"God The Architect"
Dean AngellMarch 1/2, 2003
Last week I had a rare opportunity in my life-I was alone a lot. I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to a conference there with thousands of other pastors. And God was able to use that time to begin a course change in my life..that eventually will be a radical shift from where my life is at today. It was a huge conference-lots of music and noise and people. But - it was in the quiet where God spoke to me most. That's where He made His point..
You know, there are watershed moments in life..moments where you become clear on something called destiny-moments when you know what you were created for. Those hours in Phoenix would fit into that category..
Another of those significant moments came 4 days later-I was just outside Denver, Colorado. And we spent the day skiing - me and six other guys at Beaver Creek. But again, this moment had nothing to do with 6 guys..It came to me when I was alone. Over a foot of new snow fell while we were there..incredible skiing conditions. But the weather was cloudy - couldn't see very far - couldn't get the lay of the land..For 2 days it was cloudy..
But then late in the afternoon, the sun came out. I had been tree skiing - just breaking a little fresh ground. Amazing. Came out of the trees and I stopped cold. One of the most fantastic sights I've ever witnessed..
Panoramic view of at least 10 mountain peaks. Fresh snow - beautiful trees - bright, incredibly bright - warm sun..My first thought in that moment was-God, you are so good. God you are so majestic and powerful and amazing and gracious. And when I saw the mountains, I saw God..in His creation. And I had a little church service there..just me and God. And I worshipped Him for His greatness and for His power and for His love and grace and mercy in my life. And I thought this thought.."I don't know if it gets any better than this." A foot of fresh powder - great day with friends - amazing view - sense of God's blessing. But again, the best moments were not those spent skiing with the boys. The best moments came alone..when God and I met and had church..a connection soul to soul..spirit to spirit..and that only happened alone and in the silence. And again that sense of "this is what I was created for" came over me.
I. The Original Drawings
Folks, if there's a line that I have said more than any other in the 15 years that I've been standing on this stage speaking to you..it has been this. You and I have been created for greatness. We were created with destiny in mind. And God - when He formed each one of us..began calling us forward into this eternal plan and pathway for our lives..And people, it's when we walk clearly on that path that we are at our best..when we feel most fulfilled and free. It's when we're on that pathway that our lives are most effective and when we function at the height of our physical, emotional, and spiritual abilities..Only on that pathway are we at our best. I want you to hear some verses from the Bible that speak of God's plan of destiny in our lives - Ephesians (read various verses)
Ephesians 1:18-19a - "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe."
Now, to fully understand the depth of those verses will take us the rest of our lives and then some..But to just scratch the surface of that depth. Suffice it to say that when we begin to follow Jesus Christ with our lives, He begins to wake up our minds and our souls, to His plan and destiny for which we were created. A destiny of incomparable power and hope and grace. A destiny where we partner with God to change the world and transform history-Wow.
Now..here's where I need to state the obvious. I think every one of us wants to be on that path. I think we long to be fulfilled and effective. I think we long to make a difference in the world we live in. The challenge is this..We cannot do that apart from God. He is the Architect and He has designed us in such a way that the only way to completely engage in this life-fulfilling, difference-making destiny is to have a consistent center to our lives..that is a daily-growing, walking relationship with Jesus Christ. It is only here where we will begin to live the life we were created to live.
Folks, God has designed us for greatness - of that there is no question. And each one of us is on a different path-so that the picture He is designing for each of our lives looks different. Yours is different than mine. Mine different from yours. Each of us is called to a unique experience.
But my point is simple. We may each be created unique, but all of us were created by the same Designer. And His imprint is at the center..the very core of our beings. He is the Architect that has drawn out each of our lives..and at the very center of each of us He has drawn in an interactive part..that when we connect together with Him-creation and Creator-that is when we're most fulfilled..that is when our lives become most clear. Folks - when we walk with God and connect with Him in deeper and growing ways, His plan and destiny for our lives becomes clearer. Our life design begins to take the shape the Architect had in mind. And for the next 3 weeks we want to talk about and experience a renovation in our spiritual lives..And to let God be Architect, Builder, and Designer of our souls-as we walk with Him.
