I Can't See A Thing!

A few weeks ago we took a family vacation to New England. We had a great time taking in the history and sights of that part of our country. On one particular day we decided to drive up Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Now, the summit of Mount Washington reaches a height of only 6,288 ft. To put that into perspective, Pike's Peak is 14,115 ft., Mt. McKinley is 20,320 ft., and Mt. Rainier is 14,410 ft. So, having been up Pike's Peak several times, we thought a drive up Mount Washington would be piece of cake. Afterall, the city of Colorado Springs sits at an elevation of over 6,000 ft. and we've taken several trips there without any problems.

The initial part of our journey was incredible. The colors of autumn were unbelievable as slowly we made our way up the mountain. The road was a bit narrow and the absence of guard-rails made the drive a bit adventurous. As we continued up the mountain, some clouds blew in and our ability to see became increasingly more difficult. Onward we drove with the summit as our goal. Thicker and thicker and thicker the clouds became until we could not see past the front of our vehicle. Oh, did I mention the wind? The wind was hitting the car like a linebacker hitting a running back. Needless to say, our drive up the mountain that was suppose to be a piece of cake was turning into anything but. My crew's confidence in me was failing. Well, actually my own confidence in me was failing. I'm pretty sure I saw a turtle pass us like we were sitting still.

Now, although I've driven in some difficult weather before, I have to admit this was a first for me. That being said, I've faced this scenario many times walking through life. Those moments when you have no idea what lies ahead. You want so desperately to know how this thing is going to turn out, but there's know way of knowing. Just like us on that mountain, even the next step is cloudy. Maybe, you've heard God speak and you step out in confidence knowing that you've heard him clearly. Then, life takes a turn and you begin doubting. Circumstances are screaming loudly and the journey you anticipated is not the one you're experiencing. The fun has given way to work and everything in you is saying turn back. Everyone around you is screaming turn back.

Your mind becomes flooded with questions and doubts. "Maybe you didn't hear from God." "Maybe you missed God on this one." "Maybe this is God saying, NO!" In those moments for some reason its hard to hear his voice. Perhaps its because there are so many other voices competing for your attention. Whatever the reason, the truth is that so often here is where we lose the battle. Its in those moments when what we know is challenged by the world around us. Our five physical senses begin taking in thousands of inputs and most of them oppose that one input we originally received from God.

We are no different than the disciples who think the boat is going down in the storm or who can't wrap their brain around the day Jesus died. We're no different than Abraham trying to figure out how God was going to give him and Sarah a son at such an old age. Just like them we are faced with the decision to continue on or throw in the towel. We are faced with the cold hard reality of how firm our faith is.

On that mountain, I couldn't see a thing. I had never been there before and I had no idea what was up ahead. I would love to say I forged ahead and made it to the top. I didn't. I found a place to turn around and started back down the mountain. Sadly, that has been the same outcome many times throughout life. Fear, doubt, and unbelief win and the summit is never reached.

I know it would be great to journey through life with no obstacles. It would be so wonderful to be able to hear God's voice clearly, see the big picture and step out with no opposition. But that kind of life would require no faith. God has designed us in such a way that faith is a necessity for how we are to live life. Its living life in such a way that regardless of how our five senses interpret the world around us, we simply believe and trust God. Its understanding that there is a reality that is more real than what we can touch, see, hear, smell, and taste. Its banking on the promises of God when your experience is telling you something else. Its seeing with another set of eyes when your natural eyes see nothing.

While we had a great trip and I will never forget the experiences we had there, I do regret not making it to the top of Mt. Washington. I know that on that day once we got there we would have not been able to see anything. That's not really the point though. The point is just finishing the journey. Its about fighting the fear, the obstacles, and every urge to throw in the towel and just pushing forward to finish the journey. I pray today that wherever you find yourself on the journey, you fight through everything that says turn around and you fight to press ahead. The summit awaits!

