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Don’t Miss Out On Opportunities

Often it’s those hard to orchestrate opportunities that we miss out on. We just think that they would be too hard to arrange, or too many things would need to be moved to make them happen.

don't miss out

This week I delayed on a meeting opportunity because 1. it was going to be difficult to get myself there, and 2. there were seemingly too many things to rearrange.

It’s not the first time I’ve missed out on something that seemed to be too hard for me make arrangements for … 

In my late teens there was a rock concert I wanted to go to, but lack of money and work schedule seemed insurmountable obstacles to me at the time. The money issue was over approximately $20, which now doesn’t seem to be an obstacle at all.

This week I was invited to a lunch meeting in Toronto, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away from where I live. It would be a full day for me with a good 6 hours of it spent driving.

My first thought was that if I could combine the meeting with something else, I would go. However, those other plans never materialized. So in my head I declined the meeting because I thought it was too difficult to arrange and would put too much pressure on me for the rest of the week.

In the past I have figured out ways around road blocks …

I remember taking my youth group on a plane from Edmonton to Toronto for a major youth conference. On our return flight, somehow the airline decided it would be better to have our group of 22 teenage kids with two adults all together in one spot on the plane … so they put us in first class. 

There was only one problem. My students were seated randomly, not necessarily with the friends they wanted to sit next to. 

The easiest thing would have been to say, “You’re in first class; be happy and sit down.” Instead, I listened to their requests (for some this was their second flight ever; the first being our flight to Toronto). 

I stood in the aisle and started playing a human version of that old sliding tile puzzle game. I started moving people around … “You get up; stand here. You move there. Now you trade seats with her” … and so on. 

In a matter of a couple of minutes I had our whole crew sitting where they wanted, and with who they wanted to sit with. 

Everyone was happy. 

Sometimes the obstacles that overwhelm us and cause us to miss out are simply obstacles that we have not given enough thought to working around.

Oh, and my meeting this week in Toronto? I was able to RSVP at the last minute and attend the lunch. I moved an appointment and rearranged my work week to ease the pressure. 

Often those seemingly insurmountable obstacles are not insurmountable if you make a little effort, rather than turning back at first sight.

Here’s the thing: God may have asked you to do something that seems insurmountable. The temptation is to say “no” or turn back. Or maybe the idea of Christ loving you enough to die for you is more than you can get your head around. Resist dropping the opportunity before you and ask God to help you continue. The way forward may be easier than you first thought; just put some energy towards it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacle are you facing that you need to ask God for help with? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Don’t Know What I Should Do

I’m sitting here this morning unsure of what to do.

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Last night my car got rear-ended. It wasn’t a big hit; there are no aches and pains resulting from the jolt.  

But the guy who hit me doesn’t want me to report it … he doesn’t want the demerit points.  

There’s a big part of me that wants to be nice and make it easy on the guy. But there is another part of me that wonders if I will be screwed over if I don’t report it and go through the regular channels.

If the accident had have happened on a weekday, I would be getting an estimate right now and calling the guy, asking how he is going to pay for it all. But it’s the weekend and I don’t think I’m going to find a collision shop that’s open.  

Plus, I am going away for a couple of days at the first of the week and that will delay an estimate even longer. 

I’m thinking time is of the essence. I have to know if this guy is going to pay for my car to get fixed or if I need to just report it and have the insurance worry about it.

As it is right now, the latch closes on the trunk but it doesn’t lock. The screen on the dashboard constantly shows a picture of the trunk being open.

I don’t want to be mean, but I don’t want to get left holding the bag, so to speak. 

I think I will try the dealership where I bought the car to see if someone there can give me an estimate of the cost. Then I will visit the guy who cuts my hair – he’s a real car guy. I’ll get him to take a look at it and see if he has any advice.

Other than that, I really feel in limbo right now. I’m a little nervous about waiting too long if I am going to report the accident. And I’m nervous about trusting this guy to come through.

He seemed so matter-of-fact about everything – like he’d done this often and it’s no big deal.

He said he was sorry but it was one of those sorries where you see the lips moving but are not sure there is any genuine feeling behind them.

It was almost like this was an inconvenience to him, and he wanted to wrap things up quickly so he could get to whatever he was going to do.  

In reality, there wasn’t much inconvenience to him at all. I doubt that there was any damage to his vehicle. He was driving a Jeep with big bars protecting his grill.

All the inconvenience is mine. If I don’t report this and he jams on me, this will be way beyond an inconvenience. I really need to make the right decision today.

Here’s the thing: Many times we act like the guy who hit my car. With sin, we are the ones at fault, but we act like it’s no big deal, and that it’s just an inconvenience to us. In reality, it was an inconvenience for Christ to go to the cross to pay for our sin. When I say “inconvenience” for Him, I mean way beyond inconvenience – a million times more. So when we sin and feel like it’s a minor infraction, think again at what it cost Christ to rectify that minor infraction for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would you assess your attitude to God when seeking His forgiveness? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Why Barbecues Don’t Last

I know it’s getting late in the season – I’m talking barbecue season – but things are starting to fall apart, literally … and what’s falling apart is my BBQ!

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There are all different shapes and sizes of BBQs out there, ranging in price from around $100 to $2000. But no matter the price, they are all going to last basically the same length of time. In three to five years you will be looking for a new one; it’s just how they’re made.

I’ve had my BBQ for five years now, and it’s actually in pretty good shape. If you looked at it with the lid down you’d think, “You don’t need a new Q; what you’ve got is just fine.”

But when the lid is lifted, and you get to see the grill, let me tell you, that thing is disintegrating!

It’s a cast iron grill and don’t get me started on the maintenance that’s needed to keep these grills in good working order! You need to devote about 40 percent of your spare time just to “season” the grill so that it won’t rust and start to flake off.

I can’t begin to guess how much canola oil I have put on that grill, painting the grid over and over, only to need to do it the next time I pulled back the cover.

I really need a new grill. But when you look at the size of the grill in comparison to the overall size of the BBQ, though it’s a small part, it costs a lot of money.

I would have to spend about $100 to replace it … that is, if I could find a replacement grill!

You see, all the manufacturers have different grill sizes. There is no standard, making it impossible to find your exact size anywhere.

The only thing you can do is get those universal grills that supposedly adjust to fit your size. But I don’t think that’s the answer, either.

The one guaranteed thing about barbecuing is that the grill takes a bit of a beating. You scrape it with wire bristles; you use a spatula to flip meat on it … that grate gets moved from side to side.

Those universal grills they can’t take the workout. They don’t hold the size you adjust them to. After about one use, your universal grill falls onto the burners just because you tried to scrape a bit of stuck on chicken off the grill.

Then there are the burners – they rust out too.

But yesterday I had to roll my barbecue out to the road for our annual street BBQ … one of the nuts on the lid came off and I lost a bolt.

… I may be looking at the season-ending sales on BBQs in the next couple of weeks. I’m just letting you know in advance, Lil.

Here’s the thing: The Christian life is not meant to be started and then left that way. What I mean is you can’t expect your time with God to remain the same without changing. Your involvement in the church will also need some changes over time. Certainly your relationship with God, and how you follow Him will change as you journey with Him. If these things don’t change, you will start to rust and your Christian life will start to decay. We continually need to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into us, and that will mean making changes along the way.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Have you noticed any rust in your Christian life? Leave your comments below.