I had the great opportunity of leading the guys at our Man2Man gathering this morning. I love sharing with these men who are seeking the Lord with their whole heart. I am blessed by them. Anyway, I talked about something that I have previously blogged about. It’s a principle that John Ortberg brings to light in his book “Overcoming Your Shadow Mission”. Our shadow mission is “a pattern of thought and action based on temptations and our own selfishness that lead us to betray our deepest values. The result: regret and guilt.”
Often it’s not something that’s 180 degrees from who we are and what we’re pursuing, it’s more like 5 or 10 degrees of the mark. It’s pursuing religion instead of Jesus, spending all our time with hobbies in the name of “stress relief” knowing it takes time away from family or serving God, seeking approval from people, seeking fame and recognition, etc. etc. Everybody has one – what’s yours?
To pursue this shadow mission is to waste precious time. You and I were created for something far greater, bigger and more important than some unimportant selfish quest. It’s like when Mordecai tells Esther “who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”. What about you and me? Who knows that who we are, what we do, our passions and gifts and resources were given to us for such a time as this. God needs us for this time in which we live.
Just a thought.
this parallels our story that I have been reading about in The Sacred Heart. we are in a story that God created and we often find it difficult not knowing what the next chapter contains. no flipping ahead! we know what the end is, but we still try to figure out how to get there with out first a convo w/ the one who wrote our story!
Rusty,
I was on signing up for the Bible study and M2M weekend , and saw your blogs.. Many , so true about a blink of an eye. Time just keeps rolling and things just keep changing. Everyday I try to gain more of the knowledge, understanding and way of life through God. You know my story and it just keeps evolving. Things keep changing,good and bad. I just try to surrender it all. I can’t tell you enough, how much M2M is touching lives. There is a lot of hurt, and growing going on in our groups. I see different people each week, that are sharing things and opening up more and more. Thank YOU! To you, Josh, Mark and all the others that continue to change lives through God’s work !!Ronnie