The Monday Memo from John Stanko

718: Chariots and Horses

I have been studying the book of Psalms all year, and I have been thinking about a passage all day long from Psalm 20: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,but we rise up and stand firm" (verses 7-8). This statement is of note because it comes from David, a famous warrior, who certainly knew how to utilize the instruments of battle. Yet David did not rely on his military genius, but rather on the Lord who directed his battle strategies.

One time the Lord told David to go and attack the Philistines head on: "Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?' The Lord answered him, 'Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands'" (2 Samuel 5:18-19). The Philistines didn't have their fill, however, for they came back for another round.

David could have easily concluded, "I can handle this. I know how to do this and I will do it like I have done it before." Instead David sought the Lord again and this time the Lord gave him a different approach: “'Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.' So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer" (2 Samuel 5:23b-25).

Your training may be in finance, human services or resources, ministry, or education and that training is a good thing - if God is free to direct it. If not, then you will continue to rely on the "horse and chariot," or the expertise that you have in any area.

I write about this because I have met with a few people lately who were strong-willed. They asked me how to do something and, when I explained what I thought they ought to do, they ended up debating and even arguing with me. Now, I am not saying my advice to them was the best or was delivered in the best manner. I am not offended because they did not heed my response. I was just surprised that they were that adamant in dismissing what I said because, at the end of the day, they knew best and stayed in control of their situations.

If you are going to find purpose, you are not going to "figure it out." You cannot find it without God's help. Even then you won't fulfill it without the same kind of guidance that God gave David. God can give that to you directly but He may send it through others. Either way, you have to surrender a bit of your independence to walk in someone else's perspective where your life and work are concerned. I am making an effort in my own life not to trust in what I think I know about life, but in what I think I know about the Lord - and that is He is a whole lot smarter than I am and has all the answers I need.

Have a blessed week!

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KENYA SPECIAL NEEDS: I posted two updates from our Kenyan partners who are encountering difficulties at this time. Please read about it and then give what you can through my website or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882. Thank you for your help - and please don't forget about the benefit at baseball game on August 29 to benefit the work in Kenya with our libraries and orphans.

717 - Rest Stops

I am not sure why I am drawn to the topic of rest, but I want to include one more entry on the topic. I have been enjoying a season of rest, even though it is a busy time for me. It may seem like a oxymoron - I am resting while I work, but it's true. I am doing what I love and the sense of accomplishment each day is gratifying. Also, I am spending more study time in the Word than I have in years, and I am exercising five times a week. All that has contributed to my rest as I sit in my recliner, facing a busy day ahead while I write this Memo.

Last year I produced a daily devotional called The Leadership Walk (soon it will be available for purchase). It focused on many leadership topics, but every seven days I wrote something about rest (I called them Rest Stops during our leadership walk), which made it the topic with the most entries. I include below two entries from the 52 essays on rest from The Leadership Walk. If you are interested in seeing the rest of them (pardon the pun), you can check them out here. For now, here are two teasers from that series:

1. "All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless" - Ecclesiastes 2:3.

The wisdom writer described people who are workaholics, who cannot stop working and cannot enjoy the work being done. Even when they stop working, their minds are back on the work, which is not a pleasant experience, but one filled with grief and pain. Worry, anxiety, regret and anger can consume leaders, turning their rest time into an opportunity to run mental marathons. Leaders are especially prone to this type of experience, for the duties and responsibilities of leading people and organizations can lead to sleepless, restless nights. The writer of today's verse described this scenario as meaningless, futile and pointless.

LEADERSHIP STEP: Do you stay up nights or wake up early due to worry or anxiety about work-related issues? Do you find it difficult to leave work mentally even when you are on a long weekend or holiday? Then incorporate the following as a daily or regular ritual: Read Psalm 127:2, which states that God gives to those He loves even in their sleep. Then when you go to bed, take a day off or a vacation, say, "Lord, I put you in charge while I am gone. Watch over my work."

2."Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you" - Psalm 116:7.

The psalmist made an interesting statement in this one verse. First, he wrote that his soul needed to 'return' to its rest. That indicates that rest is the natural state for the soul. Second, the psalmist commanded his soul to rest. That means that rest is a decision, well within the capability of each person to enter and enjoy. Third, the soul is the realm of the emotions, so the rest the psalmist was referring to was not a vacation on the beach. Fourth, the psalmist reasoned with his soul, providing it with an important fact: God had been good to the psalmist. It helps to remember what God has done in the past so that any current turmoil or confusion can be put into proper perspective so that rest may be maintained.

LEADERSHIP STEP: Your Step today is to reflect on your state of unrest in light of today's verse. First, confess or admit if you have lost your rest. Second, reason with yourself and produce facts that enable your soul to be at rest. This will include going over all things God has done for you in the past. If He did those things for you in the past, He can do them again! Finally, don't act like you have no role to play in your rest. It is a decision no matter what you are going through.

I hope these are helpful. Have a blessed, rest-filled week!

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KENYA NEEDS: Read my post Bricks that explains another business we have helped establish in Kenya. Then give online using PayPal or send a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.

