Foolish
2 Samuel 6:22 Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!”
There are many times that wholehearted obedience to God looks undignified, embarrassing, or just downright foolish. Think of the prophets! Ezekiel had to have gotten the worst gig: laying on his side naked acting out the siege of Jerusalem for years in advance...cooking a tiny amount of food on a cow poop fire! Isaiah walked around naked for three years!
Isaiah 20:3 Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign—a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
These are the great men of heaven!...most of them were mocked, beaten, jailed, thrown in wells...but forever they are great....in a trillion years they will still be great, while those that mocked them will be "less than" the great they could have been.
This is why Paul, who traded a perfect reputation, said this:
Colossians 3:2-4 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
When I was a young man, I was mostly driven by managing my comfort, success, and reputation here. I set out to obtain a "respectable" career, enough money, a beautiful family, a nice car, a good reputation as a moral and conservative man... I honestly tasted all of these. I don't say this to boast, but actually to testify of the emptiness of this goal.
I have had good jobs in a field that sounds "cool", I had a cute house on a quiet street with two nice cars in the driveway, I have enjoyed a great reputation in my field, in my neighborhood, in my church. I have lived comfortably knowing that I mostly obeyed what the Bible said to do. I have been blessed with beautiful, witty, good kids and a beautiful and charming wife...in His mercy God let me taste the emptiness of all of these things! NONE of these things describe anyone great in the Bible, and none of these things ever really satisfy the human heart. Placing all of my weight on these things left me comfortable, dull, and honestly...spiritually bored! I didn't realize it at the time, but desiring these things was robbing me of true greatness forever.
Don't get me wrong, none of these things are bad...God has a plan to actually give the best of these things, in right measures, to everyone that chooses Him wholeheartedly, but to make your life about managing these things is a recipe to waste your whole life. This is what most people do...in and out of church.
These were never enough, but I pressed the boundaries of normal and still came up dull. I started a business at 29 years old, and it has been much more successful than I would have imagined...completely reliant, in the natural mindset, on my reputation. I was a Sunday school teacher with lots of kids who loved me. I saw many choose Jesus to be their savior. I had a pretty good reputation at my church. I took my family on Carribbean vacations, my wife and I went annually...I worked on my marriage, praying daily for God to keep us tight. We are, in many ways, a perfect match for each other....we talked, and prayed, and laughed together numerous times a day for 10 years. She is my best friend on earth. These are great blessings, but they were simply never enough. One day I tripped into God in a whole new way. I learned one day that sincere love for Jesus is NOT necessarily WHOLEHEARTED love for Jesus. There is a huge difference. For years I sincerely loved Jesus, but I wholeheartedly loved myself and my desire for a comfortable and secure life here...
There is only one thing worth living all in for. When I found out that wholehearted zealous love for Jesus was as simple as asking for it as much as I daydreamed about the next thing I wanted to buy or do, I finally found what I was made for...to chase after Jesus...to know Him and to be known. I found the pearl of great price...I found the treasure in the field:
Matthew 13:44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
When this happened to me in the spring of 2011, I found out what this parable meant. To hold on to Jesus with both hands requires letting go of whatever you have been holding onto!
Before 2011, comfort, family, and reputation were my treasure. That is a fine treasure if you are living for this age...but my heart was made to live beyond this age. When I started to chase after Jesus as my sole treasure, immediately a conflict arose: what about my comfort? What about my family? What about my REPUTATION and all that seemed tied to it...would my friends, who are my clients, hire a full on Jesus lover? Jesus invaded my conversations, Jesus gave me visions and revelation that make almost everyone I know uncomfortable....Jesus started to tell me very exciting but hard things about what is coming very soon! Jesus wants me to speak out everything He tells me...and then he chuckles at the things it does to my reputation, because He loves me. He is killing comfortable Tom to bring out GREAT Tom....It is so hard, BUT I know him! I hear him! He is worth it! He is WORTHY.
I worried about my family. My kids were older when my life changed...they were at that tough age where they had gotten used to certain things. Now they had a weird dad. My wife, at first, as easy going as she is, didn't like the wholehearted Tom that much...she thought I might be "losing it".. Sam fully understood the natural costs of this new lifestyle. I agonized over pressing into this or going back to "normal" me. Jesus said this to me:
Luke 12:31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.
This verse is true beyond my understanding. A few years past those initial fears this is my testimony: my reputation is gone, but my heart soars. My comfort is obliterated, but my family is closer than ever. My desire for people to affirm me is almost dead, but my ability to hear what God thinks of me is more acute than I could have ever imagined...my confidence is with him and no longer earth bound....
For 42 months...3.5 years...satan, through the antichrist will have authority to confiscate your money, your job, your savings, your children, and worst of all, your reputation. Trusting in Jesus is the only safe place. This trust takes time to develop...Faith takes time to build. Faith is "confidence" that God's leadership is good. Confidence comes by experience. There is no other way. What Jesus has done has saved me in many ways from what is coming. By killing my comfort and reputation in advance, I am safe from the manipulation my enemy intends to use to keep people from trusting Jesus in a time of extreme trouble.
Many worry about managing a great move of God to keep everyone comfortable. Not me. I already threw the reputation and comfort out. I've honestly got nothing left to lose and everything to gain. I am free!
I refuse to manage my reputation, or to settle for dull comfort when I am living in the most glorious time to be alive and hidden in Christ. No one can kill what is already dead!
Like David says, if following God requires it, I will be even more undignified than this as I say what God tells me to say, and do what he tells me to do. I have set my eyes on greatness forever, realizing fully that it is supposed to cost me everything here!
