It is a bit lengthy, but I think, worth the read. YOU HAVE TO BE PRESENT TO WIN Several years ago, I received an advertisement from a local auto dealer. The ad contained a series of numbers that were potentially winners of a particular prize the dealer was offering. I looked for a place to call in my numbers only to find in small print at the base of the announcement: “You Have To Be Present To Win.” With that revelation, I was pretty clear that I wasnt going to win, and secondly, what they really wanted was my presence in their store in order to sell me something. I threw the ad away and dismissed it as a disingenuous tactic to entice me to come in and be assaulted by some aggressive salesperson. Since those days, I have often thought of those words in various contexts of my life, my family and my ministry. When my children were younger, I had a season that meant constant travel. On one occasion, I was returning home from an out of town trip, my car was loaded with luggage and I stopped to speak to my youngest son who was playing street ball with his friends. I was taken aback by his query, “Dad, are you leaving again?” I assured him that I was just returning, but I thought, “He doesn’t know if I’m coming or going!” I realized later that some moments in your life require you to be Present. On another occasion, my wife, Barbara, and I were engaged in some intense fellowship about my priorities. We went at it pretty much through the night as I was preparing to leave to participate in a family life conference about a two hours drive from home. She rightfully challenged my decision to put ministry before her, and I can assure you, she wasn’t happy. That morning, I called the conference coordinator and informed him that I would not be speaking at the conference that weekend, ironically on the theme of husbands and wives. He wasn’t happy either, but someone once said, “Happy wife; happy life.” When Barbara saw me unpacking my bag, she asked me what I was doing, and I informed her that it didn’t make good sense to go tell somebody to do something I wasn’t doing. Within minutes, the charged atmosphere changed and the argument (rather the “intense fellowship”) was dissipated. In fact, to this day, I can’t even remember what the whole issue was about. (I’ll bet she does). I now realize that I had to be Present to win. Twenty years ago, I was attempting to exam a serious move of the Holy Spirit from the safe vantage point of an objective onlooker. Our problem with our attempts to be objective is one of the key paradoxes in quantum physics, that the mere act of observing something changes it. I was watching, observing, evaluating and judging, but I was not Present. I would only know the genuiness of the moment by entering into it. More than two thousand years ago, (actually, much more than two thousand) the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote: “That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ” Hebrews 10:5 - 7 New Living Translation The remarkable truth is that even God Himself had to be Present to win. That’s the message of the incarnation – God came into a time and space existence, and by His Presence, He changed everything. A few weeks ago, my friend, Kris Vallotton, told us the Father admonished him with these words: “Kris, you’re not present!” and I was reminded how easily it is to be distracted and encumbered by what Charles E. Hummel calls, The Tyranny of the Urgent. When Iris needed her boss’s undivided attention, she learned to use the phrase, “Can you be here now?” Jesus gently rebuked Martha, because unlike Mary, she was not “here” in the “now.” What would happen if each of us could close this year with the commitment to “be here now?” What opportunities could possibly unfold, revealing in that moment, one of the miracles that wait to declare themselves to those who seize the moment? The Roman poet Horace said, “Seize the day, put no trust in tomorrow.” When the young boy, Samuel, first heard the voice of the Lord, he thought it was Eli, the high priest, and he ran into his presence with these words, “Here I am.” Eli, the high priest, instructed child Samuel to respond to The Voice with these words. “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” I believe the “Here I am” must precede the “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” A couple of months ago, I had this urge to get our family together for a weekend in Washington, DC. We had recently been together this September at the memorial service for our oldest grandson, Branden Joseph, whose untimely death summoned each of us from our several pursuits. I wanted to renew family bonds and just hang out. There was a small window open for almost all of us, the children, their spouses, the grandkids and even the great grandchildren. We were only missing one grandson, Sean, whose new job in Maine prevented him from joining us, and our daughter, Lydia, whose job in California precluded her attendance, and of course Branden, who is in heaven but represented by his daughter, Danica. One of my daughters said, “It was one of my best ideas ever!” I think it was a God-idea, and I’m glad we seized the moment. We were all Present, and just maybe — that was the best Christmas present ever.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 23:50:00 +0000
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