Lord – Peter Gowesky

In Faith in Real Life

People Pleasing Takes A Ton of Work

May 25, 2012 3 Comments

Yesterday morning I was driving in to work and I could feel a tightness in my chest. I thought to myself, here it comes–The Big Chest Grabber. You know the one where you find yourself laying on your back in an emergency room… Yeah, that one.

I was feeling it.

STRESS…

It all began that morning when I placed my sock covered foot in a puddle my refrigerator was making. Great. Two days ago roofers tore my whole roof off and put it back on. Now there is a 40 yard dumpster sitting in my driveway. And I was waiting for the roofing contractor to come fix the hole in my ceiling that his crew made over my desk. He was late. Now I was late. I had an appointment at 9am which I had to punt. I had a 10am appointment which I couldn’t punt. I was leaving the house for a few days so that I can be over in Jersey for the outreach this weekend. Which left me thinking, “do I have all of the clothes I need?”

I was driving away from this whole situation and driving towards a whole different situation. Each situation is asking me to contribute/give to them. The problem is that I can’t contribute/give to both equally at the same time.

Have you ever felt that? Have you ever felt like there just isn’t enough of you to go around? Yeah, I’m guessing you have.

I found this video over at YouTube. As I was watching it I couldn’t help but think about how much work it takes to set this all up! This is a time-lapse video of the Staples Center in LA. It is shot over the span of 4 days, from May 17th-20th. 6 playoff games were played in this time span.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4rZjGNYxuo&hd=1]

People pleasing feels a bit like that video, doesn’t it?

There is one space available. And there are three teams that vie for time in that same space. The place is always in a state of construction. It is always moving and being shaped and formed. It is always giving. I got tired just by watching it! That is what people pleasing can feel like at times-an arena that is shared between three teams and two different sports.

Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.”

I’ll admit it. There are times when I want to please people so badly that it causes me to walk right into the trap. The awesome part is that Jesus can help us walk right out of the trap. Proverbs tells us that all we need to do is to trust God. Trust God and we will walk into safety.

So, back to the story. Yesterday when I realized why I was so tense, I literally had to shut off the radio and ask God to forgive me for not trusting Him with my schedule, with my life, and with anything else that I was holding onto. When I gave up the right to own my day, and when I let God speak into it and work through it, I was able to let go of my chest. The tightness began to disappear.

How are you doing today? Are you so busy trying to please people that you are walking right into the trap? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

~Peter

In Spiritual Growth

Guest Post: Who’s Getting the Glory?

May 22, 2012 5 Comments

Recently, I read a quote that stopped me dead in my tracks. The quote said this:

Too often we ask God to glorify His name with ours.

After reading it, I went back and read it again, and again. I could not stop thinking about that quote. Then I read Psalm 115:1 which says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name goes ALL the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.”

Then I began thinking of all the times in my life where I was guilty of asking God to glorify His name with mine. I thought of the times when I have been teaching a group of teenagers about the truths of God’s word and I want them to tell me they liked my teaching. I thought of when I put together a worship service and I nearly expected people to compliment my creativity. I thought of when I’ve desired to go on mission trips to 3^rd world countries and make a difference, when deep down inside what I really wanted was for people back home to comment on my “boldness” and “willingness” to follow God. The list could go on and on. Sadly, I began to realize how often I’ve attempted to stick my name in the limelight. I realize that doing that casts a shadow on God’s glory.

Now, I have a feeling that I am not the only one that struggles with this. One of the reasons is because our culture is full of opportunities to capture some glory…

Sports companies like Nike, Reebok, and others are willing to pay professional athletes ridiculous amounts of money to promote their line of shoes, clothing, etc. In music/media we spend money on iTunes and other similar downloading programs which give a portion of the money to the writing artist and keep a portion for themselves. Our culture is obsessed with sharing dividends, or for lack of better terms-glory. Now, I want to clarify: I am not trying to criticize our culture’s way of promoting products for business. What I am saying is, that’s not the way that God works.

God clearly deserves ALL the glory in our lives. It is HE who has the power to save us not the other way around! But, instead of giving God all the glory, we have been mentally programmed to try and take some ourselves. The Church is not exempt, in fact, we must be very aware of this temptation because this mentality could easily rise up within the Church. When the people of God attempt to steal God’s glory it points others in the opposite direction of God.

Is this something you’ve struggled with? Unfortunately, I have. What areas of your life do you need to re-evaluate to make sure that God is getting ALL, not just some of the glory?

Crisman Koechig is the husband of his wife, Ashley. A student of Toccoa Falls College. And a Youth Pastor to his awesome students @ Family Worship Center in Indiantown, Florida.

In Spiritual Growth

You do and I’ll do _

September 1, 2011 1 Comment

Does anyone else have a problem when someone is talking with you and they say, “Sure, I’ll do that but only after you do ____________.”

That drives me crazy.

I feel like saying, “well, are you going to do it or not? Yes or no. It is rather quite simple. Just make up your mind.” But, I don’t.

We see this all the time. It seems to show up in every area of life. This mentality pops up in our relationships with one another, in the work place, in our neighborhoods, and in every other corner of life.

It may look like this:

I’ll mow the lawn when you make dinner.
I’ll play baseball with you when you clean your room.
I’ll listen to you after you drop me off at the movies and let me spend the night at my friends house.
I’ll tolerate you if you keep your dog off my lawn.
I’ll be your friend only as long as the popular people approve of it.

What would you add to that list?

In Genesis 28, Jacob adds one more to the list. This one drives me crazy. It just irritates me. Check out what he says,

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.”

That seems to be a tall order! I want to be comfortable on my trip. I want my clothes to be provided, and I don’t want to experience any problems in travel. These three items are no small task. Think about the time in which Jacob lived. That would be no small thing. I’m in no way challenging the power of God, but why does Jacob feel it necessary to?

It seems to me that there are times when we put stipulations on God. We say, God only when you do this, that, or the other thing will I turn to you and acknowledge your plan for my life. In my opinion this is a dangerous way to live life. This is a dangerous way to set up your relationship with God, one based solely upon stipulations.

What do you think?

~Peter