The Comfort.

The apostle Paul says multiple times throughout his epistles that he is “the worst of sinners.” Thanks for the humility Paul, but I think I have you beat.
I lie. I cheat. I’m full of doubt, anger, and faithlessness. I am a hypocrite and the worst of sinners.

I was busy being frustrated with God yesterday, and he and I had some pretty heated discussions (these were mostly just me complaining). But I was frustrated. Things weren’t exactly going my way. Maybe you can relate.

I continued these discussions on my way home from seeing Mike Meyers’ The Love Guru with some friends. I was probably saying something along the lines of “God, what the heck? Why is like this? What do you think you’re doing?”
It was at this exact moment that I rounded a curve and saw the waning moon. . . a day or two past full. It was as big as I’ve ever seen it. And it was a bright orange. Incredible majestic. God slapped me in the face. “Do you see how great I am? Do you not believe that I have this under control? Trust me,” he said, “It’s alright.”

 

“For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also though Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:5-7

 

I think this is one of my favorite things about being a Christian. I think it’s honest and worthy. It is very easy for us to say that Jesus’ crucifixion was simple and easy, Praise God, we’re saved. But no, Christ really suffered for our salvation. It wasn’t an easy thing. He was beaten and ridiculed. After everything he went through that day, it’s amazing that he even stayed alive long enough to be crucified. He was tortured physically and emotionally.
And we can really relate to that, don’t you think? Day in and day out our fallen condition gives way to suffering. But we are one in everything with Christ. Paul tells us here that our sufferings are his, and his are ours. In Christ, we go through nothing alone. All of our burdens are shared with the King of the Earth.
And then, the icing on the cake, Christ overcame suffering. Christ, dead from the cross, lives again. He rises from the grave and overcomes the death and pain and sin that was put on him in the final moments of his life. And similarly, we are one this feat with him. In Christ, as we suffered with him, we are comforted by his resurrection,  and saved by his Grace.

Again however, I am an even worse sinner than Paul is. Part of that is my selfishness. And it is in this selfishness that I try to claim even my suffering as my own. So often I choose to not even share that with Christ. I search and beg for the comfort, but I leave the suffering to myself.
It has to be important to remember that the suffering and the comfort go together, and are both shared with Christ crucified. God is greater than our suffering and his Grace is our comfort. By remembering that we share suffering with Christ, we can allow his mercy to come in and be our comfort.

I praise God that I no longer have to deal with the sufferings and death of a sinful man by myself, but can share in the sufferings and death of Christ, and be given hope and life through his resurrection. “Our God is in heaven and does what he pleases.” He loves us, and our joy and communion with him is what pleases him the most. Have faith and hope, and he will keep us, guide us, and bless us. He will bring us to the things we love, and will bring the things we love home to us.

With Arms Wide Open

For those of you who do not know, Windy Gap is a Young Life camp in Weaverville, North Carolina… right outside Asheville.

Windy Gap is my home away from home. I’ve been coming here since I was about five months old. Chris Cockerham said that he thinks God probably spent more time creating Windy Gap. I completely agree.

Windy Gap weekends always seem to come at the perfect time. Whether it’s a hard day, a hard week, or a hard month, Windy Gap seems to know in advance, and invites me to come and take a load off.

This weekend I’m up here with the freshman Young Life leaders from the Greater Raleigh Area. It’s family camp weekend, and we’re all babysitting. This means we spend about half an hour with kids twice a day, and use the rest of our time relaxing, getting to know each other, and, for some of us, studying.

It’s been a long past few weeks for me. I’ve known this weekend was coming, but waited until the last minute to actually commit to coming. There were other possible options for this weekend, but seeing as none of them worked out, I’m here.
And that may sound like I put Windy Gap on the bottom of my list. . . a sort of “Weelllll, if nothing else works out, I guess I’ll go,” kind of thing. And I guess it was. But the great thing about Windy Gap is that it doesn’t demand your presence. It waits for you with open arms. Windy Gap doesn’t say “you have to come here, or your weekend will be terrible.” Windy Gap says “Come here when your weekend will be terrible otherwise.”

I think that God is like this. He doesn’t demand our relationship, but he’s there for it. He knows that our lives are terrible without him. Through his son Jesus he has opened his arms wide and says “Come here so your life won’t be terrible otherwise.” God cares for us in a Windy Gap way. . . times a thousand. 

