John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

God

Not Average

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Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”

― A. W. Tozer
“Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

There was recently a story in the news about how similar all hipsters look (though I suppose the author of the story could have chosen any group and made the same claim). A man contacted the publisher of the story to complain that his photo had been used in the article without his permission. On further checking, the publisher found that it was not the same man but someone for which they had a model’s photo release.

Point proved.

According to Webster’s dictionary, average is “having qualities that are seen as typical of a particular person or thing”. Hipsters, for instance (or cowboys, or surfers, or lawyers, or teachers…).

But often when we use the word average, we don’t mean that.

We mean “mediocre; not very good”.

“The food was just average.” “The presentation was just average.” “The store was just average.” “The date was just average.”

It is as if “average” requires a sigh of disappointment after the word is uttered. We know it could have been better.

But, if we are not careful, we will settle for a lifetime of “average” because average is enough. Not good. Not bad. Average.

But who wants to live life with a sigh of disappointment. 

Have an impossible dream. Set an unreachable goal. Soar high.

You may fail, sometimes, and end up for a moment in “average”. But don’t settle for the mediocre.

Soar.

Choose Joy

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“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

Photo by Quan Nguyen on Unsplash

I appreciate those people who seem to be happy all the time. But that is not me.

Sometimes there are things going on that make happiness feel unattainable for me. There are things I face that don’t make me happy.

But I still have joy. Even in those tough times, I keep an attitude of joy.

My joy comes from knowing who I am in God, and though the situation I face may be challenging it does not change who I am as God’s child.

So I choose joy.

Everyday.

Yes, sometimes I forget to choose joy. I can be a bit grumpy.

But I always come back to it.

Stop waiting for good things to happen and bad things to stop happening. Choose joy.

Everyday.

Enjoy the Moment

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Every man must render an account before God of all the good things he beheld in life and did not enjoy.”

— a saying from the Jerusalem Talmud (Kiddushin)
Every man must render an account before God of all the good things he beheld in life and did not enjoy.” — a saying from the Jerusalem Talmud (Kiddushin)
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

I was at a theme park one time waiting in line for the newest, latest and greatest ride. The line for people getting off passed my line at one point, and I heard someone ask one those getting off the ride how they liked it.

The person replied, “I had the time of my life, and I didn’t enjoy a minute of it.”

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes wrote that there was nothing better for a person than to enjoy what they were doing because that was their reward.

The reward is enjoying what you are doing. The reward is not something that comes after you finish doing something. It is what you are doing that moment.

Each moment gives us a chance to enjoy the good things in front of us. It is a shame if we miss them because we are waiting for something else.

Don’t seize the day. Enjoy the moment.

The Family Business

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“I have rightfully no other business each day but to do God’s work as a servant, constantly regarding His pleasure. May I have grace to live above every human motive, simply with God and to God.”

― Henry Martyn
“I have rightfully no other business each day but to do God's work as a servant, constantly regarding His pleasure. May I have grace to live above every human motive, simply with God and to God.”

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

Sometimes we get confused.

We think we are the master and God is the servant.

I don’t know that we mean to think that, but that is the way it works out. We pray and ask God to meet our needs. We do it with the best of intentions because we know that he loves us and has good things for us. 

Then we arise from our prayers and go live our life. OUR life.

I am the master. God is the servant.

So what if instead we begin the day by saying this prayer, “Thy will be done, Father. What does it look like through my life today?”

And then listen to the Father and go do it; a life lived “simply with God and to God”.

Just working in the family business.

Silences

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[Spiritual direction} listens to the Silences between the spoken Sounds.”

— Eugene Peterson
“[Spiritual direction} listens to the Silences between the spoken Sounds.” — Eugene Peterson

Photo by Hannah Donze on Unsplash

It isn’t hard to find places of silence.

What is hard is finding the desire to be in those places.

We fill our lives with the sounds of man…noise that follows us all day. News, social media, music, chats. Sounds that speak to us of our own importance. Sounds that we hope provide answers. Sounds that mask our true fear.

We are fearful of the silences.

In the silences, doubts can now be heard. Words that were used to harm us, shame us, repeat themselves over and over in the silences. In the silences we play over and over again the failures of our lives. We despair.

So we drown our fears in sound.

But, it is in the silences that we also find God. He waits there because he is the answer to those doubts. He is the answer to those fears. He is the one who turns death into resurrected life.

He answers not with words, but with his presence—his presence in the silence with love, acceptance, approval, direction, comfort, patience.

We have to desire to be in the silences and listen. There we will find God.

Craftsmanship

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The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”

― Martin Luther
“The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”
Photo by Nicolas Hoizey on Unsplash

I don’t remember what the project was that I was working on, but I remember my wife’s response when she came to look at it after I said I was finished.

She said, “I think you can do better.”

Better? It worked. Wasn’t that enough?

I was a little angry, a little hurt. I had expected praise because I had finished it.

What I got was, “I think you can do better.”

And she was right.

It was good enough. It worked.

But it was not my best. It was not a display of my craftsmanship. So I started over. I gave it my best.

If you are called by Christ to do what you do, then be God’s craftsman today. 

Make good stuff. Make God stuff.

Think Deeply

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Multitasking is the drive to be more than we are, to control more than we do, to extend our power and our effectiveness. Such practice yields a divided self, with full attention given to nothing.” 

— Walter Brueggemann (Sabbath as Resistance)
"Multitasking is the drive to be more than we are, to control more than we do, to extend our power and our effectiveness. Such practice yields a divided self, with full attention given to nothing."

Photo by @plqml | @feliperizo.co on Unsplash

Think deeply.

I can’t remember who said that to me as a student, but it has stuck with me. I have found I need time and quiet to do that, so I get up early to read, to think.

Think deeply.

If I am reading my Bible, I read my Bible. If I am listening to a podcast, I listen to the podcast. If I am reading, I read. If I am thinking, I think.

But mostly, I listen. I listen for the voice of God.

And I think deeply.

In his book Deep Work”, author Cal Newport wrote, “The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration.”

Slow down. Be present. Put down the phone. Take off the headphones. Pause and focus.

Listen to God.

Think deeply.

The Best

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We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

— C.S. Lewis
"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."

I worked in sales at one point in my life. It was in the earlier days of home computers, and people were beginning to want a computer for themselves or their family. These computers were very expensive.

So, they would come to our store. They would ask questions. They would play with the computer and run the software and connect online to AOL or Prodigy. They wanted the best.

At some point, they would ask the question, “What is this going to cost me?”.

They knew they wanted the computer. They knew how helpful it would be — keeping up with their finances, playing games, connecting to the world. They knew that to prepare for the future their children needed access to a computer at home. They knew it was for the best.

We called the question “the pain point”. Was the the pain of paying that much money worth the benefit of owning the computer? Was it worth it to have the best?

Our job as salesmen was to help them see that it was.

But all we could do was wait for them to make a decision — yes or no.

We want God’s best. But, there is a price, a “pain point”.  The Holy Spirit helps us see that paying the price is worth it.

But we have to make the decision — yes or no.

Choose “yes”. God’s best is worth the pain. It is worth the price.