from the security that I feel in His embrace, from everything that is not me and is Him—in this I stand and in this I put my hope.

Although the life of purpose is harder, I don’t have to (which is great news because I straight up cannot) do it in my own strength and with my own willpower. To change the world God has changed my heart. To fight the fight God has won the war. To run the race Christ has set me free. And in that freedom and purpose I choose to live.

Philippians 2:13

"It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” 

Exodus 9:16

“But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”