God, help him to hear your voice louder than his most outspoken critic. Help him to laugh inside when people make veiled threats and impertinent demands upon him. Encourage him to be so bold in his message that people will want to cover their ears and chant “lalalala” to drown out the ugly truth he proclaims. Give him a strong wife and intimacy. Being a preacher is not exactly the most romantic vocation so he needs all the help he can get to keep the fire burning. May he have a strong stomach for the task because he will see lots of spiritual afterbirth. Show him what to keep and what to throw away. May he have at least three nights away from church activities. May he feel secure when shadow missions and finances make him feel like he is walking on a tight rope without a net. May he laugh between funerals and may his three suits and four ties look new when he wears them on those special occasions. May he not sound like any other preacher. Show him his voice and give him the grace to feel comfortable in it. May his 15 year old car remind him of Abraham, the one who traveled by faith. Hold him together when the pieces fall apart. May he take his family to the beach even when a conference is not held there. Heal the loneliness that every pastor feels from time to time. Remind him that few understood Jesus and so he shouldn’t assume that everyone will understand him either. I pray that he will not obsess about compliments, numbers, gossip or the pastor down the street whose church is booming. May his baptistry waders not leak and may his wireless microphone be free from ambient noise. May there be more movements in the hearts of people than there are in the nursery. May his Bible look like it’s been through a hurricane because that’s the forecast of our spiritual state in the world. 

Uncertainty is certain but one thing remains: our desire for wonder. Wonder is imbedded in the core of our soul. Very few seek a boring life, with so-so relationships, a mediocre romance and a take-it-or-leave-it career. We yearn for wonder. But how do we get wonder?  Is wonder something we can capture like a trout at the end of a fly reel? Is wonder a formula? Is it a myth like the legends of Middle Earth, Sasquatch, or honest politics?

Time and time again in the Bible we get a view of wonder- how to lose it and how to seize it today. We see heroes who struggle- just like us. We see ordinary people who doubt- just like we do. And we see God compelling them to be all they never thought they could be. It all begins with preparation.

Chances are, this season of your life is all about preparing you for the next season of life. If you are anything like me and my church, you have big dreams and little budgets. Like a slingshot, you are being stretched to the limit in order to propel you into all the other phases of your life. This stretching time can determine your career, your lifelong friends, your financial future and ultimately, your spiritual direction.  (No pressure.) While so many celebrate with a series of mind-numbing parties and shallow, surface-thin relationships based on all the wrong things, God wants to lead you through the threshold of wonder, bliss and amazement that will last for eternity.

Here are Six Ways to Choose Wonder

1.     Seek out private worship.  Having a daily time of worship and Bible reading places you in the zone of the supernatural.  Shoot for seven days a week but hit at least five.  See what God begins to show you.
2.     Connect with one other person who is in agreement with you to follow God and seek Him daily. Meet once a week with that friend.
3.     Make a difference in one person’s life.  Pastor Andy Stanley says it like this:  Do for one person what you wish you could do for everybody.
4.     Set boundaries on frivolous spending and activities that disrupt your spiritual journey.
5.     Give up trying to control people.  Simply love them and work on yourself.  It’s amazing what happens when we allow people to experience the consequences of their actions. Instead of trying to fix people, just love them and let them see you live with integrity.

Look for God’s hand and you’ll be amazed!  There are miracles and unexplained mysteries all around us. Once you find them, you’ll bolster your faith to ask God for big things.

When the mighty winds of change shake the foundation of life, He is there.

When the storms of life flood our souls, He is there.

When the grey slush days seem to never end, He is there.

When death steals a friend, loved one, or brother, He is there.

When it’s so dark we can’t see any way out, He is there.

When we are betrayed by our closest friends, He understands and He is there.

When we grow angry and shake our fist in the air, even in times of our rebellion, He is there.

When lying lips continue to destroy without care, we remember that He does. He is there.

When we deny Him in a lost world and fail to share His love, still, relentlessly, He is there.

In every cruel circumstance, He is there.

In every wasted moment, He is there.

In every crisis, every joy, every silent midnight, every new morning, every day, every hour, every moment, every breath, He is there.

This is what God says to His family, His children, His creation, His sculpted masterpiece: I paid the price for you so stop being consumed with fear and constant worrying about the future. I’m completely aware of your unique identity. I’m not a “broad stroke” kind of God. This God truly is in the details. I know everything about you. I am aware of every tiny nook of your life- every cell, every weakness, every moment of your past, present and future. And when you are up to your ears in the whitewater rapids of tough times, I’ll be right there. The rivers will not swallow you. That’s a promise. And what about fire? I’m way ahead of you on that one. Your eternal life in Me is untouchable. The flames may come but rest in the assurance that you are completely covered by my fireproof grace. I will be there!

Isaiah 43: 1-2 (Wordspring Scriptural Rendering)

It was a moment of utter shock. It was unexpected

The Oscar for Best Picture of 2017 envelope was opened. Millions of viewers experienced the shock, embarrassment and confusion of the presenter as the wrong winner was called out. The social media world exploded. It sent the accountants, actors, winners and losers scurrying.

In short, it was a circus complete with the high drama on the tightrope of fame, ego and ambiguity. And everybody knew. All because of what was inside the envelope.

So I have a question for you. What’s in your envelope?

Everything we do is an indication of our trust in God and our holy discontent with a dying world. How we serve the people we love and even the people who don’t love us, as Jesus commanded all Christians to do is an indication of our devotion to Jesus. The questions we must ask ourselves are so important.

• How do we connect and serve others?
• How do we share our faith?
• How do we minister to the least of these?

The answers are all in the envelope.

And there’s an envelope inside the envelope.

It’s really a test of our faith.

It’s a trust that says, God I believe that you are going to take care of me. And this act of giving is my message to you that I am all in. That’s what we do when we tithe. We are placing our faith in the envelope. We are announcing to the world, that Jesus is our greatest, indeed, our only true eternal hope…

One day there’ll be another awards ceremony, far more important than the Oscars, the Emmys, the Nobel Prize or the Miss America Pageant.

This ceremony will be a time for us to celebrate our journey of faith. The envelopes will be opened.

All of them.

Jesus promised the Church: “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” (Revelation 22:12)

Paul challenges us to avoid the dispassionate, passive, selfish life and to be eager to do good.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)

Our eagerness to do good should flood every day of our lives because we are reminded of the day when the envelopes will all be opened and the truth, our generosity, our faithfulness to provide for the poor, our willingness to share Christ– all of it will be revealed.

Wouldn’t it be a let down if our gifts to God never really reflected the majesty of His gifts to us?

So what’s in your envelope?