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Personal Maintenance

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By Brian Sharpe

Cars perplex me. There are some things I have learned how to fix. Still, other problems are just beyond me. What amazes me is when a person knows cars so much that they can just listen to the engine and tell you what is wrong with the car.

My van broke down a couple weeks ago. The good thing is that it broke down near our house. One day after dinner with some friends I had to grab something out of the van for that friend. He asked me if I knew what was wrong with the van. I replied, “I’m not a mechanic and I have no idea.”

It just “happened” that my neighbor whom I hadn’t met before was getting something out of his car. He said. “I am a mechanic; I can help you.”  He went inside his house and returned with some diagnostic tools. He spent a little time that evening and the next day helping me diagnose what was going on with my van.

Every time I work on the car or even on the house, I am constantly reminded that, when doing a job, it is always helpful to have the right tools!

This struck me as I was thinking about our spiritual walk. We are like cars. We need maintaining. Sometimes we even break down and need someone to help us get running again.

I was sitting in some meetings this past February, and one of the things that was introduced is doing some “personal care.” The question was asked, “What practices do we need to do in order for us to be healthy spiritually, relationally, and physically?” This is a maintenance question.

Our cars need the oil checked. They need the tires filled. We need to sleep and eat. We also need to do things that are life-giving for us. For me, I need to listen to music. I need competition. I need physical activity. I need time with God. If I have these things in my days or weeks, it helps me stay healthy in my relationship with God and others. It’s a maintenance thing.

Sometimes, though, mere maintenance isn’t enough. Sometimes I need a mentor or counselor to come and help me diagnose what is broken in my life or relationships. Good maintenance or self-care can help me go longer times between breaking down, but we all break down at different points, and we need someone to come in and help us figure out what is going on.

I was sitting at a conference several years ago and a guy I was listening to said that we are like airplanes. We are built to go through the turbulence of life, but, like planes, we need maintenance or we will start to break down and crash.

Do you know the things you need in your life that help you connect with God?  Do you know the things in your life that help keep you physically and mentally sharp?  We all need Jesus. God created us to need time with Him. For me, some of my best times with Him are when I am just listening to music, praying through the words. I need that time.

God created each of us to need different things. Some of us need time by ourselves. Some of us need to run or work out. Some of us need time with friends, just processing life. Some of us need to play an instrument. The great thing is, God knows what we need and He meets us in those needs. When we run, He is running with us. When we play our instrument, He is listening with joy, like a parent listening to their kid’s recital. When we are not maintained well, or when we are broken down on the side of the road, we are limiting how God can use us.

We all need maintenance. We all need a mechanic. We all need to take care of ourselves by doing maintenance and sometimes (more often than we like to acknowledge) we need a mechanic to help us diagnose what is going on in our hearts and minds. Are you taking care of yourself because you love God and want to be used by Him?

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How to Spend Time with God

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By Brian Sharpe

The way my brain works, I need peace and quiet in a room that I am going to study in. There can be no mess. I need a solid block of uninterrupted time for me to get good study time in. The problem is that, up until this last month, I didn’t really have that at my house. I could finagle it, but my brain for some reason knows I am finagling it and just gets distracted.

Well, we are at the tail end of a remodel at our house. We have taken some walls out and put some walls in. One of the areas we created by putting some walls in was an office. I could not wait for my office. I was excited to have a place where I could go, have some peace and quiet, pray, and spend time with God. The problem was that when we finished the office, my parents were still in town and my dad took over the office as his office. He needs a space to work, so I was glad to have it for him, but I was waiting for my turn in the office so I could get my peace and quiet.

Well, once my parents left, I took some time in my office. It was so nice to get some peace and quiet time. I just listened to music and read my Bible. I prayer-journaled, and it was heavenly. As I prayer-journaled, I realized something. I realized that I had a faulty view of spending time with God. I thought spending time with God meant that I set aside 10 minutes or more time a day just to read my Bible and pray. You remember the song that says, “Read your Bible and pray every day and you will grow, grow, grow”? That is what I thought it meant to spend time with God. I needed my office where I could get away and read and pray.

However, while that may be important, it is not what is needed to spend time with God. God is always with us. He is always with us. He will never leave us. When we wake, He is there. When we sleep, He is there.

O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!   I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!   If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

Psalm 139:1-10

Spending time with God is not something we have to work at; it is something we have to acknowledge we are always doing. See, I believed the lie that knowledge equals intimacy with God. Knowledge is good, but it doesn’t always equal intimacy. Intimacy comes from spending time together. It comes from me recognizing that God is always with me as well as entering into the journey with Him. It is me talking with God throughout my day, remembering that He is there. It is sitting and listening to Him as we process what is going on in life. It is inviting Him to teach me about Himself when I read my Bible. It is me recognizing He is always with me, no matter where I am and what I am doing. It is a change in perspective. It goes from needing to spend time with God to me always spending time with God and realizing it.

