AND I have SO MUCH FURTHER TO GO!
This hit me the other day in a very unusual way.
A friend of mine allowed me to “test drive” a brand new, 2010 Camaro! (V8, 426 hp…I “may” have gotten it to 90 mph in second gear in the church parking lot!) It’s pretty much my dream car (I have always wanted a Camaro…yes, I LOVED the IROC’s!) It is FULLY LOADED, XM radio, a place you can plug in your ipod…you name it! And so for a few days I got to drive it around…and yes, I was relentless about obeying the speed limit! (Wink!)
The color of the car was orange, which didn’t really strike me at first until I was driving it to work one more and had this thought, “Hey…this car is orange, but so was my first car!”
My mind flashed back to the very first car I had…a bright orange 1979 AMC Gremlin! AND it was VASTLY different from the Camaro! It would go from 0-60 in 4.2 DAYS! It had an AM radio…no tape player (CD’s were not invented yet) and so if I wanted to listen to “good music” I had to buy batteries for my “jam box” and put it in the front seat. I still remember driving down town Easley with the windows rolled down blasting Ton Loc’s “Wild Thang” and desperately trying to look cool! (It didn’t work!)
The drivers seat of the Gremlin had a hole in it…I literally had to put a pillow in the hole so that I didn’t fall through. The floor was rotting out…I could look down and see the road as I drove. I had to carry two quarts of transmission fluid and a quart of oil at all times…and when I took a girl out on a date in it I always had to do some sort of maintance. (I literally had one girls dad ask me to please never park it in his driveway again!)
The Gremlin MAY be the worse car ever invented…and mine was the worse of the worse; however, it was all I had and so I drove it until God finally took mercy on me and this world by killing it!
SO…after that particular flashback my mind snapped back to where I was…driving a car that I NEVER thought I would drive and totally enjoying the experience instead of praying that no one would see me…and I had the following thought - “22 years ago I never imagined I would EVER be able to drive a car like this. In fact, I felt stuck…I thought what I had was the very best that I was ever going to have. I was obsessed with the way things were instead of the way things could be…and now look, here I am driving a car that no one could have even conceived back then…and even though this car is ‘borrowed,’ things have really changed for the better.”
Then it HIT ME like a ton of bricks, so much so that I became completely overwhelmed…my LIFE 22 years ago was a wreck, I was running from God, completely cared less about His Word, church or ANYTHING having to do with Him. And yet a few years later He drew me to Him, saved me, and changed my mind and heart in regards to the ways I thought and how I lived.
He’s brought me so far…I never thought I would have the life I have right now…a wife as awesome as ‘Cretia, a daughter as special as Charisse, friends who really do love and care about us, a church that would fill the BILO Center for our 10 year anniversary…I could go on and on…but the fact is that I am in awe of who HE is, where HE found me AND how far He has brought me.
BUT…I have so much further to go…
Just like the car I was driving was borrowed…I am living on borrowed time (James 4:14)...but WHILE Jesus allows me to “borrow” it I want to maximize it as much as I can for HIS glory. I feel incredibly blessed…but I know there is so much more for me to learn, so many things He needs to teach me and so much more than I must experience.
I think about the Apostle Paul…when God knocked him off of his horse in Acts 9 he had no idea about all that God had in store for him. What he thought was an amazing experience was actually just the beginning.
I think about Peter, James and John when they had a GREAT catch of fish (Luke 5) and Jesus called them to follow Him. They had just had an amazing experience…but that particular event didn’t hold a candle to the things they would eventually see.
Many times we can get so caught up in where we are (either good or bad) and fall into the idea that “this” is all God has for us…but the reality is that if we are STILL on this planet then He STILL has a plan for us…there’s more!
You are NOT STUCK where you are! Whether your life is amazing..or awful…there’s MORE!
My prayer is that all of us will fully embrace the reality of the way things ARE…but also refuse to believe the lie that ‘this” is all there will ever be.
I received Christ in 1990…I’ve been trying my best to follow Jesus for the past 20 years…and He’s done MORE than I could have ever imagined in my lifem and yet there is a hope and belief in me that He has brought me THIS far ONLY so He can take me even farther in life. There is SO MUCH more for me to learn about being a better follower of Jesus, a better husband, a better father and a better leader in HIS church. There’s MORE!
I am thankful for the victories He has allowed me to have in the past…but I simply refuse to slide into “cruise control” and play it safe in this life. He will complete His work in me (and in you - see Philippians 1:6.) There’s MORE…and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me next. It MAY not be what is most comfortable for me…but I know it will ultimately be used for HIS glory!
For those who feel overwhelmed, stuck and flat out discouraged…don’t focus on your current circumstances but rather His consistant character—He is HOLY, that means His ways are HOLY (both perfect and awesome)...and He wants more for our lives than we could ever imagine…don’t give up, there’s MORE! (Ephesians 3:20!)