Time-Out, Time-Out, TIME-OUT!

Wouldn't it be good if we could stop the clock? Just like they do in sporting events, as the clock is running down, we could simply call for a time-out. I know we can stop or slow down, but the clock never stops. It just keeps ticking and tocking. The 24 hours you get in a day, the 8760 hours you get in a year, just keeps ticking away, never slowing down. Before long the 8760 hours have long passed and we stand around wondering how the time flew by.

If you're like me, you need at least 48 hours in a day. Even with that, of course we still wouldn't get everything done on our to-do list. We would manage to still load up our day with way too much to do. We would try to cram 72 hours worth of tasks into those 48 hours. And in doing so, we would be even more exhausted at the end of the day. Somehow, I think in God's infinite wisdom, He knew just how long to make a day. He knew that 24 hours was all we needed. Any more than that would be more than we were created to handle.

Still in those 24 hours, there are those moments when a time-out would come in handy. A moment when the clock stops and we sit to take a breather and regroup. As great as that would be, we don't get any. The clock just keeps rolling....tick, tick, tick, tick. If you manage to live to be 90, you'll have just under 789,000 hours. I know that seems like a lot, but if you're like me, I'm quickly approaching the half-way mark and man did those first 300,000+ hours fly by. Regardless of where you find yourself on the journey, the fact remains that at the moment you were born the clock began and it hasn't stopped since.

While we all have different life-spans, the truth is we all get the same amount of time in each day. 24 hours. That's it. No more, no less. And once its gone, its gone. We all have lists a mile long of things that need to get done and at the end of the day its still a mile long. Since, time-outs are not an option, then good time management is a premium. Sitting down and doing a survey of what's truly important is a must. Let's face it, we all have things on that to-do list that in the grand scheme of things is of little importance. Regrets are the product or sacrificing the important things for the unimportant. You know as well as I do, that although we may get through most of our to-do list in a given day, if it was at the expense of what is really important there's little satisfaction in the end.

Of course, I try to live life with God's kingdom in my sights. I attempt to value what He values. I try desperately to keep focussed on what is eternal rather than on what is temporal. Trust me, I don't always get it right. That being said, getting it right is my goal. I just know that when its all said in done, at the end of the day those things that are eternal are the things that truly matter. One thing I know that is eternal is relationships. Afterall, that's all we take with us when we leave this earth. Our relationship with our Creator and our relationship with one another.

For me, putting work aside for a time of one-on-one with my sons is much more rewarding than getting the job done right now. Staying up taking in a football game with my son is more satisfying than trying to get a few more work related tasks done before bed. Choosing to take a day to spend with my family each week while I could easily spend the day working, is life-giving. Taking an evening each week to go on a date with my wife is priceless. Hanging out with friends and family, building relationships and doing life together is more rewarding than sitting in front of the tube, or surfing the internet, or getting that last task done on my list.

What I'm trying to say is that in the end when those 789,000 hours have been spent, I want to make sure that the majority of them were spent on the things that truly matter. I know there are things that must be done. I know there are jobs that need our attention. I know there are only 24 hours in a day. But, I hope you'll agree that if we fail to do the truly important things on that to-do list, at the end of those 789,000 hours we'll face some pretty hefty regrets.

I am writing this because, for me, this week has been one that has been filled with way too many tasks. Yes, I've been trying to cram 2 weeks into one. In my attempt to get all the things done that I need to get done, there have been some important ones that have taken a back seat. Remember, I said I don't always get this thing right. Yesterday my oldest son kept asking me to play with him. When I say kept asking me, I mean he asked me alot. But, I had work to do. A lot of work to do. At least 48 hours of work to do yesterday. Finally, he found me exhausted sitting on the couch at the end of the day. He comes up to me and asks one last time, "Daddy, will you play with me?" Up the stairs I stumble to take him on in Madden Football. Thank God it wasn't real football, as I don't think I would have lasted 5 minutes. And thanks Mom, for letting us stay up a few minutes past bed time.