I want to encourage you today to acknowledge God’s ever-present presence in your life and to talk through all that you are doing today with Him. We need to live understanding He is with us, not hoping we will get time with Him.

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Who’s Your Paul?

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By Brian Sharpe

As I look at my life, I can remember names of people who invested in me. I had friends who pointed me to Jesus. When I started at Elim, I was in a new place and didn’t know many people. After being here for awhile, I felt the need to invite someone to mentor me as a man, since I have always valued people speaking into my life. So, I started to think and pray about who could mentor me.

I decided that I was going to ask a certain man to meet with me and mentor me. I remember that being really hard, and it made me feel insecure. I even felt emotion well up inside of me while I was asking. For those who know me, you know that is not normal. But I did it; I asked this man to mentor me. It was great — we met twice and everything was going well. But then we never met again. To this day, I don’t know why. It could have been because I didn’t pursue it, but I just don’t know. This experience could have turned me off to inviting people to speak into my life. It did make asking someone again a little harder.

Fast-forward a couple years. While I met with some guys, I still didn’t have an intentional mentor whom I met with consistently. It was September, and I was at meetings at the EFCA National Office for ReachStudents team meetings. At these meetings, I was sitting waiting for a dinner to start. A guy on the same team as me came and sat next to me. His name was Jim. Jim was a guy that had been in youth ministry twice as long as I had. He was about 10 years older than me. He sat down next to me and asked me if I would be interested in staying in contact with him on a monthly basis. I said yes. It was at that meeting that God gave the gift of a Paul in my life. Jim and I have been meeting together monthly for the past eight or so years now. He has taught me a lot about life, ministry, and God. He has helped me grow as a leader and as a man.

I believe that is God’s heart for us, that we live in community, invite people into our lives, and let these people help us navigate this thing called life and faith. When you hear us say, “Who is your Paul?” this is what we are talking about. It is inviting someone into your life to whom you are giving the freedom to help grow you into whom God is calling you to be.

I guess the question is, has God done a work in your life that you need to be sharing? Are there people in your sphere of influence whom you believe you can help grow? Then maybe God has equipped you to be a Paul. If He has, then, who are you meeting with?

If you feel the need to have someone speak into your life, then the question is, who can you invite into your life to be a Paul? Is there someone you look up to spiritually? Is there someone you feel like you can learn from? If a name comes to mind, maybe you need to invite that person into your life to serve as your Paul.

I believe God uses these relationships to transform us into His image, into His likeness. I believe every Christian needs to have a Paul in his or her life. Who is yours?

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Compelled to Action

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By Brian Sharpe

Over the years there have been themes that God has brought out through teaching or experience. On the Evangelical Free Church ReachStudents ministry team I serve on, in staff meetings, in training seminars, and just as God teaches me through His Word, He has been calling me to intentional living. The problem is, it is easy getting caught up in what needs to be done immediately — the tyranny of the urgent. You think, “If I don’t do it, then no one else will.”

I am a doer. I like being a doer. I will help in most situations. If a storage room needs cleaned out, I will help. Pastor Martin often says I need to focus. This is a part of intentional living: having in mind the things that are important so you will focus on them, doing everything in your power to stay on track and accomplish the “big rocks” (most important to-do items) in your ministry and life.

As a believer in Jesus, in life and ministry I have two main foci that need to rule everything I do: the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Jesus was asked the question, “What is the greatest commandment?” His response summarizes the most important thing that you and I can do with our lives. There is no bigger rock in life or ministry.

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:37-40)

These verses should form the basis for our everyday intentionality as believers. They should be what we live for, what makes us tick. When we build our lives around them, our hearts and lives will change. We will be different.

What defines you? What are your “big rocks”? If we desire to live intentionally, we will ask these kinds of questions. Then we will be compelled to action. That’s where we need to be. We need to be moved from being hearers of the Word to being effectual does of the Word. This goes along with the beatitudes. When we live as God calls us to live in the beatitudes, action will result. James 2:18 says that others will see our faith by what we do. We are saved by faith, but that faith compels us to action. I know I have a long way to go to live intentionally, but I need to start the process. I need to ask the questions and allow the answers to shape the way I live.

A couple years ago I was listening to a sermon. This statement the pastor made will stick with me for the rest of my life: the way we live shows us who is on the throne of our life. So, once again, what defines you? What are your “big rocks”? Knowing what your “big rocks” are will help you see who or what is on the throne of your life. Take time this next week and ask yourself these questions. Evaluate how you are living and be compelled to action.

