I finally did it! I did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the seemingly impossible—I took a vacation. And I lived to learn a few things from it.
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I recently unplugged completely and took a week off with family at Disney World. It was my first vacation on at least 3-4 years.
It’s been called the green monster. Invidia in the Latin texts. A deadly sin. And a common one. Envy.
I confess to falling for it at times. Far too many times. No matter how much success I experience, it’s never enough.
The book launch could have been bigger—like hers. The traffic could be higher—like his. The number of speaking engagements could be more—and so it goes. More. Always more.
As we strolled through our neighborhood last night, my wife and I noted features we liked about other houses, and I felt envy creeping in again—even though we have a beautiful home with more room than we’ve ever had before.
Envy, you see, is not rational. It doesn’t make sense when we think about it. But then we usually don’t think about it. We just go with the feeling and end up in a bad place.
But usually by the end of each day we’ve encountered more than a few people who appear to be enjoying success. More than we’re having, at least.
And that’s all it takes. We see it and we want it for ourselves.
If you are like a lot of Christians—or even conservative folks, you’re blown away by how quickly marriage and religious liberty have seemed to crumble in recent years. What are we to make of it all in light of the seemingly constant pressure to be made to care?
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In this episode I share a conversation with Andrew T. Walker of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is also the co-author of the book Marriage Is in which he argues marriage is not up for debate.
Ever feel alone? Jesus did, too. That’s right. Messiah. Creator. Savior of the world. Even he dealt with loneliness. After all, one of the reasons he became one of us was to understand what we go through each day on this terrestrial ball. But unlike us, Jesus refused to give in to the temptation to fixate on that feeling.
How did he beat it? Jesus beat loneliness by speaking the truth to himself.
It matters greatly how we talk to ourselves. Let’s face it, we are the one person we can never get away form—no matter how hard we might try at times. So what we say to ourselves is critical when we are tempted to feel alone.
It happened at least once to Jesus, most noticeably as he gave his disciples a final briefing just prior to his crucifixion.
So you think God may be calling you to step out in a new life direction? That’s great! Now what?
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Episode 20 unpacks 5 proven steps I have found for pursuing a new life direction. I share a lot of my own story as examples, but your journey will be unique to you.
Smack dab in the middle between real life and real faith is—real fear. Fear of failure. Fear that we’ll look foolish. Fear that everyone will laugh when we do fail. Fear that __________ —fill in the blank with your own fear. There’s no shortage of reasons to be afraid. But how can we stop being afraid?
I believe that for those who have trusted in Christ as their only hope, God has not left us to be paralyzed by the unknown.
Instead, His Word gives us 7 steps for overcoming fear and rising victoriously above the challenges that come our way.
That’s not to say it will be easy.
So you want to step out in a new life direction. But you’re afraid. That’s normal. Fear often keeps us from moving forward. What if I showed you the steps needed to move forward with clarity, confidence, and abundant faith to live an authentic life adventure?
First let me acknowledge that I did not follow all of the steps I am about to share with you—not intentionally anyway. Some I had to learn the hard way.
Do you know where you are headed next in life? Do you know where you should be headed next? If you’re like a lot of us, you may have accidentally fallen into a life direction instead of intentionally choosing your best path.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn’t be that way.
God created each one of us with unique strengths, passions, and skills sets. He gave us each unique relationship connections that open doors of opportunity unavailable to others.
And He expects us to use it all to more fully reveal His majesty on earth as it is in heaven.
Have you ever worried about praying wrong? As we approach the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, I recall all the times I’ve wondered, Am I praying wrong. Am I praying for the right things? And so it goes.
I suspect we all face that same question when we pray at times on this journey to live an authentic life with abundant faith. We wish we could stop worrying about getting it right and start praying with confidence for what we know God wants.
But how do we know what God wants? And so the worrying begins.
Because of our natural human fixation on “the seen,” we tend to think only of the impact of our story in this brief season of our existence: the here and now.
Although that impact is not unimportant, as immortal beings we should be far more concerned with how our story will sound when it is told there and then, in that next season of existence that will extend through all eternity.
Claim your FREE copy of my eBook What God Wants You to Do Next: 7 Questions to Discover God's Best for Your life
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