The Traveler's Gift

2010 was a very difficult year for me. It began with me realizing I was in the wrong place for the wrong reasons.

Nine months earlier I had agreed to join a church and to be part of a team for all of the wrong reasons. I let myself be talked into joining the church because I allowed the desire to be in full-time ministry overcome my lack of feeling of being called to become involved. I made the move to make something happen that was not in God's timing.

Over the course of those nine months I became more and more disappointed by my feelings of having been mislead by the pastor I was working under and I began to question his honesty and an apparent lack of transparency. These feeling grew out of what appeared to be the same actions I had experienced from other leaders. Notice I said, "appeared to be."

One day I openly addressed my feelings with him and his response was not one of understanding. I felt instead of listening to me he had turned everything around and told me I was the one with the problem. I then reacted out of the wounds I had received from other church leaders and I did not grant him grace. I did what I had done in the past and ran from the situation. Notice that I said, "I felt".

On this very blog I wrote some strong words about the situation. Although I did not mention any names it was evident if you knew of the situation who I was talking about. I failed to live up to being who I claimed to be, "a Follower of Jesus" and instead allowed old wounds to control me.

Now you might be asking "What does this have to do with the book"? A good question.

I became stuck in a pit last year because of the events that happened to me and the actions I took. It resulted me in being in a pit that I dug for myself. I believe God led my wife to purchase this book for me to free me and lift me out of the pit I was in. This Blog post is for those who are stuck in a pit and feel there is no way out.

In this book by Andy Andrews are seven keys to us getting out of the pit, the rut, the situations we find ourselves in. But it means that you must take the seven keys and actually put them into practice. Andy uses encounters with famous people of the past to make these seven keys. What I will do is list the keys and you must go out and read the entire book to get the full benefit. You can purchase it at your local book store or at Amazon.

Here are the key points of the book that we need to exercise on a daily basis:

1. The buck stops here.

You and I are response for our lives and we should quit blaming others for our failures. I have heard people even pastors blame others for their failures. If we want to get out of the pit we must stop blaming others for us having fallen into it.

2. I will seek wisdom.

You and I need to seek wisdom founded in truth. One definition in Webster's dictionary is: the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships. One of the greatest reasons we fall into pits is because we did not discern the qualities of the people we developed relationships with.

3. I am a person of action.

You and I need to become people of action. So often all we do is talk about our dreams and visions but we never move forward to accomplish them. It might be out of fear or out of what we believe are realities. What we need to do is have the faith to act. We will never get out of the pit by feeling sorry for ourselves. We will only get out if we take action.

4. I have a decided heart.

You and I need to have a heart that is focused on the dreams and visions that God has given us. We must make the decision to move forward and not stay safely in the pit. An undecided heart will keep us in the pit but a decided heart will move us to begin the climb out.

5. Today I will choose to be happy.

You and I need to make the choice each morning that no matter what comes our way we will remain joyful because of the blessing that we already have. I do not care what situation you find yourself in there is someone else who has it worse. Choosing to be happy will help us to endure the pit as we move towards getting out of it.

6. I will greet this day with a forgiving heart.

You and I need to daily forgive someone of their actions. Often the person we need to forgive most is found in the mirror. If we cannot forgive others and ourselves then we will continually find ourselves struggling at the bottom of the pit.

7. I will persist without exception.

You and I need to persist to move forward in the pursue of the dreams and visions God has given us. Unless we do the things that God has planned for us and through us will never be accomplished. As we begin to make the effort to climb out of the pit we will face new obstacles but if we persist each of those will be stepping stones to reaching the top of the pit.

I believe that right now through this Blog post God is speaking to you. I do not have a clue what He might be saying to you but you do. I know the fears you might have, I know the feelings of doubt you might have and I know that the Creator God is SO much BIGGER than your fears and doubts. Let's begin today to truly trust Him and use the seven keys above to bring Him glory by moving forward to accomplishing the dreams and visions He has given us.

If we will do this I can promise you 2011 will be a much better year than 2010 was.