whatsyourdash.com Blog

What effect are you having on the world around you?  Notice this question does not ask “whether” you are having an effect, but rather “what” the effect is.  No matter what we are doing, we are making an impression and influencing the people and the world around us.

Take a look at this passage…Romans 5:19 (NIV):  “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.“  We see here the contrasting results of two figures that represent the extremes…Adam and Jesus Christ…and the broad, extensive results of their actions. 

Who are we influencing as we walk through this world?  We each have a sphere of influence around us filled with people that we are no doubt affecting.  The best example I can think of is that of a catalyst.  Remember those from your high school chemistry class?  A catalyst is an element that is often used in science experiments, key to inducing and promoting a chemical reaction, a process that forms new substances.  However, the neat thing about a catalyst is, despite its involvement/connection with this process, it is left unchanged.

Has God placed you into an environment to act as a catalyst?  God wants you to be an influencer in the world, all while not being changed by the environment that He places you within.  Be the salt, and retain your saltiness!  [Matthew 5:13 (NIV) “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”] 

Let us know your thoughts.  Thanks for reading.  - Andy

“You can choose to see the difficulty in every opportunity, or the opportunity in every difficulty…it is your choice.”  I heard this statement on the radio last week, and it forced me to pause and take account of my own situation.  Have I portrayed the right attitude to all those around me lately?  How am I dealing with the “difficulties” that God has allowed me to encounter? 

I put the word difficulties into quotations because people will react differently to the same set of circumstances.  This might be due to maturity, experiences, depth of faith, etc.  Bottomline, we’ll all respond differently to challenges that we encounter in our everyday lives.  And challenges are inevitable…we all experience them.  

Tough situations abound in our lives these days.  Curve balls in life come at us repeatedly and come at us fast.  We face hardships at work, experience difficulties within our own families, get dealt a devastating blow about health concerns, or if it’s just the relative state of instability around the world (natural disasters, war, etc.).  Any challenging situation, or a combined set of circumstances, has the potential to wear us down and stress us out.  Tough times inevitably cause us to lean on “something” to help us get through.  What is it that you lean on?

I’ve been leaning on God more and more lately.  I’ve been a Christian for a long time, but God has been working even more in me lately than ever before!  Some difficulties I’ve encountered lately have forced me to give up trying to solve my own problems with only what my limited mind can comprehend.  Would I have been forced to lean on God more and more without these difficult situations?  Was this God’s plan all along??

Take a look at James 1:2-4.  Have you been through any trials or tests lately?  Maybe God is challenging me with a situation now in order to prepare me to better handle a situation in the future.  Sometimes it might be tough to react to diversity with joy, much less to even worship God for it (see Job 1:20, where he worshipped God after all the adversity was heaped on him, Job 1:1-19).

Only God knows what lies in our future.  Now and forever, God is sovereign, and his plan is perfect.  Is God putting you through challenges today, shaping you and molding you so as to prepare you for what He needs you to do at a late date?…only time will tell.  However, we can rest in the fact that God is in charge.  If we can rest in this fact, does it take the pressure off (or at least reduce it)?  Knowing the fact that God is guiding our steps and presenting us with circumstances to build us stronger and mature us in the faith, we should open our aperture to be able to identify the opportunity in every difficulty.  What do you think?

“Dear Friend”…that’s how an email started off last weekend, addressed to 10 men that I have the privilege of calling friend. I faced a challenge at work, and sought their support to lift me up in prayer. So why did I chose these particular men to send my prayer request to? Because they are solid friends that I view as mature and wise. Inevitably, each time I talk with them about problems that are overwhelming me, they come back with confirmation that at one time or another they had experienced the same thing, and have real world examples to motivate me.

Good friends are hard to come by. A good friend that is wise…even harder. No matter how difficult, you’ve got to seek out those folks that are mature and wise that you enjoy spending time with and latch on to them. If they call you friend, you are truly lucky and blessed.

Check out Proverbs 13:20. There are huge benefits from walking alongside wise friends here on Earth. The alternative is to hang out with foolish people, and become a fool yourself…not a viable option if you’re smart. (Bottom line, you become who you hang around with…my Dad was right! By the way, this also works for what you read, hear, watch, experience, etc…be careful what you let influence you.)

It just so happens that I sent my email (mentioned above) to friends that are Christians. However, I’ve got other great friends that I know are not Christians. I still call them wise, I still think of them as mature. The fact that they are not a Christian is something I have to be aware of, and ensure that I influence them in this area, and not vice-versa.

