Chuck Bridges Blog

Remember when we thought our time in school would never end? I remember thinking that I would never have to read another book or solve another mathematical equation that had absolutely no relevance to the “real world.” I mean, after all, how has “Beowolf” or “MacBeth” put any money in my bank account? After leaving our country and returning for over a dozen times now, I realize how much we are still in the classroom. The “Lessons” we are assigned each day may sometimes seem as irrelevant as those monotonous chemistry symbols or the theorms of geometry (my all-time worst subject!) But, when we stop to process that which invades our realm of consciousness, we may be surprised by the advantages they bring to our life.

While our objective for going to Romania on this last trip were well defined, I somehow felt that there was something more for me to do (or perhaps learn). Like many of us do, I sought to put my own “spin” on what I thought it was that I would experience. Then, as the trip rapidly progressed, I realized that nothing unexpected or unusual was happening. I began to wonder if our extreme busyness was keeping me from experiencing the “deeper” things that God wanted me to learn. Could it be that our everyday lives are basically doing the same thing to us today? We are staying so busy that the major things God is trying to teach us seem to be irrelevant at the time when we are experiencing them. When we view our daily lives as monotonous activity we may fail to learn some of our most beneficial, relevant lessons.

AS I try to evaluate this last trip out of our great country, I still cannot say for sure that God taught me this… or that God wanted me to go on this trip because… Since I am the kind of personality that puts a great deal of emphasis and importance on results, I fear that many of the things God wants to teach me are overshadowed by my pursuit of successful endeavors.

I do realize that my thoughts of how it would be to share the Love of Christ with the people of Romania were not realized. The people that I did get to talk to were either saved or just as disinterested as the people I encounter many times here in America (in the deep south where I live). I have many times felt like God wanted me to do something for someone else in an attempt to tell them about His love only to experience something totally different when the time came. The question that consumes my thought world right now is: “Why is it so difficult to share with others something that is greater than any other experience we can have on this earth?”

Are we expending our greatest resources on things that have no eternal value at all? Are the seconds passing by right now filled with deeper truths than I am aware of? Are the things we reach for closer and more obvious than we think? Maybe you could offer some help in “making sense” out of these ambiguous lessons. Any thoughts?