Two Ways to Live

I recently read Larry Crabb's book The Pressure's Off. Here's some of what I learned:

Right now you're living one of two ways. Either you know what you want out of life and have figured out how you're going to get it, or you don't really have a name for what you want but you realize it's beyond your reach.

Either you've got a good idea where you're going and how you will get yourself there, or you're just trusting God to provide.

Either you want what you want, or you want God -- and nothing else -- not even his blessings will do.

If you're in the first camp, you're probably stressed out like me. Those of us in the first camp know -- deep down inside -- there is no stepping off the treadmill. There are no days off. Life is pressure. One bad move, one bad decision can wreck all your plans.

I want to move to the second camp. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that this is where rest lies in wait for me.

I'm tired of going quid-pro-quo with God. It doesn't work. I mean...it does for a while, but I always end up feeling like the weight of the world rests on me. I'm ready for the new way -- the new and better hope -- the hope of his presence.

I'm through being satisfied with what's in his hands. I will not be satisfied until I have him, and I am willing to dip seven times in a muddy river if I have to or march seven times around a walled city or camp out with nothing but a pitcher, a torch and a trumpet.

There are two ways to live, but only one leads to Life.