Glory Of It All

An aerial view of Northern Iceland. (© Paul Taggart / Herd in Iceland) #

I remember when I was in middle school, my mom and I were talking about how my brother was stressed out about tests and college apps and stuff. I couldn't relate to what he was feeling, because I never felt that stress of a test, or something important coming up. Life was good in middle school. It was like elementary, but more fun. We got lockers and had a class schedule, and could somewhat choose what we wanted to do. At that moment, I was thinking, "What does it feel like to be stressed??? I don't think I'll ever have to deal with it..."

Now, I learned later what it means to be stressed, especially in college hahah. But I consider myself one who probably stresses less than the average person, maybe less than I should. When I say "should" I'm talking about worrying more about tests and school where I would probably perform better. Anywho, I don't stress that much, and it might be that I place my trust in the sovereignty of God, or that I sometimes brush things off and don't take it seriously enough. It's probably a mix of both, but main point is, I don't stress too often.

Today was stressful. I had to finish up a big homework for a class. It was due latest 6PM in class. It was 4:30 PM and I was working on it. I didn't know how to finish it so I had to ask a friend for help. Time was running out, and I kept thinking, "Man, just turn it in. You'll get like 70% on it...it's fine." And another part was like "Just keep going. Finish what you can." It was pretty stressful, knowing time was running out and I was so far from finishing.

But then a song I hadn't listened to in a while came on.

David Crowder Band - Glory Of It All

Oh the Glory of it all is:
he came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all

oh he is here
for redemption from the fall
that we may live
for the glory of it all

And I sat there and thought, "What is the end for all this? If not for God's glory, then what? Why am I worrying so much?!?" That we may live for the glory of it all.

We need to take a step back from our busy lives. We need to re-realize the big picture. Take some time and reflect on where we are and why we're doing whatever we are doing. Take a breather and rest. And while we rest, remember the cross, and what it means in our lives.

Mark

Hi

Chilean miner Osman Araya (right) is welcomed by his wife Angelica as he comes out of the Fenix capsule after been brought to the surface on October 13, 2010 following a 10-week ordeal in the collapsed San Jose mine, near Copiapo, 800 km north of Santiago, Chile. Araya was the sixth from the 33 trapped miners to be lifted from underground. (HUGO INFANTE/AFP/Getty Images)

It's been a while. Since December 31, 2009 LOL. But I was reading through other people's blogs and was inspired to finally update mine.

I am a selfish person. I know this, but there are distinct times when I catch myself and I'm like..."Damn Mark, you're so selfish."

For example. Today, at work, I was routinely going downstairs to check the mail for my boss. On the way, I run into one of the FA's (faculty assistants), Mina. Now, (here's my lame attempt at justifying myself), Mina is one of those people who talk excessively when trying to explain things. I never had to work directly under her, but she's given me work to do and I have heard stories from people about how she talks too much and what not (one guy said that she spent 5 minutes trying to explain to him what a rectangle was. "You know it's like a square, but a little longer. You know...a rectangle...."). Anyway, knowing that she's prone to talking too much, I just politely said hi and went on my way. I wanted to avoid any conversation where it would involve her just talking about herself and her life story and whatever (I know, I'm selfish), so I continued, but she was actually going the same way as me. I was a little ahead of her, trying to distance myself, but she kept up and just asked me, "How's everything?" I replied succintly, "I'm good. And you?" She said some stuff and went on her way. The whole time I was thinking, "ughh I hope she doesn't ask me if I'm busy and give me an extra errand to do and then have to explain the simple errand to me for 10 minutes...Just please don't talk to me." AHahaha I know, I'm messed up. Anyway, nothing happened and there I was walking to the mailroom when I finally realized how selfish I am. I don't want anything to do with her right now. I need to go back and do MY homework. I don't want to do any extra work. Me me me. And I think about it, I probably do this all the time. Damn Mark, you're selfish.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

-Phillipians 2:3

A verse that I am trying to meditate on. Selflessness. Can we really achieve it? Not by anything that we do or any effort we put in, but only through Christ. Seriously....

Anyway, thanks for reading this post. Here's to hoping that I continue to update semi/quasi-regularly.

Mark