Bar B Que

So yesterday I had some bar-b-que for lunch. Prior to moving to Kansas City for seminary, I thought that bar-b-que was something you did in the backyard with a grill. Quickly, however I learned how wrong I was. Since that time I have loved bar-b-que, although moving away from Kansas City has made it difficult to find truly good bar-b-que. The thing about bar-b-que is that it takes a while to cook. My last year in seminary I waited tables at KC Masterpiece. At Masterpiece, all of our meat was slow smoked for over 18 hours. You can't just whip up some bar-b-que real quick. It doesn't happen.

There are so many things in life that work like bar-b-que. In spite of being surrounded by movies on demand and easy mac, much of what is truly good in life takes time. I'm a runner and 2009 was not a good year for me. I was plagued with some freak injuries and didn't have that great of a running year. Last fall I was actually getting my mileage back up again when I pulled a muscle while getting dressed for a Thanksgiving morning race. Then, two weeks later I slipped on some ice and landed hard on my knee. Thankfully, both of those injuries are now behind me and I'm pain free once again and building my mileage slowly. The thing about running though, is that like good bar-b-que, it takes time. It takes time to get back into the kind of race shape that I want to be in and there's no way to rush it. If I try to push myself too much I'll just get injured again. There are also those days when I really don't want to run and the real battle is just getting out the door.

I think our spiritual lives are not all that different from good bar-b-que and running. If we truly want to live for God and grow in our relationship with Him, it takes time. Far too often though, we get caught up thinking that God can just sort of exist in the background. Then, when life get's rough we start reading our Bibles and praying everyday and think it's going to in some way please God into doing what we want.

That way of thinking is wrong for so many reasons. Following Christ does not mean that life is going to go our way. Yes, Jesus said that he wants to give us life more abundantly, but he also promised us, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world." So whether we're Christians or not, we will face our share of troubles. Now, that being said, God does want to work in our lives and even bless us so that others can see his goodness. But when it comes to growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ it's like running and bar-b-que -- it takes time. All of a sudden reading your Bible or praying everyday is like doing a power-floss before going to the dentist. One time doesn't really make much of a difference, but, on the other hand, if it's a practice that you make a regular part of your life it makes all the difference in the world.

So I hope when it comes to the truly good things in life - relationships with my family, my friends, and most importantly God - I hope that I'll be patient enough ti give it time, and committed enough to be consistent.