II. Changing the Plans
Now if what we have said is true, and we are clearly at our best when we have an interactive, daily, growing relationship with Jesus Christ, then why is it that we struggle to make it happen? (Now I don't talk a lot about this stuff.) but think about it. If the evil one - the enemy of our souls - was gonna try and thwart or hinder the plan of God within us - how would he do it best? I think he would try and stop us from connecting with Jesus. I think he would try and get us doing anything other than interacting with the one who has the blue prints drawn out for our lives. I think he would take away our center.
Now - most of the time, those who follow Jesus think that if the evil one is gonna chase them it will be in an area of really black/dark sin. That he'll take us off our game with one really big temptation or sin. Something like cheating on our spouse or an addiction..or worse. But that's not always how Satan chooses to battle us. He does it in much more subtle ways..
A couple thoughts..
Let me talk with you about distractions..
Last year - Las Vegas - Amazing place - lights - sounds - beautiful buildings..city full of attractions. Lions here and monkeys there - a rock band on stage here and a country band there. And a cheesy lounge singer that has an audience of big blue haired ladies.crying. Then, there are a thousand different kinds of food and shops and restaurants..lots of attractions. But when you walk around for a while, the reality hits you. These are not all attractions, but are distractions..to keep you busy and moving from casino to casino - Distractions to keep you up and make you tired and to break down your resistance to spending money gambling..Those distractions can be very costly..and not just in Las Vegas.
Folks, let me tell you, living life in North America in 2003 (in Saskatoon) is very distracting. Life is fast, mobile, instant - quicker is better all the time. We want to be reachable. We want to be up to date and we want to have the latest, fastest, greatest technology that will allow us to go even faster..thinking that that will somehow make us more effective and efficient. Folks, life is full of good distractions that can take us away from God's plan.
Here's what I wanted to do to illustrate the point. I was simply gonna call 3 of you to bring your family calendars for this week coming up..and get you to describe your week ahead..and just have you walk through your schedule this next week. School parent's meeting, hockey practice, basketball practice, piano lessons, drama, dance, swimming, church, hockey game, basketball game, business trip, school trip, fundraising dinner, hockey tournament, gymnastics, work, business meetings, another hockey game..
And pretty soon, your schedule - your work and your kids - rule your life. Now, all of those things are nice and good, but who says that the evil one can't use nice and good stuff to distract us. Sometimes I think the only thing he has to do to get us off track is to provide another sports opportunity for our kids to be involved in.
Listen to a few words of wisdom from Solomon..
"A man will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly." (Proverbs 5:23)
"Like a city whose walls are broken down is one who lacks self-control." (Proverbs 25:28)
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left." (Proverbs 4:23, 25-27a)
Folks, let me ask you this - how can you guard your heart - the well spring - the center of your life? How can you guard the design of your life if you're so busy doing stuff that you can't meet with Jesus -
you can't connect with the designer. Our lives are so full, we are seldom able to interact with the Architect who has clearly laid out plans for our lives.
Folks, I need to say this loudly and some of you may disagree - but it needs to be said..(wait). If you think you're being a great parent by involving your child in so many things that they and you and your family cannot take time to center yourselves spiritually, you are in greater trouble than you realize.
You can't replace the spiritual center of a family or of a father or of a mother or of a child with a hockey tournament. Hear this - we are replacing God in our lives with the simple distraction of a busy schedule.
People, we've got to reign in our lives - we've got to get a hold of our schedules..and we've got to figure out what we must say no to in order to say yes to God. And sometimes the good has to go so that the great can be exposed. It may be something as meaningful as saying no to further education for a season. It may be that promotion..or it may be your social life or your sports life or your relentless pursuit of entertainment. Some things need to be deleted from our schedules. Even some good things.
Here's why-because even good things can be distractions and can take you away from the plan that God has drawn out for your life..a plan that will take you deeper spiritually and allow you to live to the fullest potential.
