Wading through life

This one is for you, Nathan: The 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4, featured in ESPN’s “Top Ten Crash and Burn Super Cars.”

Also read the in-depth review, including an extremely interesting history of the project.

A few notable points:

…the McLaren F1 could top 240mph, but at that speed it was pretty much out of control. And anyway it really isn’t in the same league as the Bugatti. In a drag race you could let the McLaren get to 120mph before setting off in the Veyron. And you’d still get to 200mph first.

[it] took a team of 50 engineers five years to perfect [the gearbox]

From behind the wheel of a Veyron, France is the size of a small coconut.

It is a triumph for lunacy over common sense, a triumph for man over nature and a triumph for Volkswagen over absolutely every other car maker in the world.

I wrote this devotional for The Revolution newsletter that was supposed to come out on June 15… but I still haven’t seen it. So, I guess this is a sneak preview. 

Job 38:4-7, 42:2-3

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?…”

…Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…”

Just when you think things don’t make sense, take a step back—a long step back. In fact, you might as well go ahead and take another… and another. Take two or three more, until you are on the other side of the office. Back-pedal some more until you’re in a different room. Keep going.

There. Now you’re a little closer—a little closer to God’s perspective on the matter. But to really get there, you’ll have to take a few more steps… 458 sextillion (21 zeros) miles worth of steps, to be more exact. That will get you to the edge of the universe—God’s territory.

Scripture recounts a time when Job fell victim to a grave mistake we all commit on a far more regular basis: he thought he knew something. He thought he knew why what was happening to him shouldn’t be. And the Lord promptly put him in his place. With thick sarcasm, the Lord proclaimed “Surely you know!” how the world was created (Job 38:5).

In cases of discerning God’s will, it’s best to approach the topic humbly—especially the whole “Why is this happening to me?” area Job struggled with. Most times, we haven’t a clue of all the variables that go into why bad things happen to good people, or vise versa. Blaming God is the last thing we should do—especially for Americans. We’re already blessed beyond measure.

Though Job’s famous three friends did a terrible job advising him in the ways of the Lord, the young Elihu moved in wisdom beyond his years and shed some light on the difficult situation (Job 32-36). We can learn a lot from Elihu; but here we’ll highlight the fact that wisdom and understanding don’t come from experience or knowledge; they come from the Lord. Elihu states to Job in 32:7-8: “Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.” And in 33:14-16, Elihu makes the point: “For God may speak in one way or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.”

When you’re faced with hard situations, which you inevitably will be, remember it is probably more complex that you can possibly comprehend. Move a few paces back and remind yourself that your perspective isn’t the only one and might not be the right one. Admit that you are fallible and God is not. Proclaim that His ways are higher than yours (Is. 55:9), that His foolishness is greater than your wisdom (1 Cor. 1:25) and that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

From FoxNews.com:

A federal judge on Monday rejected a lawsuit from an atheist who said having the phrase “In God We Trust” on U.S. coins and dollar bills violated his First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. said the minted words amounted to a secular national slogan that did not trample on Michael Newdow’s avowed religious views…

I’m glad for the ruling; I grieve at the logic.

I’m sure God loves having His name tossed around as a mere “secular national slogan.”

Why the fruit on the bottom? Have market studies shown that people find satisfaction mixing their yogurt? I’ve never been able to figure it out.

Obviously, the right response to my question is: well, don’t buy it if you don’t like it. And I would say: I don’t buy it. Then, you’d wonder why the heck I’m even talking about it. And I’d say because a coworker didn’t want his yogurt, I got hungry, and decided to indulge Dannon’s concoction.

I’ve been picking away at this since Wednesday, June 7.

“Sorry” to you, the few and the proud, who read my blog consistently. You know when a person starts blogging about LEGO’s, he or she is really lacking revelation from the Lord. Guess that’s been the reality of it all of late.

Things pretty much came to a head Wednesday night. We had Round 2 with special guests Cliff and Christie Graham–international youth evangelists who always bring good teaching on faith to our church. They brought some very powerful material, but I could feel myself slipping in and out most of the evening. Then things started picking up. Cliff really got on a role late in his message and he started bringing it hard. It was pretty inspiring because he was talking about all the Lord can accomplish through those with faith.

But for some reason–and the reason could be as simple as I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately–words started passing through the wrong filter and I started buying the lies. I started believing that I’d never have the faith it will take to carry out God’s call. And all sorts of other garbage.

So when Cliff made his offer for the congregation to respond to the call to the life of faith, I just couldn’t do it. I had zero confidence I could actually live up to the commitment and truly sell out for the Lord. I couldn’t place my complete trust in him. I couldn’t sell all for the pearl. Even when all but three seats in the place cleared out and I felt stupid for being one of the few to say I wasn’t going all in for God, I couldn’t go up.

Now I’m left trying to figure out what it all means. I certainly don’t feel like crap like I did Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Sherry did her par-for-the-course fabulous job of supporting me in my struggle and spoke truth to the situation–whether I could hear it or not. On the way back from church her words were more or less like water on a duck’s back. She could say all she wanted, but it didn’t really affect me. But it’s obvious those words of truth–those very God-breathed scriptures she prayed and spoke over me–did their job given time. His word doesn’t return to Him void. God’s word works. That’s the nature of it.

But even though I “feel better,” there was a reason I couldn’t summon the courage to respond on Wednesday and I don’t feel like it’s just gone away. I think there’s something I need to deal with. And I don’t feel I can move on until it is taken care of–or at least addressed.

When Sher was praying for me during the car ride home on Wednesday, a thought came to mind and I feel it was from the Lord. He suggested I have commitment issues; I don’t like making hard committments mostly because I fear I’ll fail at them. So, it’s safer just to not make the commitment in the first place. That’s what I ran into on Wednesday and I see it creeping its evil head now and then elsewhere.

I don’t know what this means now. Maybe I’ll have to go through deliverance at some point for it. Or maybe I just need to talk to others more. All I know is that Jesus asks for a commitment. As Cliff pointed out, he wants all of us. Christ paid for all of us when he went to the cross; and the Father doesn’t take the sacrifice of sending His son lightly. If He bought something with His son’s blood, he wants it all.

Why is it so hard to commit fully to the maker of the universe?