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Two Stories

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By Brian Sharpe

The older I get, the more I think in terms of story. All of us have a story. In some ways, we have two stories: we have our story and we have God’s story. I think the people with the most integrity understand how those stories coalesce and work together. Let me unpack this for you.

I am the youngest of four, and that shapes my story. My dad was a pastor, and that shapes my story. I moved when I was 16 to a state where I knew no one and had to start over in life, which shapes my story. I have had some wins and I have had some losses, and that shapes my story.

Every experience I have shapes how I look at life. This is normal and natural. The problem comes when the experiences that I have in life trump what God says is true. Over the years, I have had some experiences in my life that were so painful that I could have let them trump what God says. I have had instances in my life where I have made the wrong choice and consequently felt unloved. I could sit there and believe that I am unloved. I could listen to my experience and let that shape how I feel and ultimately react. Or I can trust what I know to be true from Scripture. God says that I am deeply loved, that His love for me is not based on what I do, but is based on Him and what He has chosen to do.

We have all had experiences that were not of our choosing. It could be that we were wronged severely, or it could be that, because we live in a fallen world, death came too early for a loved one. It could be because of a divorce or an abusive situation. All these situations are not what we would have chosen, but they happened. All these situations shape our stories. The question is, are we allowing these negative events in our lives to control the main narrative of our story? We cannot change these events, but we can limit the control these events exercise in our story by allowing God’s narrative to shape and to be on the forefront of our story, not in the background.

I see way too many people who allow real circumstances, feelings, and consequences to have too much control. Instead, I want Jesus and what He says to take control. He can forgive the past, and so can I. He can heal a wounded heart, so I need to trust Him in that. He can take my mistakes and the things done to me to bring glory and honor to His name. We need to receive what Jesus is giving us. We need to receive that He is making us whole, that He can make us whole in this broken, messed-up world. We have two stories, and my prayer is that we yield to God’s story and His narrative and let His narrative shape us more than our own. It is hard, but it is so worth it!

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“Nothing is Wasted”

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By Brian Sharpe

One of my more formative experiences in high school was moving. I was in the middle of my freshman year when my parents came to me and told me that we would be moving from Buffalo, New York to Grand Rapids, Michigan. At that time, I was going to the same high school that my two older brothers had attended. I was having one of my best academic years. I had more friends than I had ever had in my life. I was doing well in sports. My life was going well. I had everything I could have ever wanted, and my parents told me I was moving. That transition was very painful. I went from knowing lots of people to only knowing my parents; all my siblings were out of the house at that point. It was a lonely time in my life. I mean, I could talk to people on the phone, but I had no one I could be with.

I look back at that experience in high school and realize that my family moving was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Now, God did not ask me if I would like to move. God didn’t even tell me that this experience was going to be for my benefit. I’m not sure I would have listened to Him if He had told me. But, looking back, God used that experience to get a hold of my heart and my life. I’m not sure if I would be in ministry today if I had not moved.

God is in the business of guiding and directing our lives. He is writing our story. I guess the question is, “Do we trust Him to write the best story for us?” When I was in high school, it wasn’t a matter of trusting God. In fact, I’m not sure if I was mad at God or if I understood that God was in control. I was too busy looking at my circumstances and not trusting in Him. I have learned since then that I can trust God. I can trust that He is good. I can trust that He knows what He is doing. I can trust Him with the details of my life. I just need to live in obedience and follow His lead.

I couldn’t have predicted all the good that came out of me moving. The opportunities I had because of that move were amazing. I was able to go sailing for 10 days in the British Virgin Islands. I was able to go to Mexico and Guatemala in college on missions trips. I had a friend that was a graduate of New Tribes Bible Institute who encouraged me to go there, and that is where I met my wife. While at New Tribes, I had a friend who after graduation went to Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, so I went to Lancaster Bible College. When I graduated from Lancaster, my wife and I applied to churches in New York and Washington, where both of us were from, and God opened the door for me to come to Elim.

Looking back, God knew what he was doing. He knew the work that needed to be done in my life to bring me to Himself and to use me. We never know what God is going to use in our life to bring Him glory, but what we do know is that no experience is wasted in God’s economy. Even the most painful experiences can be used to bring God glory. We can be thankful to God in everything because we know God will use our experience to mold us and shape us into who He wants us to be. In this season, we can be thankful because God is writing His story on our hearts.

What’s the story that He’s writing on your heart? What experiences have you had that you feel have been wasted? Are you trusting God and the story He’s writing? Do you invite others into this story that God is writing? In the next couple weeks, we’re going to invite you to write this God story for others to see. Please open up and let us see what God is doing in and through you.

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