What do you want?

Hey fam,

In previous weeks, I’ve mentioned that some decisions feel risky because they make us uncomfortable.That discomfort can feel like danger, even though there is no real danger.

And in last week’s newsletter, we discussed how regret is a real risk in our daily decisions.

What makes regret insidious is that we don’t tend to feel this danger on the front end. If you missed it, you can catch the conversation on regret here.

Today, we’re going to continue our series on risk and look at:

Our love for our lions
The power and nobility of desire

As a reminder, many of my thoughts have been shaped and informed by this excellent article by Scott Hubbard and this wonderful sermon by Charles Spurgeon. My thoughts and these resources build on the following insightful Proverb.

The sluggard says, "There's a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets! - Proverbs 21:13

If you’re new to this series, this Proverb is saying that a sluggard will invent and inflate fears to rationalize his decision to stay in a comfortable place. He can’t go into the world because a lion might attack!

The ridiculousness of this sluggard might make us chuckle, but the truth is that we all have an internal sluggard. The point of this series is to encourage us to take a risk, face our fears, and move forward in the gifts, talents, and opportunities before us.

We love our lions

…wonderful difficulties will be in their way as they are in yours. - Charles Spurgeon

I love Spurgeon’s phrase “wonderful difficulties.” As I chewed on this phrase, I recognized that the challenges in front of us can be wonderful in two ways.

They can be wonderful because they justify a decision to remain comfortable.
They can be wonderful because, if we face them, they help us grow.

We get to decide. In what way will our lions be wonderful to us?

If we cherish our lions because of how they excuse our inaction, it might be time to be honest with ourselves about what we actually desire.

The road ahead

…for this man’s objection, after all, was not to lions in the way: he objected to the way itself, and he was glad to place a lion there so that he might be excused from going into the street. He did not want to get to his work, and therefore there was a lion in the way to obstruct him. The lion was his friend. - Charles Spurgeon

Maybe our true objection isn’t the lions we might face; our objection is to the way itself.

Sometimes, we’re fuzzy about what we actually want. If we are unwilling to face the risks and challenges ahead of us, it might be helpfully clear to admit that we don’t want to go down this path.

For each of us, there are things that are worth the risk. Maybe, for you, the destination ahead isn’t worth the cost and risk it would take to get there?

Maybe it’s time to pick a new destination and go down a new road?

Waking up to the truth of our desires can be a startling and freeing realization. Sometimes, we feel that we are supposed to take the road before us. Maybe it’s what other people want for us. Or maybe we feel that our identity is tied to a particular job or skill that we simply don’t enjoy anymore.

Duty vs desire

There are things we should do out of a sense of duty and rightness. That’s noble and honorable.

But there is more honor and nobility in living from love and desire. I just read an interesting take on this in a book called “The Mind of the Maker” by Dorthy Sayers. She said,

To feel sacrifice consciously as self-sacrifice argues a failure of love. When a job is undertaken from necessity, or from a grim sense of disagreeable duty, the worker is self-consciously aware of the toils and pains he undergoes, and will say: “I have made such and such sacrifices for this.” But when the job is a labor of love, the sacrifices will present themselves to the worker - strange as it may seem - in the guise of enjoyment. Moralists, looking on at this, will always judge that the former kind of sacrifice is more admirable than the latter, because the moralist, whatever he may pretend, has far more respect for pride than for love. The Puritan assumption that all action disagreeable to the doer is…more meritorious than enjoyable action, is firmly rooted in this exaggerated valuation set on pride. I do not mean that there is no nobility in doing unpleasant things from a sense of duty, but only that there is more nobility in doing them gladly out of sheer love of the job. The Puritan thinks otherwise; he is inclined to say, “Of course, so-and-so works very hard and has given up a good deal for such-and-such a cause, but there’s no merit in that - he enjoys it.” The merit, of course, lies precisely in the enjoyment, and the nobility of so-and-so consists in the very fact that he is the kind of person to whom the doing of that piece of work is delightful.

The Bible communicates this same idea in 2 Corinthians 9:7,

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Our giving can be diluted with pride if we give out of duty and compulsion. I don’t think this means that giving from a sense of duty is always wrong. But the highest form of giving comes from those who enjoy and delight in it.

What does this have to do with risk? Moving forward means giving your time, energy, resources, hopes, efforts, days, hours, minutes, and life to what lies ahead.

Should you give yourself to the risky road before you?

Maybe the answer can be found in the simple question, “Do you want to?”

For those who do want to move forward but are truly afraid of the lion/risks ahead, we shouldn’t underestimate the power and goodness of desire.

We are not likely to overcome our fears by staring at them.

It would be more helpful to locate a spark of desire and fan that flame. The thrill of adventure and excitement about where this road could take us can embolden us to move forward. Also, belief in and wonder at the magic of sowing and reaping can encourage us to continue towards the future fruitfulness we desire.

Recap & next week

To recap, here are some questions to ask yourself this week:

In what way do you love your lions? In what are your lions wonderful to you?
Are you truly afraid of a potential lion? Or are you not digging the path before you?
What do you want? Who do you desire to be? What do you enjoy doing? What kind of future seems thrilling to you? Write it down. Keep it in front of you, and let your desire propel you forward.

Our sense of self can be an obstacle or an asset in helping us press forward into risky, uncomfortable places. So, next week, we will talk about the importance of our identity as we make decisions.

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ON THE GRAM THIS WEEK

Thoughts I had this week (a carousel)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

When I consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not merely in the world of religious ideas or ideals, but in the world of space and time and reality, I have the promise from the hand of God Himself that I will be so raised from death.

Francis Schaeffer

Happy Easter weekend! I'm reading True Spirituality by Schaeffer with some guys at my church and stumbled on this quote in chapter 3. Belief in the Gospel and the resurrection of Christ motivates me like nothing else (as it should!). Here are a few practical implications of the resurrection of Christ that spur me on:

Today matters. - The resurrection of Jesus is connected to the life of Jesus. His resurrection isn't some kind of "other," reincarnated, multiple-universe kind of life. He still bears the marks of his wounds to assure us that His earthly body was resurrected. That means that my coming resurrection is a continuation of my life today. Because of the resurrection of Christ, each day, I have the opportunity to invest and build something that lasts far beyond 70+ years.
Today isn't final. - The resurrection of Jesus reminds me, as Tim Keller said, "Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost." In spite of all the discouragements, heartache, wounds and weariness I'm encouraged to press on because today isn't the end of the story.
I can't really fail. - The Gospel and resurrection of Jesus emboldens me because the greatest dangers, risks, and threats have already been defeated. My sin, death, condemnation, shame - as Paul says, "...where is your sting?...where is your victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55) I still fail. I still feel hurt, sadness, and loss. I still wrestle with sin and shame. But Christ's resurrection assures me that I'm not foolish for getting back up believing that His victory is transforming even my pain and my shame into things that work together for my good.

New photo journal entries

This nightly moment at my kid’s door is ordinary and mundane right now, but I know that someday soon, I won’t be standing at his door saying goodnight.

Check out "Light & Dark"