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Thursday, October 20, 2005
Journals for the Journey
I've kept a journal off and on ever since I was a sophomore in high school. I'm a guy. We call them journals. Girls tend to call them diaries. But you know what I mean, right?
It's funny to look back on them now.
My sophomore year in high school there were some "big things" that happened to me, man. I got a really cool car and put lots of money into stereos and tires and wheels and the whole deal. My minimum wage job was causing me big time stress and I was looking to get a new one. And then there was Pam...
My senior year was filled with stories of baseball, a class presidency, excitement of going off to college, my Bible study thoughts and some really bad poetry about a girl named Lolly.
At college there were stories of fraternity parties and road trips and roommates and the future and some really interesting insights about this really cool girl named Tracy.
The first years of marriage chronicle struggles with "spiritual leadership" and serving my wife, the joys of being a newlywed with lots of time to just hang out together, the hopes/dreams/fears of our new ministry to teenagers.
The childrearing entries talk about the fun of having newborns, the fatigue, the excitement of watching our parents becoming grandparents as well as the mistakes I made in discipline or whatever.
Frankly, looking back over those entries make me smile. Sure, sometimes it's because things are funny or silly or times I'd forgotten about...but really they make me smile because my perspective was usually so skewed.
I mean, I've GROWN since then.
I think differently about cars.
I think differently about high school dating.
I think differently about jobs.
I think differently about college.
I think differently about fraternities.
I think differently about girls.
I think differently about my wife and marriage.
I think differently about parenting.
I think differently about ministry.
I don't write poetry at all. That's for the better.
But the point is this: I've grown and matured a bit over time. I've learned more about God. I've learned more about me. To sum it up: I've gained wisdom.
And that's what enduring "various trials" does:
"And let endurance have it's perfect result, that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:3)
That's more or less what the spiritual life is supposed to do. It's supposed to show that you're maturing.
See, there's a maturity that you can only get from living life. You can learn facts and all that, but it's in the application of those facts that you get experience. Say, a mechanic sits around all the time reading books about how to build an engine for a car. Eventually, he's going to have to take that knowledge and actually build the engine. Once built, he'll test it. It's during the test that he might find out that he forgot to tighten a clamp. Or maybe a connection to a spark plug is loose. Over time he'll learn that certain types of motor oils work better than others on new cars and others work well on new ones. He'll learn that different climates require different methods of tune-ups. But he won't get any of that from reading books. He'll only get that from experience.
And then he'll be a better mechanic. He'll save time. He won't panic. He'll learn to be more efficient...the whole deal. He'll help people, too. Maybe, as he gets older, he'll teach others, too.
And that's the value of enduring through various trials in life.
You learn.
You grow.
You teach.
And the cycle will repeat itself in your life.
It's this view of trials that helps you get through whatever the trial is in your life. Taking a long-term approach of realizing that God's at work, teaching you and giving you the things you'll need to be...
...mature.
...complete.
...lacking in nothing.
So, for today, share with us one way that you've matured since middle school! Sure, it'll sting a bit admitting how silly some of your thought processes were, but it'll also highlight the growth factor...so share away!
Brent 4:55 AM
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