John 12:25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
There are many times that wholehearted obedience to God looks undignified, embarrassing, or just downright foolish. Think of the prophets! Ezekiel had to have gotten the worst gig: laying on his side naked acting out the siege of Jerusalem for years in advance...cooking a tiny amount of food on a cow poop fire! Isaiah walked around naked for three years!
Isaiah 20:3 Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign—a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
These are the great men of heaven!...most of them were mocked, beaten, jailed, thrown in wells...but forever they are great....in a trillion years they will still be great, while those that mocked them will be "less than" the great they could have been.
This is why Paul, who traded a perfect reputation, said this:
Colossians 3:2-4 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
When I was a young man, I was mostly driven by managing my comfort, success, and reputation here. I set out to obtain a "respectable" career, enough money, a beautiful family, a nice car, a good reputation as a moral and conservative man... I honestly tasted all of these. I don't say this to boast, but actually to testify of the emptiness of this goal.
I have had good jobs in a field that sounds "cool", I had a cute house on a quiet street with two nice cars in the driveway, I have enjoyed a great reputation in my field, in my neighborhood, in my church. I have lived comfortably knowing that I mostly obeyed what the Bible said to do. I have been blessed with beautiful, witty, good kids and a beautiful and charming wife...in His mercy God let me taste the emptiness of all of these things! NONE of these things describe anyone great in the Bible, and none of these things ever really satisfy the human heart. Placing all of my weight on these things left me comfortable, dull, and honestly...spiritually bored! I didn't realize it at the time, but desiring these things was robbing me of true greatness forever.
Don't get me wrong, none of these things are bad...God has a plan to actually give the best of these things, in right measures, to everyone that chooses Him wholeheartedly, but to make your life about managing these things is a recipe to waste your whole life. This is what most people do...in and out of church.
These were never enough, but I pressed the boundaries of normal and still came up dull. I started a business at 29 years old, and it has been much more successful than I would have imagined...completely reliant, in the natural mindset, on my reputation. I was a Sunday school teacher with lots of kids who loved me. I saw many choose Jesus to be their savior. I had a pretty good reputation at my church. I took my family on Carribbean vacations, my wife and I went annually...I worked on my marriage, praying daily for God to keep us tight. We are, in many ways, a perfect match for each other....we talked, and prayed, and laughed together numerous times a day for 10 years. She is my best friend on earth. These are great blessings, but they were simply never enough. One day I tripped into God in a whole new way. I learned one day that sincere love for Jesus is NOT necessarily WHOLEHEARTED love for Jesus. There is a huge difference. For years I sincerely loved Jesus, but I wholeheartedly loved myself and my desire for a comfortable and secure life here...
There is only one thing worth living all in for. When I found out that wholehearted zealous love for Jesus was as simple as asking for it as much as I daydreamed about the next thing I wanted to buy or do, I finally found what I was made for...to chase after Jesus...to know Him and to be known. I found the pearl of great price...I found the treasure in the field:
Matthew 13:44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
When this happened to me in the spring of 2011, I found out what this parable meant. To hold on to Jesus with both hands requires letting go of whatever you have been holding onto!
Before 2011, comfort, family, and reputation were my treasure. That is a fine treasure if you are living for this age...but my heart was made to live beyond this age. When I started to chase after Jesus as my sole treasure, immediately a conflict arose: what about my comfort? What about my family? What about my REPUTATION and all that seemed tied to it...would my friends, who are my clients, hire a full on Jesus lover? Jesus invaded my conversations, Jesus gave me visions and revelation that make almost everyone I know uncomfortable....Jesus started to tell me very exciting but hard things about what is coming very soon! Jesus wants me to speak out everything He tells me...and then he chuckles at the things it does to my reputation, because He loves me. He is killing comfortable Tom to bring out GREAT Tom....It is so hard, BUT I know him! I hear him! He is worth it! He is WORTHY.
I worried about my family. My kids were older when my life changed...they were at that tough age where they had gotten used to certain things. Now they had a weird dad. My wife, at first, as easy going as she is, didn't like the wholehearted Tom that much...she thought I might be "losing it".. Sam fully understood the natural costs of this new lifestyle. I agonized over pressing into this or going back to "normal" me. Jesus said this to me:
Luke 12:31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.
This verse is true beyond my understanding. A few years past those initial fears this is my testimony: my reputation is gone, but my heart soars. My comfort is obliterated, but my family is closer than ever. My desire for people to affirm me is almost dead, but my ability to hear what God thinks of me is more acute than I could have ever imagined...my confidence is with him and no longer earth bound....
For 42 months...3.5 years...satan, through the antichrist will have authority to confiscate your money, your job, your savings, your children, and worst of all, your reputation. Trusting in Jesus is the only safe place. This trust takes time to develop...Faith takes time to build. Faith is "confidence" that God's leadership is good. Confidence comes by experience. There is no other way. What Jesus has done has saved me in many ways from what is coming. By killing my comfort and reputation in advance, I am safe from the manipulation my enemy intends to use to keep people from trusting Jesus in a time of extreme trouble.
Many worry about managing a great move of God to keep everyone comfortable. Not me. I already threw the reputation and comfort out. I've honestly got nothing left to lose and everything to gain. I am free!
I refuse to manage my reputation, or to settle for dull comfort when I am living in the most glorious time to be alive and hidden in Christ. No one can kill what is already dead!
Like David says, if following God requires it, I will be even more undignified than this as I say what God tells me to say, and do what he tells me to do. I have set my eyes on greatness forever, realizing fully that it is supposed to cost me everything here!
John 12:25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
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