I did a lot yesterday, but the thing that I most remember is that moment when I'm driving for the game winning score and Peyton Manning throws a pick-6 with less than a minute to go. Yep, his Patriots beat my Colts. I just know that of all the to-do's on my list yesterday, that was number one. I know for him, he'll not remember anything else I did yesterday.

It's true I'm tired and it's true I have a lot to do today. But at some point, the list gets put on hold as I have some truly important things to attend to. And as you know, the clock is ticking and there are no time-outs.

A Closer Look Reveals Something Else

This past week, our family had an adventure. While eating lunch, from out of nowhere there crawled what first appeared to be a mouse. My 7-year-old was the first to spot the rodent and began warning his little brother. After the initial scattering, we all stopped to take a look at this "mouse" as it strolled across the living room floor as if it was scared of nothing. I thought it odd that it was out in the middle of the day in a brightly lit room, with activity going on. I was convinced the thing was carrying rabies or something as it's behavior seemed so odd.

In order to save my family, I immediately went into "He-man" mode and trapped it in an area where he had only two ways of escape. I then fetched two mouse traps from the garage, and set them in his path and waited for that "pop" that would let me know my rodent removal process was complete. I waited, and waited, and waited. No "pop." Apparently this was a wise mouse. I then carefully observed what was going on. The mouse would walk right up to the trap, sniff it and make his way around it. Now, I had loaded the trap with cheese as well as peanut butter. If this mouse was uninterested in that, then apparently my diagnoses was correct....we had a rabies infected mouse in our house.

Since the intruder was not taking the bait, I would have to resort to plan B. I ran to the garage and picked up my weapon and came back to the scene ready to protect my family. Telling everyone to stay back, I ran to the battle with garden hoe in hand determined to take this enemy out. I was using the garden hoe not because I intended on chopping its head off, but because when trying to kill something with a blow to the head it covered a large rectangular area. After several attempts, I finally managed to immobilize the rodent and then carefully escorted the dead creature outside.

Gathering around the "mouse" with my two boys in order to get a good look at it, I discovered that this rodent looked different than any mouse I had ever seen. You couldn't really see any eyes or ears on him. His feet and nose looked odd as well. I came to the conclusion that this rodent was not a mouse, but a mole. Our yard has been littered with mole tunnels all summer and I guess with all the rain that we had, the mole was flushed out and somehow made its way into our house. Suddenly, all the odd behavior I had witnessed made perfect sense. He didn't act like a mouse because he wasn't a mouse. Although at first glance, it appeared to be a mouse, a close look discovered that our initial assessment was an error.

As we journey through life, how many times do we do the same thing in our assessment of people. Think about it. How often do we peer at them from a distance and judge them or size them up? I dare say, we do it way too much. We stand at arms length unwilling to truly get to know someone because that first glance has revealed to us all we really want to know about them. There is not a human on this planet who can truly be known from a distance. We may assume we know them, but in my experience, the truth about a person can only be known through relationship. I've stood at a distance from people judging their behavior and actions only to find out the "whys" of their behavior after a closer look. Perhaps it's wounds from the past, internal fears, habits they can't conquer, or a host of other things. The truth is we all walk through life and behave the way we do because of something internal. Judging others from a distance will always result in us failing in our true assessment. As a matter of fact, refusing to take a deep look at ourselves will result in the same. But, that's another topic altogether. Just like me and the mole, I was convinced it was a mouse, but after a close look determined that I was completely wrong.

You can choose to stand at a distance and size up every person you meet. And in doing so, you'll miss so much. I've never seen a mole close up like I did the other day. I've seen pictures of them, but never a real one. I could have simply killed it and dumped it outside and assumed that my initial determination was correct. It was only after I chose to get a close look that I was able to see things I have never seen before. When we choose to get close to people, we will always see more clearly the things that we can not see at a distance. However, I think its imperative that we approach people just a little differently than I did the mole. I'm just thinking we should leave the garden hoe in the garage.

