Jim, you've got it all wrong

It is 2:35 in the morning, and like so many mornings in the past few months I am sitting in my living room having given up the struggle to get back to sleep.  As I type this I can imagine several of you saying to yourselves: "Jim, don't you know that working on your computer in the middle of the night is the worst thing you can do to solve insomnia?"  Yes, I am aware of this well-known fact, so I release you from the need to remind me.  Who knows?  Perhaps God has a plan for me that supercedes the importance of sleep - even though all current wisdom says that I need 7 hours of sound sleep per night to function at a "normal" cognitive level.  It wouldn't be the first time that God's plans might go against "sound" logic, would it?  
I will need to re-read this blog later in the day before posting it, lest my thoughts wander too far from reality and I start to write about Red Dogs Eating Mushrooms In the Laundry Room.


I received feedback from several men after my last blog post, so I decided to write my reply here as well.  If any of you want to continue this discussion, then feel free to post a comment at the bottom of this blog entry. 


First of all, a quick disclaimer:  I write my blog in much the same way as I write in my journal - a free-flow of thought rather than a crisp, word-crafted essay.  You could compare a blog to a written version of a Rorschach test -- "So... what do YOU see in this image?"  Of course, I am far more sensitive about the content of the blog than I am about what I write in my personal journal - but it is still my personal "Juniper Tree Journey" filled with my own reflections and opinions.  Even if it's nice to know that something I've written strikes a chord with someone, I really don't have an expectation that people will agree with me.

In response to those who felt it necessary to correct my thinking on the topic of trusting in God as our Provider rather than believing this to be our role as husbands and fathers:  Paul wrote in Romans 8: 14 - "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God". Following the Lord's leading in our lives is an active endeavor, not passive.  "Listening" is a verb, not a noun.  And No, I am not promoting a "let go and let God" perspective - at least not in the way that most people would tend to use this bumper-sticker theology.  I find it fascinating to note that the mere suggestion that God may have a different plan for Christian men than to spend our lives working to "provide" for our families provokes an immediate, almost visceral response from men.  I find the same reaction from people when I teach on hearing the voice of God ("God doesn't speak that way anymore!"), or on living our lives free from sin and fear ("Are you saying that you live in sinless perfection??!").  Think with me for a moment of the metaphors that God uses to describe our relationship with him (as believers, not just as men).  He is the Bridegroom and we are His Bride.  He is the Master and we are His Servants.  He is the High Priest and we are His Royal Priesthood.  He is the Shepherd and we are His Sheep.  He is our Father, and we are His Children. 

Question: In a marriage covenant, does the bride lead or does she follow?  Does the servant provide for his own needs, or is the Master responsible for his food and lodging?  Are the sheep required to fend for themselves and wander around searching for food?  Don't they follow the Shepherd's voice as He leads them to green pastures and beside quiet waters?  Do children rise up early to work for their food, shelter and clothing... or do they simply trust that their parents know what their needs are before they even ask?  And when it comes to our role as a royal priesthood: the tribe of Levi was the only tribe in Israel that did not receive an inheritance of land, and who were actually forbidden by God to do any work outside of their role of serving God and the people.  The Lord said to the tribe of Levi: " You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel."   

My main point to my friend in my previous blog actually has nothing at all to do with the issue of work.  What I am saying is that God is calling all of us to become less independent, and more dependent - not on others, but on God.  Less like adults, and more like children.  One of you spoke about how the birds of the air rise early and stay up late to search for what God has already provided.  Here's the big difference between us and the birds: they are never worried or anxious.  Their lives are actually very simple - eat, drink and mate.  That's about it.  Another difference is that birds are not created in the image of God.  God's ultimate calling for us in this life is not to work; His calling is for us to be conformed to the image of His Son, and He has the right to use anything and everything to accomplish that purpose - whether that be a good job or unemployment; wealth or poverty; sickness or health; good times or economic tragedy.

Yes, it is true that Paul spoke of working with his own hands at times to provide for his needs and those of his companions.  But he also spent many years moving from place to place, living on the gifts of God's people.  When God asked him to work, he worked.  And when God asked him to live in dependence on others, he did so unashamedly - even challenging the believers to give towards his needs. If the mandate from the Lord was that Paul earn his living at all times through tent-making, he would never have been able to plant churches throughout the known world.  Paul knew that God was His provider, and He lived in daily dependence upon and communication with God's Spirit.  The question in my mind has never been to work or not work.  The real question is this:  What is God asking of you and I today?  Do we really believe that God is asking us to spend 60 hours a week, for 50-60 years of our lives simply to provide for our families - something He has already promised to do?  The goal of work in God's eyes is never to provide, but to be where He wants me, and to do what He wants me to do.  We somehow have this idea that it's only when we're debilitated (like my brother John), or we're unemployed that we have to trust in God's promises.  Funny, I don't recall God making that stipulation in the scriptures.... " So if you're sick or unemployed, do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that only sickly and unemployed people need His help. Therefore, if you're unable to work, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." 
Most of us really trust God for very little.  We want God to stay out of our business and leave us alone to get on with running our lives.  Only when tragedy or hardship strikes do we turn to Him in desperation and cry out, "Oh God, help me!"

In His sovereignty God has used the current economic crisis as His perfect tool to shake us men out of our addiction to work as the source of our identity, and at the same time force us to slow down and listen.  Jesus' challenge to us in Matthew 6 actually does not address the issue of whether or not we should work, but what our attitude is towards work.  His point is that our lives should be free of worry and anxiety about the very things that most of us worry and are anxious about on a daily basis: food, shelter, clothes (and by logical extension, anything else we may worry about).  So my challenge to men is to this:  God's calling upon us is to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness - and simply to enjoy Him, period.  This is true at all times, whether working or unemployed, in sickness or in health.  These 70 or 80 years on earth are the only time God has given to prepare us for eternity.  So, what are you doing with the time He's given you?