Whims

My shins hurt.  Ache to be precise.  With every step I take they tell me how much they despise me and my tendency to act upon a whim.

It started last July.  I was 39, weighed 205 pounds and felt like crap.  As I sat on my porch swing like a bloated slug I said, “I gotta do something.”  Then on a whim I just got up and decided I was going to run a mile.  I can’t tell you for certain how long it took me to run that mile because I’m pretty sure the space time continuum came to a screeching halt out of pure shock!  All I know for certain is that when everything stopped jiggling and oxygen again returned to my brain restoring conscious thought, I was alive.  No thanks to my whim!

The truth is, what I thought was just a whim last July was actually a catalyst to a transformation.   After recovering from my 1 mile near death experience a few days later I said, “I wonder if I could do two miles?”  I found out I could.  I went on to run my first 5K, then another, then a 6 mile obstacle race through the woods all while carrying an 8 pound sledge hammer!  Ya, that’s me and my hammer on the right…mud soaked and wearing man tights!  By the beginning of October I lost over 20 pounds in under 10 weeks.  Today my shins hurt because I’m training for a marathon.  A race I agreed to run with a friend…on a whim.

Here is the thing.  Whims have the power to kill you; like bringing home a new Ford F150 King Ranch truck without discussing it with your spouse!  A cautionary tale for another day.  But, whims also have the uncanny ability to spur us on to accomplish great things!  Those moments that spring forth from a random “what if” or an “I wonder” like Jonathan to his armor barer in 1 Samuel 14:1-15.  A seemingly random whim of “Hey, what if we went over to the garrison of those uncircumcised dudes?” ended in a slaughter of their national enemies!

Truth be told, some “whims” are actually the Holy Spirit prompting us to step out in faith and make a change.  What about you?  What whim is the Holy Spirit actually spurring you to act on and allow Him to work through?  Trust me…it’s not the King Ranch!!!!

Abandoning Resolutions

Resolutions…we all have made them and let’s face it we all have broken them.  “I’m going to go to the gym four times a week”.  “I’m going to get up early and read my Bible every day”.  “I’m going to be better at posting to my blog”.  Honestly, I can’t think of one resolution I have made that I haven’t broken eventually.  This year I don’t want a resolution.

Resolutions spring from the momentary desire for change.  They are cries of deficiency.  Resolutions are instigated by desire, but facilitated in weakness.  We say will power, but lets face it.  If I’m already weak in that area how am I now suddenly through will power going to change that area?  It’s a recipe for failure.

I don’t want a resolution.  I want a revelation.  I want a revealing of truth which supersedes my perspective, presumptions and preferences.  I want a revealing of God which transcends my “reality”.  Revelation of His Word, of His Truth, of His Person is the only thing which can fuel my spirit on to mastery over my flesh and bring me into agreement with His Life…The Life.

Resolutions are conceived in the desire for change.  Revelation gives birth to the ability to be transformed!

The Prodigal resolves, “I will return to my father’s house as a servant and as a servant I will have bread.”  The Father reveals, “You are my son!  My presence is your true inheritance and all I am is yours!”

Resolutions are cries of deficiency.  Revelation is the proclamation of His abundance and ability.

Resolutions are formed and abandoned on whims, circumstance and convenience.  Revelation is the manifestation of Truth empowering eternal transformation.

This year I’m abandoning resolutions and pursuing revelation.  How about you?  What are you going to pursue?