When Rest Isn't Restful
I’m on vacation to get some rest and the reality is, it hasn’t been restful. Let’s just be real, vacations are no longer stress free with a 2 and 4 year old. We also haven’t had great weather. Nothing like getting away to my favorite places on Earth only to be rained out 6 of the 7 days. On top of that, I’ve been getting bad news from some of my closest friends within their jobs, marriages, and life. Why is it every time I go on vacation that everyones do-do butter tends to explode in the fan?
Speaking of do-do butter, you know Paul uses the English equivalent to “shit” in the Bible? The Greek word is Skubalon and he uses it in Philippians 3:7-9. Paul was saying that everything he’s accomplished in life, the ‘things’ of the world, is Skubalon compared to knowing Christ and he was serious!
In fact, I write about this very thing in my new book titled Stoker, releasing this Summer. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 4 titled Skubalon Happens…
At the time I wrote this part of the book, I had just celebrated 6 years at Cornerstone Church – a place that will forever be a part of my life. The things I’ve learned here have shaped nearly every aspect of my belief system; some beliefs I held that I thought would never be different have drastically changed since I started. I have seen God do miracles in the lives of many people in our church and I have also experienced seasons where it felt like God was quiet. I’ve seen the number of kids in our ministry triple and then decrease again. I’ve had a week in the summer where only one student showed up. I’ve had many frustrations, heartbreaks, and hard life issues I’ve had to walk through with people. But I’ve also seen joy, breakthroughs, and family curses broken. I’ve seen God do some incredible things and I’ve been able to play a small part in the process. I say all this to encourage you that God is still writing your story. There are still plenty of ups and downs in your future and if you continue to be involved in the lives of people, you will deal with some major crap. But if you stick around long enough with the people you do life with, you’ll be able to see the Spirit of God move like never before. Some of God’s greatest testimonies happen in some of the largest piles of Skubalon.