Dear Grace,
Happy beginning of May. My son, Calvin, and I were remarking this morning how fast the year has gone by. I don’t know when I started measuring the duration of the season with my oldest son by how many summers I have left with him – 2 more before he graduates from high school. It sobers me up to enjoy these days with my kids and my wife. They will soon be gone.
That has been the message of Ecclesiastes to a certain degree. Enjoy the gifts God gives in the short time that you have. But to leave it just at that would be a kind of humanistic hedonism. Life isn’t about the gifts, but the Giver of those gifts. Each relationship, each moment has been granted to us to know more of God in it, to steward our finite time for eternal ends.
That’s why I appreciated the close to our series. Thomas reminded us to bring our lives under the sun to the One who stands over the sun. To fear God and obey His commands. To live wisely and intentionally, to the best of our ability, for the glory of God. As Thomas described the joy of youth with the frustration of getting older, I was reminded of a poem by Jane Kenyon called “In the Nursing Home.” It goes like this:
She is like a horse grazing
a hill pasture that someone makes
smaller by coming every night
to pull the fences in and in.
She has stopped running wide loops,
stopped even the tight circles.
She drops her head to feed; grass
is dust, and the creek bed’s dry.
Master, come with your light
halter. Come and bring her in.
It’s a poetic description of aging, the fences getting pulled in and in, a peaceful dormancy being embraced. It will happen to us all. So, how will we live? This is my biggest takeaway from Ecclesiastes – summed up in David Gibson’s book title, “Living Life Backwards.”
Next week, we have the privilege of hosting a gathering of practitioners, intercessors, and experts from around the country and nation. They’ll convene to give updates, share stories, network, and pray about what God is doing in SE Asia. When we agreed to host, I didn’t realize how significant of a gathering it is. As I’ve been praying, my imagination wonders what kinds of movements, ideas, and strategies will God unleash as a result of this time together?
The format of the week is a little wonky. I’ve heard various confusions around it, so let me try and clarify as best as I can. Mon-Wed during the day will be filled with training and workshops for anyone to attend. There’s also a separate track of workshops Mon-Wed evening.
Especially on Mon-Tues nights will be our Accelerate Discipleship Family Workshop on how to instill a global, “larger than my bubble” worldview into our children. Sarah and I are very much looking forward to learning more.
Thurs-Fri will be the more focused conference for field workers and strategists. If you want to learn in real-time about what God is doing in SE Asia, you need to come to this. It will even be live-streamed to SE Asia! I have the privilege of bringing the closing talk/commission, and I believe I have a Word from the Lord for this.
Friday evening will be the culmination for everyone – a time of prayer and worship to the God who alone can draw the nations to Himself. You can find out more and register through our website: grace.community/impact-conference.
This weekend we start a series of sermons on God’s missionary heart. We’ll start by sharing some real-life stories of men and women whom God called to go overseas. I believe you’ll be inspired and challenged to consider how and where God is calling you.
Even as we turn our attention to God’s heart for the world, don’t overlook the places where he has planted you now. If you’re not in the habit, I hope you’ll begin to pray for 3-5 people in your life who don’t know Jesus. Ask God to reveal himself. Ask God to use you. Write it down when you started praying, and keep an ongoing journal of what you’re praying, when, and for what. That way, when God answers, you’ll have a detailed record of how He moved. May God use us to make disciples who transform our communities and the nations!