I Came Home With Thousands In My Car

A couple weeks ago, I spent the day at the beach with my family. We had a blast building a sand castle, collecting shells, and playing in the water. The weather was great and the beach was empty, making for some wonderful family time. As we got ready to leave, we were faced with the dilemma that every beach goer faces...sand! Trying hard to bring home as little of the beach as we possibly could, we wiped, we washed, and we tried every creative way we could to get as much sand off of us as was humanly possible. Satisfied that we had exhausted every possible way known to man to remove the sand, we loaded up. When I looked at the floor board under my feet, I noticed that apparently all of my attempts to rid myself of the sand were pretty much failures. There was sand everywhere. What's crazy is when I got home it seemed like that sand had multiplied over the course of our travel time. I've since had the car cleaned, but I'm pretty sure some remnants remain.

Now, if you've ever been to the beach, I'm sure you can relate. It is absolutely impossible to go to the beach and hangout for a few hours and get back into the car without bringing some sand with you. While we were in Galveston, I noticed just across the the street from the beach some landscaping guys with their high powered blowers trying to clean a parking lot. Sand was flying everywhere. I thought to myself, what a futile fight. I'm pretty sure you can go to Galveston and not even visit the actual beach and still somehow come home with sand in your hair, and in your car. Everywhere you look and everywhere you go in a beach town like that, there's sand. As you walk on the beach and look there is literally miles and miles of sand.

My recent experience with all that sand reminds me of a verse in Genesis where God is making a promise to Abraham. In Genesis 22:17, God tells Abraham that He is going to multiply his descendants as the sand that is on the seashore. Reading that with this beach experience fresh in my mind, makes me step back and say, "Are you kidding me?" "That's amazing!" God, is telling Abraham, who is now over 100 years old, that through his one son Isaac, the number of his descendants will one day rival the amount of sand on the seashore. Now, I'm not sure if God is speaking of all seashores combined or one in particular, but I'm thinking either will do.

God is telling Abraham that his descendants will be innumerable. While at the beach we played in the sand. We picked up handfuls of sand. We built a castle out of sand. I buried my feet in the sand. Just the amount of sand that we personally encountered would take lifetimes to count if we separated every single grain of sand. And to think that those grains of sand represent Abraham's descendants is pretty amazing. What's equally amazing to me is the fact that from the beginning of time, God's enemy, the devil has tried to thwart God's plan and this sand is a constant reminder of what an utter failure he is. God's promise to Abraham is to this day continuing to be fulfilled and nothing the devil can do can prevent that from happening.

Isaac was a miracle baby. And from that moment until now and on into the future, God's promises are true. God will not come up short concerning anything He has promised. Without going into some deep theological dissertation here, I understand Scripture to declare that through Christ, I have become the spiritual seed of Abraham. That being said, I can't help but think one of those grains of sand represent me. As I sit here thinking about that, its a bit mind boggling. Thousands of years before I was ever born, when God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the sand on the seashore, He was including me in that count. He was including my friends and family members. Those of us who represent the seed of Abraham, are all a part of God fulfilling His promise. Not sure about you, but when I think about it that way, I am so glad God is One who keeps His promises.

I'm not sure how many grains of sand we came home with following our adventure at the beach. I'm sure it was thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. While our Chevy Trailblazer normally rides 6 comfortably, I can't help but picture the thousands that fit in it that day. I'm wondering who all rode home with us that day. Was it saints of old, or perhaps some who are yet to come? Whoever they represented, one thing is for certain, there are literally billions more out there, for our God is a God who keeps His promises.

Confessions Of A Savioraholic

Control, alt, delete. Ever been there? You know what I'm talking about. The computer freezes up and you get some message like "program not responding" or "your computer is going to explode...RUN!!!" I know there's no message like the last one there, but there are times when I'd like to make it blow up. Anyways, its in those "computer freeze" moments when you hit those three keys, control, alt delete, hoping that perhaps that will help get things running smoothly again.

