I will be in New York this week celebrating our Thanksgiving holiday with our daughter and then heading to Zimbabwe next Friday. 2006 is almost history, but I still have a lot to accomplish. I am also giving some thought to 2007 and what I would like to accomplish then. With that in mind, I found a prayer this week while reading a purpose book entitled Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life by Craig Groeschel. I urge you to pray that prayer, if you dare. I already did.
DISTURB ME
The prayer was first prayed by Sir Francis Drake, who sailed around the world for England in 1577. The prayer goes like this:
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
Now you see why I cautioned you about this prayer. It is dangerous! As I travel and talk with many people, however, it is a prayer that many desperately need to pray.
SHRINKING BACK
I have been looking at a passage in Hebrews 10:35-39 that address the issues raised in the prayer:
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
I have found that many will say they are living by faith, but that is because they are living so small. Their goals are timid, their fears overwhelming and their vision limiting. They are not doing anything big, so of course it appears that they are living a full life. Instead, they are living woefully below what God has for them. They have shrunk back to their comfort zone but describe it as only a place of respite. In actuality, it is a place of refuge from which they have little intention of venturing out.
I hope you aren't among those whom I describe in the previous paragraph. If you are, however, and you know it, now is the time to do something about it. It's time to set some goals and live by faith once again. With that in mind, think about 2007 and what faith projects you will launch or resume. The beauty of doing this is that you don't need to have any idea how you will do those things; that's where the faith comes in. If you've decided, however, that faith is just too demanding or stressful, then you may be guilty of shrinking back and incurring God's displeasure.
So the choice is clear: have faith and please God, shrink back and displease God. The choice is yours and I do hope you will choose wisely. Have a great week!
***********************************************************************************************************************
1. I depart for southern Africa this week. Here is my schedule for the rest of the year:
- November 21-24 -- New York City
- November 26-December 6 -- Harare, Zimbabwe
- December 7-10 -- Johannesburg, South Africa
- December 11-14 -- Lusaka, Zambia
- December 15-18 -- Harare, Zimbabwe
Write me if you would like to schedule a one-on-one purpose session in one of these cities.
2. I am still believing the Lord to publish my next book in January, but I am still well short of my financial goal. If you can help, I need to hear from you this week. If not, I will push my publishing date back to July. The book is written and at the publisher, so now I am trusting for the provision. if you can contribute, go to my website and make a contribution through PayPal or send a check to PO Box 91099, Pittsburgh, PA 15221. If you give, I'll make sure you get an autographed copy of the first print run as my gift to you.
3. I am attaching my December installment of A Daily Dose of Proverbs below since I will be traveling next week. By the way, that book makes a great Christmas gift because it is something that one can use every day of the year. For a contribution of $50 through my website, I will send you a copy of that book to use yourself or to give to someone else. Just go to my site and make a contribution through PayPal and send me your address. We'll get a copy out to you right away.
Download Proverbs: Download December.doc
Comments