This is from my dear friend Marta's blog several years ago. I shared this with a friend facing a tough decision, so I thought I'd share it with you as well.
I just finished listening to an amazing series of Podcasts. I downloaded A
ndy Stanley's message series, Discovering God's Will. Andy is the senior pastor of Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Evan and I have read several of his books and our small group has done several of his studies. (I highly recommend his book, The Best Question Ever.) I finished the last message in Discovering God's Will on Tuesday while I cleaned the house. It's not often that I get choked up while vacuuming, but that's what happened. Here are a few things that jumped out at me:
* He talked about Vision. His illustration was the picture on the box of a puzzle. Without that picture, it's hard to put the pieces together. In our lives when we ask God for that big picture vision (what is my marriage supposed to look like, what is my relationship with my kids supposed to look like, what are my finances supposed to look like, what are my friendships supposed to look like), it makes our day-to-day decision making much easier.
* He preached from a passage in Nehemiah. Nehemiah was hard at work on the walls of Jerusalem when his enemies sent letters requesting a meeting. Over and over he rejected them saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." Meaning - "I have a vision for this project. I am focused on this and I will not let you distract me."
* Andy Stanley and his wife quote that verse (6:3) often as they decide what to do/what not to do; what to say yes to/what to say no to. Andy also shares a letter from a woman in his church that said no to an amazing job opportunity so she could focus on raising her daughter. When she said no to the job, she hung up the phone and said aloud, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."
I got choked up as I listened because as much as I miss doing a job that I loved and I was good at, the time when Kate is young is short and I know, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."
ndy Stanley's message series, Discovering God's Will. Andy is the senior pastor of Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Evan and I have read several of his books and our small group has done several of his studies. (I highly recommend his book, The Best Question Ever.) I finished the last message in Discovering God's Will on Tuesday while I cleaned the house. It's not often that I get choked up while vacuuming, but that's what happened. Here are a few things that jumped out at me:* He talked about Vision. His illustration was the picture on the box of a puzzle. Without that picture, it's hard to put the pieces together. In our lives when we ask God for that big picture vision (what is my marriage supposed to look like, what is my relationship with my kids supposed to look like, what are my finances supposed to look like, what are my friendships supposed to look like), it makes our day-to-day decision making much easier.
* He preached from a passage in Nehemiah. Nehemiah was hard at work on the walls of Jerusalem when his enemies sent letters requesting a meeting. Over and over he rejected them saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." Meaning - "I have a vision for this project. I am focused on this and I will not let you distract me."
* Andy Stanley and his wife quote that verse (6:3) often as they decide what to do/what not to do; what to say yes to/what to say no to. Andy also shares a letter from a woman in his church that said no to an amazing job opportunity so she could focus on raising her daughter. When she said no to the job, she hung up the phone and said aloud, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."
I got choked up as I listened because as much as I miss doing a job that I loved and I was good at, the time when Kate is young is short and I know, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."
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