Now, I'm not a computer science major, so I'm not going to pretend to know the inner workings of a computer. But this much I do know, there are moments for whatever reason when computers just freeze up. Maybe, its because of too many processes occurring at the same time or some kind of virus or maybe even faulty software or hardware. I know there are a lot of different reasons. Again, I don't pretend to know all that much about the "whys," I just know its quite frustrating when it happens.

I don't know about you, but my brain does that from time to time as well. Its like all of a sudden something like this runs through my brain... oiuqwe09809kd;aldjp;ioeupoiwer. Has your mind ever felt like that? Like, brain waves are there but no thoughts are really registering? I get there sometimes. More times than I care to admit. Usually its at the end of a busy day or a crazy week. In moments like these, I just like to check-out for a bit. You know take a deep breath, stare at a wall, and just use as few brain functions as possible.

I remember when Lori and I first got married there were times when I would sit on the couch and just veg-out for a little bit. She would want to talk and my brain literally could not connect two sentences. It wasn't that I was disinterested. It was, just like those computer freezes, my brain had encountered too many inputs and was shutting down. It's not a stress related thing, or an emotional thing, just an exhaustion thing. Through the years I think she has become very good at knowing when my brain is at control, alt, delete stage.

One thing I discovered over the years is that I haven't been all that good at learning how to knock off work at a specific time. I carry it with me, much of where I go. My brain is so often in "work" mode, and I have a real difficulty turning it off. I will go to bed thinking, and I will wake up thinking. Again, for the most part its not worry, or fear, or stress, just a list of things that needs to get done or problems that need to get solved. Ok, I'll say it...yep, there are even times when I'm thinking "there's a world that needs saving, how can I rest at a time like this?" Yes, my name is Tim Stone and I'm a savior-aholic. I feel much better now that I've got that off my chest. I felt like a while back after I did my best attempt at playing savior of the world, and I was feeling completely exhausted, the Holy Spirit said, "So, how's it feel to play savior for a week? How's that working out for you?" It was in a time of prayer and I actually chuckled because I knew He was right on.

I think we humans are really good at loading things on our shoulders that we aren't meant to carry. We're walking through life with huge spiritual back-packs and wondering why we're worn-out, exhausted, and bordering on burn-out. God forbid we step back and take a breather. A day off? Are you kidding? There's too much to do. Got to wash the laundry, got spend time with the kids, got to go to work, got to mow the yard, got to return the phone calls, got pay the bills, got to run by the bank, got to run by the cleaners, got to get the oil changed, got to check facebook, got to check emails, got to wash the car, got to dust the furniture, got to take out the trash, got to clean the garage, got to cook dinner, and on and on it goes. Oh, yeah and haven't you heard there's a world that needs saving? So we go through life at the speed of light until we get to that point where Starbucks can't pump enough caffeine into their coffee to keep us going. Control, alt delete! Control, alt, delete! Control, alt, delete!!!

Unfortunately, we don't have those buttons to reboot us. God is really smart, though. He knew how we would do life and he instituted this thing called a sabbath. We've made it a religious thing, but God created it to be a part of how we do life. No, its not that hour long Sat. or Sunday thing we do. It was created for mankind, as a day to recharge and refuel. A day to cease from work, and take a breather. Its a day for us to allow the Holy Spirit to breath life into us and refresh us. Think about it, you were created with both the capacity to work, and the need to take a break. More times than not, those moments when my brain hits overload mode, its because I've failed to stop to recharge and refuel.

