A Divine Scandal (page 10)

You know, not once have I opened my Bible throughout this whole writing process.  That seems messed up to me.  And it's completely got me out of my norm. Taken me to chill with the experiential God of the Universe, the God who creates.

And this way of communing with the Divine has got its ups and downs.  It has no set path.  It is mysterious, adventurous, and wild to extents where it cannot be tamed by any hand.

I go about my day like anyone where I have certain tasks I want to check off the To Do list.  There are certain expectations you have for each day.  Like, today I have work at two, but I just got called to come in an hour early.  That sort of messes up plans a little bit.  Now I have one less hour to galavant the town, if one can actually galavant during daylight hours in a town consisting of card shops, cafes, and ice cream stores.  Sounds a little more touristy-fattening to me rather than cultural immersion via Harrod's, Selfredges, the Hamptons and all other wealthy elite.  

Thank you Plymouth.

But really, there are millions of possibilities that can quash our expectations at any one time.  God's not bothered by this; we are.

I'm not sure about you, but changes in scheduling the day of that event can be quite troubling.  And that's putting it politely.  Even if you don't physically write out a schedule, I bet you have some type of daily tasks form.  And I bet even you, the most easy-going spontaneous person alive, gets thrown when something unexpected materializes.

Okay, so you must be wondering why I've gotten on the scheduling tangent.  

Here's the thing.  We've been talking about faithfulness for the last nine days.  Yeah, overkill, maybe.  Or it's our life.  Because life cannot exist without faithfulness.  From the moment of our inception we rely on a Divine Constant.  And if we deny that dependence - which we do more often than we think - then, really, in the grand scheme of our humanity v the Heavenly of Heavenly Bodies, it simply doesn't matter; our God will continue in His faithfulness to us.  (More on this later.)

Scandalous, check.

Scheduling?  Oh yes: I was sitting outside of Starbucks with a friend today.  He, literally, just returned from Haiti.  We got on to talking about his week long excursion.  And I wish I could relay to you what he said word for word.  It would be even better if I could mirror the passion he spoke with.

He was so excited he could barely light his cigar.  I sat and smiled as he spoke between each puff. Telling me about the peace and contentment he has with his life.  How nothing could faze him.  

"Our days are numbered just like the hairs on our head..."

"It's God's will man, that's all..."

"Nothing is better than being in God's will..."

"That's where I'm gonna live."

This is a kid who's beheld the awe of God.  He understands that he could die at any moment, but he was all smiles as he reveled over the fact that God was in control.  He pointed me to Romans.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose...(Romans 8:28, continue reading through 39)

He told me that's his mantra.  That it all makes sense.  Somewhere down in a broken Haiti he discovered that God's will trumps our own.  But he still had peace.  He still went on with life, just now he's living it a little bit fuller than before.

Bringing it all around to scheduling interacting with Divine Faithfulness, our aim in life should not be, "Check this off the list, check that off the list." Rather, it should be for us to throw away the list, get as comfortable with the idea of praying, "Father, Your will be done, not mine" - because that is one hellishly frightening prayer to be frank with you - and go on with life expecting the unexpected.

As I sat and listened to Jerry telling his story, preaching really, I smiled at the fact that this kid got it.  He experienced an experiential God.  He left all that he was, all that he was about at the door and experienced God.

And he found life to continue on, a little better than a minute before.

Faithfulness, check.