Rejoice!

We live in crazy times. That's not new news. The pace of life has been getting faster. As a young man I starting chasing success. Success as a husband, success as a father, success in my job. To be a good father these days it seems like I have to give hours and hours of time to shuttling between my kids activities. Sports become all consuming...practices, games, practices, games. I attend band and choir concerts, school plays and science fairs. Church youth activities and trips.

Work is worse. I rise everyday at 5:30 a.m. and begin the routine of getting ready for work. During the school year that includes getting the kids off to school and then I'm at work until at least 6 p.m. most days. The pace at work is more frenzied then I remember it being previously. The drive to figure out what isn't working well in these crazy economic times just adds stress to everyone from the top down to the bottom of the team.

Do you ever wonder why? Why do we rush? Why do we get stressed? Why do we build expectations to monumental levels?

The Book of Romans, chapter 5 versus 1-2 talks about our response to the incredible sacrifice of Christ to pay for our sins saying "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

Do we really believe that? Does that manifest itself in the way we approach our lives in general, or more simply the way we live out each day? I don't think I do. I rarely find myself rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. In fact, I seldom take time to rejoice in God at all. I'm too busy. I'm too tied up in the "important" things I have to get done each day. And that, is clearly not God's design, but mine.

I need to take that as a challenge to my soul. To truly rejoice in the hope of the of glory of God. To put everything else in my life into it's proper place, which means behind the glory of God. To view that glory as the paramount goal of each moment I live, and to fully know that all of the other challenges, successes, joys and sorrows of my life are but opportunities to glorify Him.