I know for those workaholics and savioraholics out there, its a tough thing for us to take a break. Afterall, there's so much work to do and haven't you heard there's a world to save. I'm just thinking it might be a little prideful for us to think that the world can't handle being without us for a day. I'm learning how to slow down. No, I don't always do it right, but I do believe I'm getting much better. Because, I'm a pastor, Mondays have become the day of rest in the Stone household. I still have my prayer time and Bible study time, and the rest of the day is family day. I don't check emails, I rarely answer my phone or return phone calls, and I spend the day resting and having a great time with my family. I know, there's a world to save, but I'm thinking I'll let Jesus be the Savior, since He's much better at pulling that off than I am. I'll do my part Tuesday-Sunday and I'll engage in kingdom business like crazy on those days, but I'm determined to follow God's design concerning the sabbath.

Now, even following that design for life, there are still those moments when my brain registers....laoiuer098029384roidad;flakdjva. They are fewer and much further apart though. As for my computer? Well, let's just say even taking Mondays off doesn't seem to help it at all.

I Thought I Had Ups

This week my 7 year old challenged me to a slam dunk contest. When he did, my mind went back to the day when I soared through the air like Michael Jordan. Ok, so maybe Michael Jordan is a stretch and the fact is that any dunking I did back in the day was on a 7 or 8 foot goal. That being said, I do remember having some game. While Nike never came knocking on my door, it seems like I remember at least being able to move without feeling as though my feet were glued to the floor.

Now, being 43 years old, and having a challenge thrown down by my 7 year old, I was determined to lace up the shoes and to show him some old school moves. Lowering the goal to 7 feet, I was confident I was going to impress him. By the way, just so you don't get the idea that my kid is a giant, he has a small goal that he would be doing his dunks on not the 7 foot one. As we showed our stuff, I couldn't believe that at 7 feet, I actually missed some dunks. I figure with my 5'-10 1/2" frame and my long arms, it is only necessary to catch 1 or 2 inches of air to slam on a 7 foot goal. I'm guessing that apparently on several attempts the air beneath my feet was less than the required 1 to 2 inches, since I came up short.

While my son dazzled me with his fancy moves, I can assure you nobody was dazzled by my pathetic attempts. I was able to slam a few home, to save complete humiliation, but even my 4 year old appeared to have more ups than me. I think the lowest point of the contest came when out of a possible score of 50 my son gave one of my dunks a 36. If you know anything about the slam dunk contest, below 40 completely stinks and trust me, my boy knows that. To be honest, I thought the dunk deserved more like a 20, I'm just thinking he was being nice to his dad.

As I'm writing this, I have about 10 minutes left before I hit the court with my two boys for a little two on one. And while I have to work and have to take care of all the responsibilities that come with being a pastor, a husband, and dad, I must admit this is one thing I try to place a priority on. No, I don't always do it right and yes, there are times my boys take a back seat to all the other stuff. But, thank God for those times I get it right.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'll take the 36s on my dunks. I'll take those moments when my skills feel like they have got up and went. I'll take those moments when I feel like my shoes are glued to the ground. I'll take those sore knees and other aches the day after. I'll take every loss on the chin. I'll walk through it all if it means that I get to spend time with two of my best friends.

I could go on and on, but my 10 minutes is up and I've got a couple basketball players warming up on the court ready to take on their dad. Time for "Air Jordan" (that's my nickname) to lace em up and show these youngsters how to play this game. They're going down, today! Oh, yeah they are going down!

The Joy Of Discovery

Had an interesting day a couple days ago. We took a family trip to IKEA. Now, if you're not familiar with IKEA, I'll try my best to describe it. Its a massive Swedish department store that is full of furnishings for the whole house as well as for the office. Imagine a furniture store, with a bit of Home Depot, Office Depot, and Walmart thrown into the mix, all of it with a Scandinavian flavor. Oh, yeah, and then throw in a restaurant complete with Swedish meatballs and a playroom for your little children. Upstairs is a showroom that seems to never end and downstairs is where you pick up your goods. No, this is not a paid advertisement.

