What Disturbs You?

Many of you reading this today are glad it’s not snowing.  Again.  It seems like this winter has been never ending – plenty of snow and plenty of Arctic blasts.  We woke up to about 7 or 8 inches of snow yesterday.  The heavy, wet snow that’s great for building snowmen and snow forts but is horrible for shoveling and plowing.  Working at different times throughout the day yesterday, it took me 5 hours to clear my driveway with the plow blade on my lawn tractor! 

In Western PA this winter, it’s not been hard to let the weather bother and frustrate us and get us down.  Days like yesterday make it easy to complain. 

If we’re honest with ourselves, there are lots of things that frustrate us and bother us and lead us to complain. Sometimes it snows a lot.  Sometimes it’s bitter cold for days at a time.  Cars break down and need to be fixed (I just had to call my mechanic because my old ’97 Explorer is having some trouble).  Influenza and strep throat and stomach bugs are rampant around here this winter, and have been in our house since Christmas it seems.  Money is tight for many of us.  Relationships are strained.  We could go on and on listing all the things that frustrate us and lead us to complain.

It’s natural to be frustrated when things don’t go our way.  And for many people, it’s natural to complain.  See my postfrom earlier this week about my own tendency to do that.  Everyday frustrations become a problem when we let those frustrations dominate our thoughts and feelings and when we let those things disturb us to the point that they become all consuming and the only thing we talk about. 

What disturbs you?

In one of today’s readings from For the Love of God Biblereading plan, we see that the Apostle Paul was greatly disturbed and troubled by something in Romans 9.  Check out what he says in v.v. 1-5: 

“I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit-- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

In case you don’t get the gist of this, here’s what Paul is saying.  He carries a huge sorrow and burden in his heart for people that don’t know Jesus.  This is more than just your garden variety being bummed out.  The deeper meaning here is that this an affliction that tortures his soul and keeps him awake at night.  He’s really disturbed by the fact that there are people – and in this case, his own fellow Jews – that haven’t yet experienced the transforming power of the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

In fact Paul’s grief over those who are lost is so deep that he wishes that he could be cut off from Christ himself so that these objects of God’s affection and love in Christ would be awakened to the reality of God’s affection and love for them in Christ.  If you’re at all familiar with the life, ministry and letters of Paul, you know that this is no small thing.  For Paul, to be cut off from Christ would mean that he would be cut off from God and would spend eternity apart from him! 

I don’t know about you, but as a Christian, this is a huge wake up call for me.  Of all the things that disturb me and unsettle my soul, I’ve got to say that the salvation of other people isn’t nearly high enough on the list.  I mean I love people and I try to share the Gospel whenever and wherever I can, but the thought of people spending eternity apart from Christ doesn’t disturb me and unsettle me nearly as much as it should.

Burk Parsons of Ligonier Ministriesand a pastor in Florida has become one of my favorite follows on Twitter and his blog has really challenged and inspired me in my own life and leadership.  A few days ago, he Tweeted this question: “If God granted all your prayers, would your neighbors know him or would you just have more stuff?”

Just settle on that and chew on that for some time.  I’ve really got nothing to add, other than that I’m still picking myself up off the floor since I’ve read that. 

What disturbs you?  The minor frustrations of life or the reality of those in your life who are missing out on the Kingdom of God?