Author name: Tom Stuart

Who do you want to become?

2 Comments / Life Balance /

I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. Psalm 57:2

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I’ll bet you have asked that question of children numerous times. At what age do you remember first being asked that question? Do you recall some of your early answers? At the root of the question is an even more important life-purpose question – “who do you want to become?” From childhood on, that question can intrigue, inspire, infatuate or infuriate us our entire lives.

Why do we find ourselves, like hiking some circuitous looping trail, repeatedly stumbling back upon that same probing question? For one thing most of us in our unguarded moments would admit we still feel like eternal kids or teenagers in our heart of hearts. There is a sense we have when confronted with our own vulnerability or weaknesses or failures that we really have not progressed as far in life as we had imagined; and in fact may be stuck in a kind emotional adolescence still groping with questions of that sort.

I had a friend, a diminutive woman with the boldness of a lion, who was a social worker in a men’s residential treatment center. She made it her practice to stand toe to toe with new residents, and while staring up at them and pointing her forefinger at their chest. She would ask, “How old are you? I mean really, not chronologically, but inside, how old are you?” And she told me in her many years working there nearly every man gave the same essential answer. They all admitted to still being teenagers.

“Who do I want to become?” Why do we keep coming back to that question? Probably the most salient reason is that it is all too easy to repeatedly get side-tracked by seemingly urgent and persistent questions such as “What do I want to get done?” The pressure of getting things done often preempts and causes us to disregard the more important focus of pursuing who we want to become.

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Say it with me, “I am blessed!”

1 Comment / Overcoming /

There is a wonderful statement in the book of Proverbs about the blessing of God. It says “The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22 NLT) Prosperity and protection are very obvious aspects of God’s blessing, and we see that repeatedly illustrated in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament accounts of the lives of the patriarchs and the kings, and the nation of Israel. Typically when God chose to bless a person or a tribe or a nation in response to their wholehearted seeking of Him and obedience of faith to do what He asked them to do, their lives were made rich in very tangible ways, and any residue of sorrow, threat or regret was swept away.

Another phrase that is frequently used in the Bible for God’s blessing is the “favor of the Lord.” When a person has God’s favor upon their lives it is like being given an inexpressibly beautiful and valuable jewel that one always wants in their possession and will never let out of their sight. It is like having Warren Buffet as your financial advisor, Lloyds of London as your insurance agent and the Secret Service as your security force.

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Second Thoughts on the Pursuit of Success

2 Comments / Life Balance, Overcoming /

“And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.” Jeremiah 45:5a ESV

This verse is not your typical name it, claim it promise, nor something you would find typed on a strip of paper in a fortune cookie. In fact at first blush, these are not the kind of words any inspired, faith-filled, goal-oriented believer ever wants to hear. This advice seems counter intuitive coming from the all-things-are-possible God whom we serve. And yet, despite the fact that there are other instances in the Scriptures where God encourages His followers to dream big and press forward to lay hold of those things which we desire, in this case He says the opposite, “seek them not.”

It helps to understand the context in which God would say such a thing and there is a life giving principle hidden therein. These words are spoken on God’s behalf through Jeremiah the prophet to his faithful scribe Baruch. Baruch had just been lamenting the frustrations of fruitless labor – how overwhelmed he feels, weary with groaning and finding no rest. (vs. 3) Their nation of Judah is poised for God’s judgment and in essence He is saying to Baruch, look “I am bringing disaster upon” the whole land. It is not a time for you to seek success, “but I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.” (Jeremiah 45:5b)

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Rooting out the Pharisee

Growth & Development, Overcoming, Prayer /

Spiritual health is a lot like physical health. Quality is often the primary concern and measure. It is not enough simply to acknowledge we have it, but the overarching goal is that we nurture good health and avoid bad health. Good health is the underlying presumption for our continued mobility, accomplishment and long life. That is true for good spiritual health as well.

And so we have in this parable an illustration of both good versus bad spirituality. We are told about two men who make a point of coming to the temple to be close to God and communicate with Him. That, in and of itself, is noteworthy if not commendable. Most people who attend church on a Sunday morning would say that is the reason they are there. And most people when they leave want to feel as if what they have done has been acceptable and pleasing to God. To the unenlightened participant however, there is no way of knowing who was nurturing good spiritual health and who wasn’t. But God knows because He sees the heart.

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A Place for Holy Hurry

1 Comment / Life Balance, Relationship with God /

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:5 ESV

Seldom in the scriptures do we see God encouraging people to be in a hurry. More often than not we find Him speaking to His harried creation about doing the opposite – the necessity of slowing down and waiting. “Be still” He says, “and know that I am God.” “Wait on the Lord . . . wait I say on the Lord.” (Psalms 46:10, 27:14)

Even Jesus, despite the frenzy around Him, never allowed Himself to be pressured into being in a hurry. He always had time to pause in His journey from place to place to give attention to the no-name people who pressed upon Him with their needs.

Interruptions for Him were the order of the day and it often confounded His disciples and those who followed Him. Invariably His priorities as evidenced by how He chose to spend His time were counterintuitive to the conventional wisdom of someone they thought had come to set up an earthly kingdom. Why should such an important person on a mission to rule the world be lavishing time on little children or blind beggars like Bartimaeus? (Matthew 19:14 & Mark 10:46-52)

But, being in hurry obviously makes sense when it comes to doing an act of kindness or more importantly, saving a person’s life. In that regard it is an imperative since time is of the essence. Ironically therefore, even for Jesus, it could be said that He was in a hurry to take the time to pause. This sanctified kind of hurry to do good, might be termed being in a “holy hurry.”

When you stop to think about it then, being in a holy hurry certainly has its place. And that brings us back to the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus was in the midst of another very busy day as the He was passing through the crowded streets of Jericho when He noticed the diminutive Zacchaeus perched in a tree trying to get a glimpse of Him. Without hesitancy He stopped and called the man out by name, doubtless startling him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” In other words, “Z, it’s high time you quit sitting on the sidelines being a spectator, and hurry down to come and spend time with Me!” Or phrased even more simply: “Hurry! Let’s hang out!”

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