I hope that paints a good picture for you. Now, picture a 4 year old full of energy walking through this show room that never seems to end. Ok, so maybe walking is not the correct term here. I'm not sure how to describe the process by which my 4 year old boy made his way through the show room, but lets just say he kept his mom and I on our toes.

"Look at this one mommy!"

"Wow, look an orange couch!"

"This one is really soft!"

"This one is softer than that one!"

"Mommy, the water doesn't work in this sink!"

"Daddy, look I'm sitting in this really high chair!"

"That bed is way too hard!"

On and on and on the exclamations poured out as he continued on his journey of discovery. He ran from couch to couch, from bed to bed, sat at every desk he could, and touched everything that was within reach. His older brother, an IKEA veteran, had a blast as well but I'm thinking most of his entertainment value came at watching his little brother as he experienced this Scandinavian wonderland for the first time.

I know its crazy that a store could hold that much excitement, but for a 4-year old the only thing necessary is for something to be new. There's just something about discovering things for the first time. This same joy of discovery is in us all. Its something we are born with. Although as adults, we may not get all that worked up about the funny shaped Swedish furniture at IKEA, trust me this joy of discovery is still in there. Just think of how you react to the latest technology on the market. Or, the excitement you feel behind the wheel of a new car. Or, when you slip on those new shoes, or new clothes. Think about the first time you saw mountains, or snow, or the ocean. Think about the first time you flew in a plane, or saw the Grand Canyon, or rode a roller coaster.

If we are not careful, though, we can get lulled to sleep by the things in life we have become acquainted with and comfortable with. So much so that discovering new things is something we rarely do. You know what I'm talking about. We go to the same restaurants and order the same food that we always do. We take the same route to work, never deviating off course. We go to the same vacation spot every year. We mow our yard in the same pattern every time we mow. We drink our coffee with the same flavored creamer every day. On and on the list goes.

God created us with this capacity to get excited about discovering new things. Although, that manifests in us as we take in the world around us, it was also meant to manifest in our discovery of Him. As I think about this, I'm reminded of a story in the Old Testament where the Children of Israel heard thunder and saw lightning as God revealed Himself to them in a small way. All of them were a bit freaked out by the whole event. So much so that they just told Moses to talk to God for them because they wanted no part of that. On the other hand, Moses gets close to God and desires to see more of Him. He's not satisfied with the part of God that he has been able to see.

The thing about discovering new things is that it can be a little bit uncomfortable for us. Sometimes, downright risky or dangerous. Yet, without this joy of discovery, life can get quite uneventful and bland. Like Moses, we were created with this built-in desire to discover God more intimately with each passing day. So often though, we are like the rest of that group that hesitates to go deeper with Him. It's risky isn't it. Mortal, imperfect man communing with an immortal, perfect God. Let's face it, the more we discover Him, the more messed up we realize we are. That of course, is completely uncomfortable for us as it requires a decision on our part to continue this journey of discovery or to stop right there. The crowd Moses lived with chose to stop when it got a little uncomfortable. Moses chose to get closer. If I had to guess whose life was more exciting I would have to say it was the guy who hung out with God so much that once he came down from the mountain with his face literally glowing with the glory of God. Incidentally, even that "glowing face" was a bit much for the rest of them as they insisted Moses cover his face. Yep, even that was too uncomfortable for them.

While discovering more and more of God can be a little dangerous, the joy of discovering new aspects and parts of Him far outweighs the risks. As a matter of fact, the only part of us that is in danger or at risk is the part of us that needs to die anyway. Whether it is finding Him in His Word, or in our quiet times, or as we take in His creation, there is a joy and excitement that comes with each and every moment of discovery. Just like my little one at IKEA, when it comes to our discovery of God we can choose to take in as much as we can possibly handle. Or, we can be like some of the adults walking through IKEA who have no idea what that orange couch feels like to sit in, or how comfortable that bed is to lay in. When we approach God with that kind of mentality while it is certain we will be comfortable, we will never experience the joy of discovery.