Stories

Donald Miller wrote, "You get a feeling when you look back on life that that's all God really wants from us, to live inside a body he made and enjoy the story and bond with us through the experience."

He's right. It's simple really.

It's all a story. Every single one of us is just living out a long, intricate, fascinating story. Yet we spend most of our time trying to make sense of the story. We keep trying to get to the point.

But the story isn't over yet. Everyone knows that you don't wrap up a story in the middle of a book. We all know that each sentence sets the groundwork for the moving, powerful last page. That's the whole point of a story.

I've been living my life trying to read the last page. I guess it's only human of me.... but I keep forgetting to enjoy the page I'm on. I keep forgetting to find God in THESE pages.

The last few months have been very quieting. I've been repeatedly reminded to stop where I'm at, to read the signs around me. Because God is here, in this fragile, broken moment.

Tonight on our Holy Yoga Masters Program call Rachel taught on the eight limbs of yoga. Maybe you don't have a clue what that means....

So here's a quick background: somewhere between 220 B.C and 200 A.D. a sage named Patanjali wrote what we call the Yoga Sutras as a moral code to live by. The eight limbs stem from these Sutras.

They might sound somewhat familiar to you...

Nonviolence, nonstealing, moderation, noncovetouness, purity, contentment, self discipline, devotion to God.

Rachel bound these to scripture (which isn't hard to do since the Bible overflows with them all). This wasn't an attempt to say that these eight limbs were based on biblical truth. This is more of a yoking of truth. We find what is truth, wherever it lies, and we take it as our's. Jesus IS the truth. So all truth is his. Simple.

So, while listening to Rachel teach, the point was made that these limbs follow one another.

When we foster violence within and towards ourselves it creates a lie. The lie begins to steal from our lives, our joy.

We are then drawn into excessive behavior; too much of anything and everything.

And then we become greedy. We begin to live only for self.

Our lives begin to overflow with things that defile us. We become desensitized and forget the relief of purity.

Which means we can never be content. We have lost the ability to posses self discipline.

We are so consumed with self devotion that we can no longer even touch devotion to God.

But what if, the moment an act of violence presents itself within us, we resist it? What if we refuse to be marked by the injustice that swells within us?

Truth remains seated on the throne. Lies fall swiftly at our feet.

We are protected by truth and nothing can be stolen. We remain bolstered and safe under the wings of God.

It is then easy to live in moderation, in balance. We receive what we need and reject the pull to overindulge to satisfy the flesh.

We learn to love others more than ourselves because our eyes are clear. We covet nothing because we know that we are lovingly provided for.

We rejoice in a purity of heart and action.

We are content. Self disciplined.

The result is a life devoted to God.

The result is a story that is enjoyed. We just live life in a body God created and we bond with him through the experience.

There is something remarkable about our God.

I've been heading down the wrong path off and on my entire life. Haven't we all? I am so drawn to the violence of my own flesh. Someone wounds me and I allow that violence, that anger, to fester and burn inside of me. And it ALWAYS produces a lie.

The last three years I have been fighting for air. The lie that came through an act of emotional violence has been suffocating me.

But, let me tell you, I gave it root. I let it sink into me and speak soft and fierce words into my soul. Tonight I saw the path I was on. It became clear to me where I was headed. All because of this lie that has been stealing from me and birthing excessive, gluttonous behavior in me.

This is why our God is so remarkable: He has been bonding with me through the EXPERIENCE. He isn't just looking to partake in the good experience. Just the experience.

He has been faithfully involved in every moment of my struggle. And he's been so willing to engage in the conversation of my life.

So I'm going to bed tonight with a fresh life view. Look at me. I've been heading one way. One pebble has created a tsunami of loss in me.

I've been turned another way. A way of life. Life.

Thank you Jesus for the story. Thank you for every single moment. Thank you for the striking, vibrant splattering of your love on every single page.

Keep reminding me to read patiently.