I have heard it said, expectations are a breeding ground for disappointment. I have to agree, especially when that expectation is something you’ve created in your own mind with no input from the people you ‘expect’ this thing from.

Many years ago we pioneered a small church in our home town. I had spent most of the summer of 2006 on the road with our oldest son ministering at the track and webcasting drag racing. I was sensing the Lord’s leading to move in the direction of birthing a church. This was something I always felt I was suppose to do. Why, because that’s what’s ‘expected’ of ministers, your ultimate goal is to become the pastor of a local assembly of believers.

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Last night we got an opportunity to step away from the pressures of our work to have a dinner with old friends and get caught up after having not seen them for nearly 12 years. You can imagine the conversation darting from topic to topic as we ate a wonderful meal and spoke of all the Lord has done in our lives. At the end of the night we enjoyed a great time of prayer. As we prayed we sensed the nearness of the Lord…it was wonderful.

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There is a true danger in not following the will of the Lord for our lives. Not in the sense of ‘you’ll get in to trouble’, but that you’ll end up working much harder than you need to which will easily allow you to miss out on the fun in life. That was the case for me for many years. I had become a workaholic because I saw my worth through what I accomplished in life. That lead to many lost moments with my family. Instead of enjoying life, I was constantly looking for the next opportunity to excel.

This attitude can translate into our lives as ministers as well. I learned early on that if God is in it, the ministry will flow. I’m not saying it’s doesn’t take work, but there is a point where we are doing ministry in our own strength and not God’s will. What happens to me is I get a sense of urgency that makes my spirit very uneasy. I start to think my task all rely on me doing something instead of the Lord’s leading. When I see this happening, I stop and back up. It could be something as simple as timing or as significant as I’m headed in a completely wrong direction. Regardless, I stop what I’m doing and wait for further direction.

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Sometimes I don’t want to hear the truths the Lord speaks to me. I want my life to be easy and simple. That is not the path He chooses for us. If we lived without adversity, we would have little desire to learn, grow and become the person He has destine us to be. The Lord will not give us more than we can handle. 1 Cor 10:13 ‘No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.’

In order to grow, we must be stretched. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” I have found that to be an absolute truth. Our program has grown in leaps and bounds over the last year. The biggest single change was moving from standard definition to high definition. That was huge and expanded our program significantly. I could not imagine ever going back to where we were.

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The prodigal son is the one parable I most identified with when I returned to the Father’s house on March 3rd, 2001. I grew up during a time when there was little talk of God’s grace and mercy from any place inside organized religion. The biggest thing I remember is the 10 commandments where preached hot and heavy and if you choose not to obey, well, you would pay the price.

At one point during my senior year in high school, I made a conscience decision to walk away from the Lord. It seemed everything in my life was falling apart, so instead of running into our Father, I ran away. I would spend the next 28 years doing a bang up job of messing up my life.

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Walking with the Lord does not relieve us of the burdens of this world. Walking with the Lord gives us a place to lay our troubles. When I’m feeling pressed in from all sides, I know in my heart Poppa has all of this, it’s my job to do the work at hand and leave the big picture stuff to Him.

I find myself far from home today. It’s nearly 3000 miles from Ft St John British Columbia to Warner Robins Georgia. Even though I flew all over the world during my military career, I feel like I’m farther from home than I’ve ever been. Perhaps because I don’t have the infra structure of the US government supporting me or maybe it’s because of the remote location of this racing facility, regardless it’s an odd feeling for me.

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