I love work. Most of the time it keeps me busy and out of trouble. Sometimes it has become an occasion of sin for me, when I focus on money, or pride, or allow work to become more important in my mind than my family. But work is not a bad thing, it is given to us by God and it is inherently good. I’ve been reading a very short book, but one with lots to chew on, Business for the Glory of God, by Wayne Grudem. It breaks down the reasons why employment, productivity, ambition (within guidelines), and the business world in general are actually inherently good things that glorify God. This verse in Colossians is one example-

Slaves, obey your human masters in all things, not only when they are watching you because you want to gain their approval; but do it with a sincere heart because of your reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people. Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what he has kept for his people. For Christ is the real Master you serve.
(Colossians 3:22-24 GNB)

As with so many other things in life, it comes down to motive. Then when I opened e-Sword, this passage from George Morrison’s daily devotional caught my eye -

And at Lystra, by the power of Jesus, Paul healed the cripple. You could tell that the writer (Luke) had been a doctor by the fond minuteness with which he describes the disease. Most writers would just have said that the man was lame. But the physician made a much fuller diagnosis. The man was impotent in both his feet; he had been so from birth; he had never walked. Do you see how all the training we have had can be used in the long run towards glorifying God? Luke never thought of that when he was studying medicine; but the miracle is doubly vivid just because he studied. So every interest we ever had, and every pursuit we were ever zealous over, and every hobby that once fascinated us, no matter how childish or slight it may have been— all these, when we are Christ’s, shall prove of service. It is the vessel full of water that becomes wine.

I have seen lately because of Hurricane Katrina how important the skill sets that people have are to the church. We’re all individual parts of the body, with each part serving a function that may seem unimportant on its own, but in fact is crucial to others. And to think that every interest, every hour of study, is available to glorify God – that glorifying Him is far from restricted to moments of prayer, worship, and bible study, but in fact those moments provide fuel for the other hours of the day when we glorify Him in every other activity we do – is kind of a paradigm shift for me. I know that God is in the details, but this is just another reminder of the amazing and personal God that I serve. I’ve come full circle from my “nothing matters” cynicism of 20 years ago to finally seeing that everything matters – there is no insignificant fact or event to the God who knows the number of hairs on my head and where every sparrow falls. And all of the details in my vessel of water, work as well as every other thing that God has given me in life, are all available to be turned to wine.

The E-Sword daily devotional this morning by George H. Morrison is called The Blindness of Vision. One section that was particularly meaningful to me in light of Hurricane Katrina -

When We See the Larger Life, We Become Blind to Little Grievances
Putting the matter in another light, suppose we think of the little frets of life, of the little pinpricks and unkindness which most people experience as they journey. There are folk who brood upon such things as these, until they practically see nothing else. They tend and water all their little grievances till their blossoms would take prizes at a show. And what I have noticed of such folk is this, that when through the mercy of God their eyes are opened, of all these little pinpricks they see nothing Their eyes have been opened to what real suffering is. They were only playing before at being miserable. Their eyes have been opened to that larger life which is always given us in Christ. And the beautiful thing about that life is this, that worries which were overwhelming yesterday, somehow have vanished so that we cannot see them in the love commended on the cross. Every rock and ridge is clear and glistening in the Highland burn when it is low. But when the summer rain falls or the winter snow, then they become invisible. And I have found it so in many a man’s life when a new tide of being has possessed him; things that were sharp and hard and hurt him yesterday, somehow have become invisible today.

I have minor damage to my home, totaling (in my estimation, since the adjuster has not been here yet) less than $15,000. Some exterior walls have to be re-sided, a patio cover and shed were destroyed – and all the contents – and fencing was destroyed. The roof seems okay. I’ve considered perspective before (The Total Perspective Vortex; I was re-reading The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy at the time) and what God’s perspective is compared to our own worm’s eye view. One definition of “perspective” is the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer.

The mercy of Hurricane Katrina is that we were able to see how frail and temporary things down here really are. Considering that life is eternal, the length of time we can expect to spend with these material things is so much shorter, compared to the length of our lives, that they are hardly worth mentioning. I have stubbed my toe hundreds of times in my life, but I can’t remember the details of even one time. It’s a reminder to build our house upon the rock, a reminder that to have our life we must lose it. Rita is drifting northward and I find I’m really not bothered by it. We’ll evacuate, or not. Get hit, or not. Flood, or not. My God is sovereign and I am in His hands.

God has been working in my life in so many ways; before Hurricane Katrina to prepare us for what was ahead, during the evacuation in every detail, and afterwards to come home and start to rebuild our lives and our city. Through it all, I’ve had a steady soundtrack of hymns and praise music playing in my head, and a slowly increasing desire to study the Word and get back to Him. His constant, faithful care for me does make me love Him more, but it’s more than that. God who has power over a hurricane can still find time to see that my cats are housed safely and for free. Every small detail of my life is known to Him and He does care. I see it more clearly than ever. And when I see that, I fall more in love with Him than ever. In marriage there are sometimes these “flat” times where the romance is cold or stagnant, and you look at your spouse and wonder what the heck you were thinking of. At times like that, you stay because what else can you do? Mortgage, kids, and daily routines hold you together. Duty. You don’t want to pack up and start over. And then something changes – could be anything – and reminds you of why you love this person. You remember how it started. You think about the details. And your love flares up and warms you and you look forward to when you’ll be together again. Thank God.

Finally, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things.
(Philippians 4:8 MKJV)

This really spoke to me – I have been struggling for so long with this lack of desire to do a daily study and have a daily prayer time. Things have been a mess since we evac’d for Hurricane Katrina, but that’s no excuse; I was struggling with it long before then. But God has been with me the whole time, I see it more clearly than ever, and I am so grateful. And since we evacuated, I have had quite a few chances to serve, and it has been a blessing to do it. Stalin said, “Gratitude is a disease of dogs,” but if that’s true it’s not a bad thing – after all, it’s how this blog started.

September 9
Desertion and Drudgery
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing— Joh_21:3

In the Absence of the Master
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