OK, I survived New Year’s (600 balloons falling on me!) and the holidays, and I’m finally getting back into the groove. It’s been a mellow ‘08 so far, to be honest. I’m spending some great time with the fam, and having some memorable conversations with God, as well. Some of my prayers have been in response to this challenging verse in Luke. Before I unvail it, let me set it up a bit, cool?

OK -finding your true self- It’s THE quest, right? Finding Yourself. For some, it’s the search of a lifetime. Here’s what Jesus has to say:

(Luke 9:23-…in the Message) “Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; EMBRACE it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-SACRIFICE is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your TRUE self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?”

Is that CRAZY????! Embrace suffering? Ditch all “self-help” and go for self-sacrifice instead??? What about striving for and thinking into existence all the things we want? On the contrary, Jesus says getting all the things we want could be dangerous…in fact, it could veer us off track so much, we’d LOSE YOURSELVES.

I’m really wrestling with this! Every human instinct in me tells me to go the other way, but the truth is God wants to do something good in my life as I “embrace suffering”. What does that even look like?

Well, that’s a little window into my spiritual dialogue these days… I know God’s up to something…the journey is never boring!

See you on the road—

Justin