Thursday, March 18, 2010

Man vs. Wild vs. Faith


Discovery Channel hosts one of my kids' favorite TV shows -- Man vs. Wild! In each episode, former British Special Forces soldier and survival expert, Bear Grylls (yes, his first name is Bear), pits his wits against the worst that nature can dish out and demonstrates for us couch-potato viewers how to survive in some of the world's most dangerous places (should we ever suddenly find ourselves lost in an anaconda-infested Brazillian swamp on our way to Food Lion).

Once a location is chosen, Bear is airlifted in and dumped (often literally) on the scene, far from any civilization. He is typically equipped only with a small hunting knife and the clothes on his back. We watch in amazement as Bear endures the most dangerous, and often nauseating, of circumstances! (As I type this, Bear is "peeling" a frog in order to eat it -- raw! In an earlier episode, he used the rotting, fly-ridden carcass of a dead camel as a shelter!) He eats bugs, makes fire with sticks, sets traps with rocks, builds shelters in trees, navigates roaring rivers on make-shift log rafts, and has demonstrated everything from making fishing spears with bird skulls to the necessity of staying hydrated, no matter how you have to do it to survive (yep, he's even done "that")! Is it any wonder why this is my 8-year-old son's favorite show!?

So, why would ANY human being do all of this? He obviously risks his life each week to promote the advantages of preparedness, not to mention the shameless entertainment of people who will NEVER be in a position even close to having to ingest stinging ant larvae for the protein! Does Bear Grylls simply have serious thrill issues? Well, maybe, but probably not! He likely does it for two reasons: 1) He loves it and 2) He gets paid handsomely for it! Take away one of those two things, and he would probably instead be back in Britain working as a bodyguard for Hugh Grant or something.

So. . . what on earth is my point? Well, I was thinking. . . if Bear Grylls is willing to put himself at such risk for something he loves (the thrill of survival) and for the reward (presumably a large paycheck), why are we as Christians often willing to risk so little for our deep love of Christ, and the eternal rewards He offers us? Why is our passion for Christ and His glory so dim? Why is mine? Why are we so afraid? What is lacking -- our love for Christ and His work (which is far more exciting than any Man vs. Wild episode), or do we lack the belief that there really is a reward awaiting us? Or both? Are we afraid, perhaps, that if we take risks for God's kingdom, He will not protect us?

Well...there's one other thing that you may not know. Bear Grylls does not really go into all those snake-infested, leach-filled, putrid-bog-laden environments alone. No. He has a camera crew with him, who are also expert outdoorsmen. They go where Bear goes. If Bear climbs a steep cliff, they do too. If Bear plunges into the icy waters of the Arctic Sea, so does his crew. They are instructed to interfere ONLY if Bear gets into a life-threatening situation. Once, Bear fell into an ancient Bedouin well in the desert and had to be pulled out. Yes, Bear was risking his life, and does every week, BUT he has protection! Are we so different? Don't we have God's divine protection --His Sovereign will for our lives that will not allow anything to happen to us outside His providence? And unlike Bear Grylls, we are equipped to the hilt! No 3-inch bowie knife for our wilderness trek! We are equipped with all of the resources of the King of the Universe! Whatever we need to complete our mission, God will provide in abundance! We need only bring one thing along -- faith.

So. . . my prayer tonight is for God to give me the courage to be a Christian with serious thrill issues! I need to get off the couch and into the game! Help me, O God, to take more risks for your glory, for I know that you are with me, and my reward in heaven will be great -- an eternity with the God of glory, who is love itself!




Saturday, March 13, 2010

Standing the Heat


I haven't been posting to my blog lately. It seems that the busyness of life, and the rise of Facebook, have trumped my ability and sometimes my desire, to be creative in thought. But my creative juices just aren't being met on FB, so I'm going to attempt to begin posting again on a fairly regular basis. This may come as welcome news to some, while raising a collective groan among others! LOL

Our small group has been watching a video together about living the Christian life. David Powlison, a counselor with CCEF, often uses an effective illustration to talk about how people react to the circumstances of life. Challenges and trials are depicted at the top of his chart as a blazing sun, and he calls it the "heat" of life. From there, people can take one of two routes. The "heat" can either produce a "thorny," ungodly response from us, or we can view the "heat" in light of the cross of Jesus Christ and bear godly fruit, rather than thorns that entangle us, and harm others.

As I was thinking about this (and feeling quite conviceted in my own life), a picture came to my mind. On our recent trip to Hawaii, there was a lovely flower garden beside the condominium where we were staying. In this garden grew an enormous cactus which was loaded with lovely pink and yellow flower buds! My daughter wanted to take a picture of it, and as we came closer to it, we noticed something very interesting. This large, prickly-pear-style cactus had something very obvious missing. Thorns! We searched high and low, but found no thorns, only flowers!

What a picture of how I want my life to be, I thought, -- able to withstand intense "heat" like a strong cactus, yet producing beautiful "fruit" and no thorns!