Have you thought about the people that you call friend? Would you classify them as a ‘good’ friend that is wise and mature? Are they a faithful friend that stands by you? Here’s how I measure my friends:

- If I called them at 2 am and said “I need you here later tomorrow, I’m in trouble…”. The friend would be on the first plane out.
- They listen. They really listen. They want to support you!
- They are interested in your success. They want to see me succeed. True friends want to see you fulfill your goals and experience life to the fullest.
- What standards do they live by? While we are all imperfect, you’ve got to pick friends that are striving to live a positive life! If they are not Christians, are you working to influence them?
- They hold me accountable, and don’t hold punches when it comes to telling me what they truly feel.

Good friends. I find them indispensible. What do you think? Got any friends that are foolish that might be influencing you negatively and preventing you from reaching your full potential as a Christian? Take a moment to consider this thought. Thanks for reading.

Has anyone ever referred to you as different?  Maybe you have found yourself as the odd man out, defined as the “one who, because of strangeness of behavior or belief, stands alone in or out from a group.”  Just last night, my family and I found ourselves standing out from the group.  We were at a party hosted by some friends that we had only recently met.  The party was tame enough, but it just wasn’t our ‘flavor’ of fun.  In fact, we pulled chocks after about 20 minutes!  We headed home and called it an evening.  We definitely stood out when we told the host farewell so early in the evening, not eager to blend into that crowd.

Today, when we earnestly try to follow God, we find ourselves in a society that we don’t necessarily want to blend into.  But sometimes it’s hard to be ‘in’ the world, without being ‘of’ the world.  While our physical bodies may reside in this world, God wants our minds focused elsewhere…on Him and what He has in store for us.  By only focusing on what we can see with our eyes, we truly limit the likelihood that we will achieve all that God has in store for us.  We must look beyond this world, and beyond what makes practical sense to someone of this world.

When someone refers to me as ‘different,’ I take it as a compliment.  I know that my interests, goals, and daily schedule take a distinctive course for a reason.  When we take the perspective that there is more at stake than just our life in this world, then our lives will take a different path.  If following God has set you on a different path in life, stay on that path.  Have faith that God will not let you down!

Romans 12:2 tells us that we should not conform to this world.  God is at work in us…changing us, as we allow our minds to “be transformed” so that we can truly know and seek what God has in store for us.  Then, flip over to Romans 8:6.  See what it says about the mind of sinful man, versus the mind of a man that is controlled by the spirit.  Allowing the Holy Spirit to reside in and control your mind allows you to attain the fullest life possible that God has in store for you.

God wants us to have a full life that will lead to great happiness, much more happiness than anything or anyone in this world can offer us.  If this means that we are the odd man out in the crowd, then so be it.  Do you believe this?  If not, why not give it a try and put God to the test.  Let us know your thoughts.  Thanks for reading.  – Andy

This past weekend I went hiking on a segment of the Appalachian Trail with some great men.  The terrain was pretty tough…hilly and rocky…and took a great amount of concentration to focus on the obstacles on the ground so someone wouldn’t end up tripping and doing a face plant.  So we glued our eyes to the terrain and walked down the trail, successfully navigating all the obstacles in our way.  At the end of the hike, success…no broken ankles (just a few sore muscles for the old guys). 

But was it really a success?  Had we enjoyed the time and this event to the fullest?  Let me go back to the story and put it in context.  We walked the trail in mid-October, and the leaves were just beginning to turn brilliant shades of color.  The sky was a beautiful blue.  At this elevation, we could look out and see for miles the beautiful landscape and rolling hills.  But, this was not what we were focusing on…it was the worn down, beaten up, rocky terrain that had our undivided attention.  These obstacles in front of us took all of our energy and cost us the opportunity to see some much better scenery. 

 Many times in life, this turns out to be my scenario.  I keep focusing on the ‘junk’ (all the stuff that will eventually burn or rot) right in front of me.  My perspective is narrowed as all I see are the obstacles, or those things that have minor significance in the big scheme of life.  Because, let’s face it, those are the things that can trip us up if we aren’t mindful of them…and there’s the difference:  being mindful of them, but not letting them be the ultimate focal point. 

Jesus Christ tells us that he has come not only to give us life, but to give us more of an abundant life (John 10:10).  While ‘abundance’ means different things to different people, I think that Jesus’ perspective of abundance means a more satisfying and fuller life, which is not necessarily focused on monetary or material goals.  He tells us that as Christians, our focus should be different (Colossians 3:2-3).  It’s a given that we are here on Earth and must navigate around the junk here, we’ve got to focus on the right thing…this is what will give us the greatest amount of fulfillment/abundance.

Staying focused on the rocks in the trail is tiresome, boring, and ultimately defeating.  Yes, while we must be aware of them and safely walk over/around them, we should not focus on them.  What’s taking your attention away from the bigger picture…what God would have you focusing on?  As my friend Dave relayed to me, all this junk on earth is not eternal…think about that.  Is there anything that has you focusing all your attention on that which is not eternal?  Give us your thoughts.  Thanks for reading!        — Andy