Wednesday, September 12, 2012

On A Mission From God

"What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to piss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn't you consider that to be insane?"  ~  Garland Greene (from the Movie Con Air)

Now that I'm over 50 years old, I tend to be a little more reflective about my life.  Over the years, I have worked very hard to get to a place in my life where I make a very good living and our family can enjoy some of the finer things in life.  As I have said a million times before, I am truly blessed in this life.

Back in 1983 God and I made a deal.  Without going into any detail whatsoever I will just say that over the last 29 years I have been on a mission from God.  In return, I believe, God has blessed me and my family.

All that being said, I would like to say that during my mission there have been times when I've struggled in my faith.  The important thing was that I kept striving, overcoming and moving forward.  If I got knocked down; I got back up.  I have often compared my Christian experience to a 15 round heavy weight fight between me and old Beelzebub.

Part of my struggle over the years has been with balance.  How do I balance my work life and my home life?  How do I balance being in the world and still maintain my faith?  Trust me, in a 60 to 70 hour work week, it isn't easy.  I have to confess that I used to beat myself up over the fact that I felt like I didn't live up to mantra of being a Christian.  Quite honestly, I often thought that if I were on trial for being a Christian that there might not be enough evidence to convict me.

So here's what my reflective self has come up with...  I need to drop the guilt.  While my goal is to one day be perfect before God, it isn't going to happen in this life.  I need to keep in mind that, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..."   Also, I need to focus on the positive things in life.  For the most part, I've cut most of the negative people and influences out of my life.  Oh, there's probably a few more that need jacked from my life but I'm in a good place now.  Keep praying for me... it's starting to pay off.

Be Well.

Bill