Monday, February 15, 2010

No One Will Remember You

A while ago, I mentioned here that I'm leading a small group through Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

We're on Chapter 2.

And reading this, I find myself pretty much slapped.

Frankly, you need to get over yourself....God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard...To be brutally honest, it doesn't really matter what place you find yourself in right now.

In about fifty years (give or take a couple of decades), no one will remember you. Everyone you know will be dead. Certainly no one will care what job you had, what car you drove, what school you attended or what clothes you wore. This can be terrifying or reassuring, or maybe a mix of both. - Francis Chan (emphasis mine)

In the same chapter, he unpacks the utter arrogance of worry and stress for somebody who says they believe in God.

Well, then.

This is a hard book. But growth is hard.

I hope I'm growing.

2 comments:

JulieS said...

I hope I'm growing, just reading your blog! - The words you share are inspiring!

Enchanted Oak said...

Thank you for this good lesson. We stand as living testimonies that God is our Comfort and Redeemer, no matter what happens to us. Bad things happen to good people. Suffering is a fact in this world. It's how you react to it that is the testimony to others. And there are always others who need to see us standing firm in the Hand of God.
Worry, stress, ungratefulness, fear, dissatisfaction ... they're human emotions, but to dwell in them signals lack of faith and ruins the witness we can be to others who hurt. Instead, in everything, give thanks to God for His mercy and providence, and see what you can do to help your neighbor. The Scriptures tell me this is the will of God for me: to get my eyes off my grievances and turn them to the Lord and my fellow man.