I don’t want a life that requires much faith.
May 22nd by JonAs I mentioned a few weeks ago, my dad is starting a church in his mid 50s. In a horrible economy. With very little resources. And recently he confessed on his own blog:
“I don’t want a life that requires much faith.”
He unpacked the thought further and said:
“Here’s the thing I’ve realized, though. My natural inclination to have a secure life that needs little faith ends up being a life that needs very little God, either. That’s the deadly part of security and safety, we get used to living without God. There’s no need for God to show up. “All set, Lord,” becomes our silent, unconscious prayer.”
I love that. I love seeing what’s going on with him and where God’s got him. I love the things that are coming out of this adventure. I love that my dad can still kill me in Frisbee golf.
To check out the rest of the piece, which I really dug, check out “A Confession.”
More so than any other person on the planet, my dad is why I write the way I write and it’s fun to see him out there blogging. Read his blog if you get a chance.
Comments
True that Senhor Acuff! Who wants the challenge of living by faith when we can live by comfort?
Yeah most people when they retire, if they sit around, they start to look really old and die. Same if everything goes according to our plan.
That explains in a nutshell the feeling I have been unable to express about my faith. I want a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ, yet I don’t want to be outside my comfort zone, exert any more effort, or be inconvenienced in any way. It’s a constant war within myself.
“nothing great was ever easy”
Often in church we pray those big prayers “God i will do anything for you” etc. and when God gives us something to do that seems a little out of reach.. we say no…
then the next week we pray the prayer agian and wonder why God never answers our prayers…
great post. i think we all, at times, crave the easy life that we know we can control…where we have predetermined the outcome…but is that life to the fullest? Bravo to your dad. it will be an amazing adventure.
That’ so true. I think the hardest prayer to say and mean is “give me this day, my daily bread.” It’s like that verse in Proverbs that wisely says “give me neither poverty nor riches.” It’s a life of constant trust. Thanks.
Love what your dad says. Something we could all do with holding on to.
my husband and i are at exactly the same place as your dad with daring to get uncomfortable and living a life where we truly need God every day….it’s hard getting used to it but we know it’s worth it….look forward to reading your dad’s whole post
what a role model! thanks for sharing.
I left my job to help start a church that launched just 3 months ago in Miami, and I think your dad is a straight rockstar.
I’m smack-dab in the middle of reading the George Muller story to the kids. Yeah. Getting spanked again and again.
Did you say “unpacked the thought”? I just heard someone else use the word “unpacked” that way and it really caught me off guard… aww now I know I’m not “down with it”… or is it up?
Seriously though, I couldn’t agree more with your Dad’s statement. I read this quote in a management handbook, “There is no need for the faith to move mountains when the technology exists to do it for us”
Your dad is awesome! Those are some of the best words I have heard!
It’s great to hear that you read your dad’s posts. That’s the reason I blog….for my kids and their kids and so on, etc, etc. It gives me hope that they will someday read mine and think, “Uh, wow! And she didn’t even know what Frisbee golf was.”
I want them to know how God permeates my whole life. Sometimes good, sometimes sad, sometimes backwards feet in a bathroom stall funny….but they will know me, and more importantly the God that I know.