Just as Windy Gap sits here waiting for to come, God waits for us. I think it must be a painful thing for him watch: his sons and daughters separated from him by their Sin, running around without a thought of him. But the Father is eternal, and eternally patient.
I once heard Chris separate the Bible into three parts. The first consisted of about two pages. God created the heavens and the earth, plants, animals, light, dark, and finally, humans. When he created humans he created us to be in everlasting communion with him.
The second part is only about a page long. The Fall of Man. Adam and Eve eat from a tree, and the human race is separated from God.
The third part is my favorite part. It’s the rest of the Bible: God’s pursuit of us. Page after page speaks of God’s work in the world, through his spirit, through prophets, and through his words and creation. Reading through the Old Testament humbles me.

Why, after turning our backs on him, would he pursue us in this way? If He were human, he should hold us contempt. After all, we betrayed him. But he never does. He constantly loves. He makes attempt after attempt to bring us, his Bride, home. Then, after years of pursuit, God makes the big move. He sends his son, God in flesh, to die on a tree for the sin of the world. 

I wish I could pursue everyone this passionately. I love relationships. They’re my favorite things in the world. But I say this as I type alone on my laptop, completely unsocial.

I want to pursue people with arms wide open. Who knows how long it might take them to come, or me to get there, but it’s sure worth the journey.

 

Over Coffee

Coffee shop people are all the same. They dress the same. They talk about the same things. Ninety percent use MacBook laptops. They all drink coffee.

There is one guy, though, who does not quite fit the mold. And by “does not quite fit the mold” I really mean “does not fit the mold at all.” I believe his name is Carlyle. That may not be how you spell it, but it’s how I will spell it for the sake of consistency.
Carlyle drives four cars. I can’t name all of them, but they all cost more than my four years of college tuition will. The most flashy is his Lamborghini. He drives his Cadillac when it rains. I think it’s the only one he ever drives more than one day consecutively.

Carlyle wears amazing suits. Yesterday it was a black and white checkered double breasted suit. The checker part was awesome. The double breasted part not so much. He has a whole wardrobe of great suits, complete with infinite amounts of shirts and ties that match perfectly.
Carlyle gels his hair. I’d put money on it that he uses the most expensive, best quality, and best smelling hair gel he can find. He probably uses half a bottle a day.
Carlyle arrives at the same coffee shop on Hillsborough street every day at 2:00 in the afternoon. He orders a shot of espresso. It might even be a double shot. I wouldn’t be surprised. He sits down, usually at one of three small tables along the wall. He either reads fancy magazines about hand guns, airplanes, or other classy subjects. Sometimes he does a crossword puzzle from the news paper. Sometimes he does both. After a few minutes one of the baristas will bring him a small cup of gelato. At 2:45, he leaves.
Carlyle has a tab at the coffee shop.

So, now that you know Carlyle better than his own mother, I will tell you why I think he is so fascinating. I think Carlyle is fascinating because he is incredibly unapproachable. He is so very different from the stereotypical “college-student-coffee-getter.” He has money, he has fancy possessions, he has nice hair. We, as poor, caffeine addicted college students can only wonder at the nature of Carlyle.

It is not as if we have not tried to relate ourselves to him. Just the other day I was sitting at a table beside his. As I began to pull out my own crossword puzzle, he began to put his up. 
“Did you finish it?” I asked.
“I’m leaving soon, you can have my table,” was his only reply.

I cowered back and hovered over my own crossword, while my friend across the table laughed at me. I would not give conversation with Carlyle a second attempt. Carlyle was too outside my comfort zone. I sipped my coffee.

How often does this happen? How often do we turn to our crossword puzzles and coffee instead of pursuing that which interests us, that which could influence us, or that which we could influence?

I was drinking coffee with a new friend last week. He’s a couple years older, and applying for jobs. He had just dropped off an application at a firm earlier that morning.
“If I get this job,” he said to me, “I will be working in a cubicle from eight to five. I don’t want to work in a cubicle from eight to five.” We then went on to talk about other career related things. Eventually it circled back around to the “want” issue.

My friend has another friend who is an English major. When asked why he was an English major, he simply replied, “because I want to write.” My friend told me he really admired that. I think that I admire it, too.

I’m sitting across the table right now from my good friend Everett. Everett is what I would call fluent in Spanish. He’s learned it well. He’s been carrying on a conversation with a guy a couple tables away (I think in class they call him “Miguel”), completely in Spanish. Neither of them speak Spanish as a first language. I am intrigued by this, because it would be much simpler for them to talk to each other in English.

