Steady Oliver the Kingdom Builder, and other stories

My blogging friend, Kamsin, wrote a brilliant post on her blog titled losing my mind, the other day, and it got me thinking about all the stuff that I’m doing. Why do I do it? As if life isn’t already busy and complicated enough, I add blogging (which requires me to religiously update my blog daily so that people keep coming back to read what I write), then there’s Facebook, where I tell the whole world how shallow my definition of “friends” is and share whatever’s forefront on my mind at the time I log on, and in the third person no less. Finally, I twitter. I still don’t know that I get any benefit whatsoever from ‘twittering’ but I twitter none the less. Don’t misunderstand me to be knocking any of these modern tools of networking; I simply believe there’s so much more than that.

Apparently, judging by a number of blogs I’ve read lately, I’m not the only one feeling that way. My good friend Steve Hickey posted a blog a couple of days ago titled: I want to be found STEADY until the end. I simply love this post! Its primary focus is the idea that he isn’t satisfied with status quo or chasing the next ‘Christian fad’ but is desperate for more and more of God so that he can grow more “fixed and rooted.” But why am I telling you all that when you can click here and read the entire post for yourself? My wife, Sola, also posted a blog a few days ago titled: What if I asked for more? Again the premise was a patent dissatisfaction with the status quo, and a desire to “impress” God in much the same way Job did. God was so impressed by Job’s steadiness (there’s Steve’s word again), that he called Satan’s attention to observe Job.

Finally, I read a guest blog posted on Swerve that asked the question: Whose Kingdom Are You Building? I admired the vulnerability of the writer as he exposed his struggle with the ‘desire’ to be acknowledged and recognized (boy could I relate to that). My favorite line was “I want to do something big for God and at the same time leave a trail that leads to my web site. I am self-serving.” Then he gives us his insight as to how he wrestles with that tension through honest self-evaluation and sacrificial generosity. Again, I can relate. So with all of this ‘turmoil’ going on inside of me, I recognize that what I need is a lot more of Him and a lot less of me, and so I commit myself to studying the Scriptures, praying, and fasting as often and as diligently as possible. I want to be found STEADY, I want so much more, and I want to build His Kingdom and not mine. So, what’s happening in your neck of the woods these days?