716 - A Deep Sleep

I visited a church this morning and the pastor preached an excellent word on Jonah. I was going to write about something else this week, but I had another insight into the concept of rest as he was speaking - even though that was not the focus of his message. I have also written in the past about what is called the Jonah Complex, which you can read on your own if you so desire. This entry will focus on another aspect of Jonah's story - that he was asleep when the storm hit his escape ship:

"Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep" (Jonah 1:4-5).

Jonah was trying to use rest or a deep sleep as a means to hide from the Lord and the consequences of fleeing his purpose!

Perhaps Jonah thought if he could sleep, he would not be conscious to sense any remorse or guilt over his rebellion. Jonah was so out of it that the captain of the ship had to awaken him and asked incredulously, "How can you sleep?" Perhaps Jesus, the captain of your ship, is asking you the same question:

• How can you sleep when you don't know how many more days you have to fulfill your purpose?
• How can you sleep when the God of the universe has given you an assignment only you can do?
• How can you sleep when there are so many depending on you to fulfill your purpose?
• How can you sleep when the world is dying and you have life?
• How can you sleep when you have known for some time that God has given you something to do?

You can sleep or retreat into rest if you are scared or if you are in rebellion, like Jonah was. You can try to play the rest "trump card," seeing if God will exempt you from service, but I doubt it will work. Contrast the idea of rest with Paul's testimony of what it took for him to fulfill his purpose:

"Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love" (2 Corinthians 6:4-5).

Dear friend, is there a storm brewing around you and you are in a deep sleep? Is the Captain asking you how you can sleep at a time like this? Are you fatigued not from action, but from inaction, missing the joy and energy of God to propel you through whatever you are assigned to do? The good news is that God isn't angry and He is willing to get you where you need to be, just like Jonah in the belly of the fish, once you throw yourself into the storm, just like Jonah, and trust God. I encourage you to read Jonah's story again in chapters one and two and then awaken from your place of rest to a place of action. I promise you God will give you all the rest you need, but first you have to earn and you cannot use that rest as an escape. Have a blessed week.

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ONLINE VIDEO: I posted two new Your PurposeQuest shows (number 5 and 6) to my online channel last week. They are both interesting interviews with two men who made a career transition based on purpose. They are worth the investment of time to watch.

KENYA NEEDS: Read my post Holy Underwear that explains some of the motivation for my work in Kenya. Then give online using PayPal or send a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8881, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.

 

715: Rest is a Decision

This will be the last week I write about rest - I think! I keep noticing things in the Word on the subject, so if I see anything else this week, I will pass it on to you. If you have missed any of the past Memos on rest - and there have been five including this one, you can go to the site where they are posted and catch up. And now, for this week's finale.

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I have been basing my daily online devotional this year on the book of Psalms. There are five books in the entire collection of Psalms and the first book has a large collection of psalms written by David. Many of those psalms and poems depict David in trouble, calling out to the Lord for help. In Psalm 3, David wrote these words that caught my attention about rest: "But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side" (Psalm 3:4-6).

What caught my attention when I read those verses this past week was the fact that David had rest even though he was in a tough, pressure-filled point in his life. You get the sense that, while perhaps not 10,000 were against David (he was a poet and often used hyperbole to make his points), David had many enemies who were coming against him. Yet David was able to rest in spite of them all, and in the midst of them all!

This tells me, and it should indicate to you, that rest is not based on circumstances. You can rest in the midst of your enemies, and you can not rest if you take a vacation. The key is not the activity or lack thereof, it is trust in the Lord.

Why could David sleep so soundly? He saw that God was his shield. David prayed and God answered him (he persevered in prayer until he got an answer). And finally, David had made a decision not to fear even if there was an onslaught against him.

That last point raises another interesting aspect of rest. Rest is a decision on your part. Activity is not going to rob you of rest, but it seems in this context that fear will. I am facing a lot to do in the month of July and every time I look at the list, I get fearful. Will I be able to do it all? Will I do it well? What about more unexpected things to come? Will I be able to handle that? What about the finances?  When all those questions flood my mind, I stop and choose to rest. I answer them all with the mantra, "I trust you, Lord. You always help me. There is no reason you won't help me now."

For me, my "enemies" are not external, but internal. Yes, finances are an issue, but it's my fear of the lack of finances that will drive me to work and not rest. And then even if I cease from activities, my mind can worry and fret and I don't rest even thought I have stopped working.

My point in all this, and in the series since the beginning, is to get you to stop and consider that rest isn't based on what you are or are not doing. Rest is based in faith and as stated earlier, it's a decision. If you aren't rested, then you have some questions to ask to determine why. Yes, you may be very busy, but is your busy-ness connected to purpose or pursuit of money? You may take a vacation, but is worry or stress preventing you from resting? Are you sleeping eight hours, but waking up drained, dreading the day ahead?

I urge you to examine your expectations and sources of rest and make lifestyle adjustments not based on finding more leisure, but more purpose time. While you are at it, you can make a decision to trust the Lord as well. He has not failed you up to now, and He is not about to start. Have a blessed week.

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ONLINE VIDEO: I posted two new Your PurposeQuest shows (number 5 and 6) to my online channel this week. They are both interesting interviews with two men who made a career transition based on purpose. They are worth the investment of time to watch.