I feel like a lot of time I learn something, and toss it aside. Whether the subject is math, communication, or spirituality, I seem to have a hard time applying what I learn. I think this is also a comfort zone issue. I’m so content using what I already know, and what I am good at, that I’m not interested in applying new things. I learn them, sure, but it’s much more comfortable not to use them. 

I don’t necessarily want to settle for what’s comfortable. I think that sometimes being comfortable is alright. Sometimes God puts us right where we need to be. But other times, we ignore challenges to stay where we are.

I think we should pursue Carlyle. We should get to know him for who he is, and not for how we see him.
We should study things we’re interested in, not something that will put us in a cubicle from eight to five.

We should speak spanish fluently, because it’s new and exciting. Not settle for english simply because it is easier.

I want to apply myself to what is great and awesome. I want to be encouraged by growth and learning. I want to live to the full, making use of the blessings and gifts doted on me by the Creator of the universe.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” – James 1:22

 

Ready for the Storm

I walked in. It wasn’t exactly what I would call “a dark and stormy night,” in fact, it was an early spring evening, the sun relatively high in the sky. It was, however, mostly hidden by dark thunderheads that were heaving a heavy drizzle of rain into the city.

Therefore walking in was nice. There wasn’t much of a temperature change inside the building, but it was significantly more comfortable. The storm was coming, but we were safe inside, for now.

This is significant because the storm of that Sunday was so symbolic of the current events in my personal life. It was stormy, with a heavy drizzle of rain that followed me around.  At the time I had no idea that walking through the door of this building would shelter me not only from the physical storm outside, but also from the proverbial rain inside my heart.

I would love to tell you that the things causing turmoil in my life were intense spiritual and societal problems. Unfortunately, they were a bit more cliche than that. Some might call even call it shallow, but I believe that if it were shallow it would not be causing the ruckus that it was. 

The parallel between the storms of that day (the physical and the emotional) was not something I immediately realized. In fact, it wasn’t until about twenty minutes later that I heard my pastor pray “Thank you for bringing us in out of the storm,” or something along those lines. At this point I realized how significant the storm was outside. It would be something that God would do. He loves symbolism, I believe.

This church service was not just a church service. It was a shelter. 

 

The storm obviously ended. The one outside I mean. The weather, however, is still not perfect. It’s been a couple days, and it’s still raining off and on. The sun comes in and out, too. 

Similarly, I’m still dealing with the same internal issues. I have fears about them, and they keep me up at night. But I feel protected and encouraged. I’m given hope and faith daily that the storm will indeed pass. As the sun reminds us that the rain is not eternal, the Word so reminds us that our fears are also not eternal. In the same way that the Lord will roll away the clouds, he will also roll away that which causes pain in our life.

 

I think it is also worth noting that this physical rain is relieving the city of the drought we have been experiencing these last few months. Although it can be miserable, it is fixing a problem. Once this problem has been satisfied, the rain will leave.

 

Lastly, I believe that the most beautiful part of this this analogy is that the Lord in Heaven creates and controls both present storms. The creator of the weather, of the North and the South, of the warmth and cold, is the same creator of Joy.

Remember My Chains

Hey guys. Welcome to “Remember My Chains.” My name is Win Pratt, and this is just my little blog. Since I’m sure you all know what that is, I won’t waste your time bothering to explain it.

As for the title, “Remember My Chains,” it comes from the last verse in the book of Collosians – Collosians 4:18, to be exact. It reads “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you” (ESV). Some versions say “Remember my imprisonment” (NAS), and “Remember my bonds” (KJV).

I find this significant for two reasons. Paul is prison, writing to the church at Colosse. The majority of this letter is encouragement, teaching, and guiding. But Paul humbles himself at the end. He says “As you go about growing in Christ, remember that I am still in prison. Don’t forget my condition. Pray for me.” He does not put himself above the people he writes to. He knows he needs them just as much, if not more, than they need him.

Also, I believe Paul may be using this statement to encourage the people of Colosse. He says “I’m writing this myself, and I’m in prison, remember? Think about how much more you can do being free to walk and speak. Your ministry has so much potential, and is worth sacrifices.” It’s easy for me, as an American, to take for granted my freedom. Paul encourages me to remember his chains and put to use the gift of freedom given to me by the Lord.

Now, I’m horrible with conclusions, so I’ll just say thank you for stopping by, and that I appreciate your time. If I don’t know you, Email me and introduce yourself. I’d love to meet you. Stay safe.