I think the evil one knows our number..and he's saying "Well, if I can't make them sin big, I'll just make them busy. Because a little distraction works just as well.." Folks, we've gotta get this figured out - we've got to!
Richard Foster states the dilemma like this: "Superficiality is the curse of our age, and instant gratification is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent (or capable) or gifted (or busy) people, but for deep people."
Sister Corita Kent put it like this: "At some time in your life, trying to be good may be to stop running and take time to be quiet and to discover who you are and where you've been."
Folks, would you do some work at home here..Let's get practical with this..Talk about this in your home today - Figure out what it's gonna take to carve out some time for a daily spiritual center to be developed in your lives - in your homes..What are you gonna say no to? What distraction are you gonna say no to in order to say yes to God?
III. Rediscovering the Design
There is a word that we love to hate in Canada - it's a word we all know we need but it seems to elude us..that word is discipline. Whether it's with our physical lives, our work lives, our time schedules, our food intake, or our spiritual lives, discipline often is beyond our grasp -
even though we know it to be the cure for many of the negative issues we have in life..
Leo Tolstoy said this very strong line: "Everybody thinks of changing humanity but nobody thinks of changing himself." (ouch!) Now here's the thing-I want to throw out a challenge to you during this series..to begin the process of developing godly discipline in your life. We often forget that there is a cost to developing our spiritual lives. We don't just drift into spiritual depth and maturity. In fact, the drift of our lives is away from spiritual things. Left to ourselves, we would surely wander far from God's path. My suggestion here is that an antidote for this drift problem comes in one form - spiritual discipline.
Now, those of you who golf probably have one player in mind when you think about golf greatness - Tiger Woods. And if you're a student of the game and want to get good at it, it's a great idea to emulate the things Tiger does. That focused mind, confidence, sturdy but relaxed grip, placement of the shoulders and the feet and the hands..the big back swing, the incredible follow through..it goes on and on.
You may even buy the same gloves and shoes and Nike apparel that Tiger has. Here's the question. (After all this) will you succeed in performing like Tiger Woods this spring at the Willows? We all know the answer and here's why..
Tiger Woods did not achieve his excellence by trying to behave a certain way only during a game..it is in the practice of the game that he found excellence for the game.
The same holds true with following Jesus Christ. Yes - it is His grace that saved us and forgave us and allowed us to begin to see Him clearly..
And it is His grace and power within us that will carry us to know Him more and more. But He has provided ways in which we can develop our spirits - ways we can grow our souls..We must not believe that simply accepting Jesus Christ into our lives will automatically make us like Him in our actions and life.
"A golf player who expects to excel in his game without adequate time spent on skill development and exercise of body is no more ridiculous than the Christ-follower who hopes to be able to act like Jesus without appropriate exercise (discipline) in godly living."
The Apostle Paul put it like this."Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
"Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next."
(1 Timothy 4:7-8)
Paul's example really works for me. He says simply that if you want to get into shape spiritually, you've gotta get to the gym. You've gotta work out your spiritual muscles. You've gotta train to be godly..that's how to live and act and talk and be like Jesus. And folks, I don't think there's another route to it.
M. Scott Peck - The Road Less Traveled: "There are many people I know who possess a vision of personal (spiritual) evolution, yet seem to lack the will for it. They want to skip over the discipline to find an easy shortcut to sainthood.but they must start at the beginning and go through the middle."
C. K. Chesterton put it in very strong terms.."The Christian life has never been found wanting. No - it has been found difficult and left untried."
Now - next week we're gonna talk about practical steps we can take towards spiritual discipline..Nothing too magical or mystical..but actually just a little bit of a spiritual workout - A little bit of spiritual sweat!
Folks, here's what we need to get from this week's message. God is the great Architect of our lives and He longs to connect with us - to meet with us soul to soul every day. And it is within that connection - that relationship - where He reveals His incredible plan for our lives. And it's within that plan/destiny where we are most fulfilled.
So folks, we're just scraping the surface of where God wants us to go with Him and what He wants to show us in our futures. And next week we're gonna unlock a whole bunch of ancient spiritual truth..that when applied will take your soul farther than you ever dreamed possible.
