Book Report: ‘Sun Stand Still’

I’ve been reading a very challenging, very encouraging book: “Sun Stand Still,” by Pastor Steven Furtick. It speaks to that part of you that craves more faith, more audacity, and more results from your spirituality. The title references a sun-stopping prayer by the Old Testament hero Joshua. Furtick uses that prayer as a template for embracing the vastness of God and His ability to do the impossible. I have a notebook that is quickly filling up with quotes, notes and various pearls of wisdom. Some are personal; unfit for the blogosphere, but there are some catchphrases and idioms that I found general enough to share. Check out Furtick’s blog here. Check out the trailer for the book, if you’re so inclined (Yup, books have trailers now).

 

Embrace the Process

Change is a slow process.

Whether it’s physical, mental, emotional, vocational, or (especially) political, real change demands real persistence. If we could be honest with ourselves, we all struggle with the patience that is requisite. Sure, we can take a different route to work, or we might eat a different breakfast cereal, but deep, lasting change requires more grit.

I’m currently working on a new entrepreneurial endeavor. I’ll save the details for the official launch, but at the moment I’m still in the ‘product development’ stage. I’m ‘vision-casting’. I’m making. I’m packaging. I’m trying. I’m experimenting.

Frustration is frequent during these production sessions.  I’m reaching my limits as a creator more often than I’d like. I’m asking for help and advice more often than I anticipated. Ultimately, this doesn’t make my efforts less. It doesn’t diminish my ideas. It multiplies their impact. George Bernard Shaw put it well: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

Most importantly, I’m learning to embrace the process.

This has been a microcosm for all my dream work and goals for upcoming years. I know that my Maker is developing a new product in me — in  my character. I’m learning that I need to become more inclusive, more patient, and more interested in long-term lessons than short-term riches.

It’s a privilege to have ideas and goals that are beyond me. It is an honor to reach my limits because it that weakness forces me to encounter the One who knows none.

Motivated!

I met with some friends at a cafe last night. We usually meet once or twice a month to connect, update one another on current projects, or simply to trade book and film recommendations. We encourage each other, offering advice, ideas, or just listening ears. We share bits of our lives, hoping that iron will indeed sharpen iron, as the biblical proverb suggests.

These men are as good as my brothers. They applaud my successes, laugh at most of my jokes and keep my sometimes lofty goals grounded. They help me learn from my mistakes, and improve wherever the opportunities arise. I trust them to tell me when I’m off-track, when I’ve strayed from the path that leads to my best tomorrow.

Last night was a game changer for me. I heard some challenging words, but they were good words. I also heard support and love in those challenges.

We collectively hit the precise nerve that could change it all; we cracked the code, so to speak. Effectively, change is in the air. I came home feeling newly motivated. Driven. I even packed today’s lunch with a fresh intensity.

Eventually, I will replace all of this veiled excitement with full-tilt explanations (when it’s appropriate). Suffice to say, the me that is typing this now is not the me that I’ll be a year from now. The one thing that I’m absolutely unwilling to do is to stay the same.

So, here’s to brotherhood. Here’s to accountability. Here’s to the process of progress.

I’m eager to share my journey with you. Watch this space.

// GB //

image credit: Typcut