Friday, February 19, 2010



STUCK IN A RUT


Have you ever felt stuck? Bogged down? Spinning your wheels? Getting / Going nowhere?

If so, I want to invite you to join me on a journey! Over the past few months, I have started taking stock in where I am in life. Looking at my health, my relationships, my work, my purpose, etc...

In the coming weeks, I want to begin a journey toward transformation! Not just a “do-over” or a “do-better” or a “try-harder” I really want to look at life from a new perspective. God’s perspective! I want to look at some tough life questions and seek answers for those questions.

I guess I need to tell you where this journey started...You see, lately, I’ve been kinda restless. I recently turned 40 and I started noticing some changes in my life. First, I saw a little grey hair...actually, a little less hair, too! I noticed that some of my clothes have begun to shrink. Ok, ok, I know, I’ve gained some weight over the years, but it could be our dryer, right?

Let me put it this way: As I reflected on my life, I realized that almost every area of my life has been in neutral lately! Here’s what those areas look like one by one:

My PHYSICAL rut - Over the past several years, I’ve felt increasingly fatigued and I sensed lower and lower levels of energy. I knew I haven’t been taking care of myself like I should, but I’ve blamed it on busyness and scheduling. But more than these physical signs of aging, I also see that changes are going on in my inner-life. My spiritual development has been slowing down. I found myself on autopilot in so many ways. 



My SPIRITUAL rut - I started following Christ my freshman year of college and was on fire! I surrendered to ministry, went to Seminary and learned and grew a lot! Yet more and more, I caught myself relying on my memory of Bible studies past more than digging in daily for a fresh word. I found that my prayer life and devotional pursuits were lacking!

My MENTAL rut - I’ve always loved learning, but when I finished my doctoral studies two years ago, I rationalized that I deserved a break! Consequently, I haven’t had any major hills to climb on the academic or intellectual front!

My RELATIONAL rut - I’m happily married to a wonderful woman who is also my best friend and we have three amazing kids! Have you ever heard that familiarity breeds contempt. Sometimes we take relationships for granted and don’t invest in them. That is precisely what was happening to me! My relationships with my wife, kids, and friends were ok...but just ok. Again, autopilot set in! I was going through motions without investing the time, effort, and care needed to cultivate deep relationships.

My MINISTRY rut - I was starting to see my work in ministry as a “profession” as much as a calling. I knew what details were important and dotting i’s and crossing t’s became a measure of success rather than encountering Christ and working to see lives changed.

Because of this evaluation time, I’ve started thinking about making some needed adjustments to the way I live my life. I’m not talking about major life changes or some mid-life crisis...I simply want to evaluate where I am, where I want to be and put a plan together to get me there!

I don’t know about you, but I want the rest of my life to count, big time! I want to know that I am fulfilling the purposes for which God put me here. I’m talking about an extreme makeover scott-edition! Maybe you need one, too. I say let’s tackle it together.

Each week, I am going to put some assignments together for us to work on. I am also going to use this blog page as a place for discussion! Hope that you’ll come along!

DISCLAIMER: Some of you that will read this will have no problem with me talking about faith. You know that I am a Christian, you know Christ and you have embraced His way. I also know that some you aren’t yet convinced that God is even real, or that He has any purpose or plan for your life... That’s ok. I want us to take an honest look at every area of our lives and move forward together! Regardless of your faith position, I think we can begin some healthy activities in our lives that will spark really cool dialogue and will challenge all of us to grow!

Let me know if you are in! I dare you to take a step!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Scott,

As I was reading your post, I felt like I could have been writing the same thing. Count me in!