Trivial Pursuit Puts on Reckless Abandon

Nicole Payne
Oct 6, 2018
4 min read

Updated: Jan 10, 2021

There's an old milk commercial that shows a scrawny little kid holding a carton of milk, looking in a mirror talking to himself about how, with his body, no girl's gonna' go for him. As the kid talks, his reflection talks back to him while drinking the milk, aging, and physically maturing. By the end of the commercial, the reflection staring back at him is his handsome, muscular high school senior self who stands with a pretty girl on his arm. He drinks his milk with mild confidence and ease, causing his young, scrawny version to rapidly drive the milk carton up to his mouth in great anticipation of getting to his senior year in high school.

Runt of the Litter -- NOT!

I remember hitting a certain age when I didn't appreciate being the little one of the bunch, as I was smaller than many of my peers (and still am). I certainly felt like the majority of my friends towered over me and possessed bigger hips and back sides. I just knew they were getting more looks from boys than I was, and I sometimes yielded to feeling less significant than girls who were larger in physical presence. However, 20+ years later, it trips me out how what I thought mattered so much back then is far from carrying the same weight now. It's even crazier how trading the right counsel for the wrong can cause one to totally miss the mark on how to view oneself. And when it comes to facing an enemy ... hmph! You BEST know who you are. If you don't, "YOU GON LEARN TUH-DAY!"

God Moves Us

The Bible talks about how, when the children of Israel left Egypt and Pharoah's evil, grueling treatment, the Egyptians pursued them to the Red Sea. Israel began to fear they'd left Egypt only to die in the wilderness to which God had led them. However, Moses told them to 1.) not be afraid, 2.) be firm, confident, and unphased by their enemies and 3.) watch God save them from the thorn in their side AKA the hateful Egyptians. Moses went on to say, "Those Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you while you [only need to] keep silent and remain calm" (Exodus 14:13, 14).

As I was driving home today, I realized that the driving away of an enemy is not always because it chooses to retreat but because God moves us to new levels of maturity and restful confidence, which wash the enemy out, drowning it in the tide of our knowledge of who we are in Him. We arrive at a resolve that shifts our focus from enemy to Master and Father who's equipped us with all we need to conquer ANY naysayer. Thus, the way we see a threat becomes totally revolutionized, and we no longer fear who or what once taunted us ... they've become way smaller, in comparison to the ocular hold we have on our God.

It works the same way when we fast, turning away food for a time so God can move us out of our spiritual lethargy and cause us to ascend to higher heights in the way we receive Him. Our discernment clears and our reception of spiritual things becomes smooth flowing -- more effortless. We rise to a richer spiritual altitude.

Trivial Pursuit?

I think we also see this in our prayer lives. When we ask God to give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4), our intent lies in the level of our pursuit of Him. This verse first instructs the believer to be delighted by God ... to find enjoyment in knowing Him ... to be attracted to all things Him. This leaves us wanting what He wants -- regardless -- and we want Him to put in our hearts the desires He wants there. When we treat Him like He's Santa Claus, we ask Him to give us what we want.

Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church says that if God's not talking to us, we need to talk to Him about what He cares about. Pastor Johnson also says that if we don't come out of prayer with our faith renewed, then all we're doing is complaining [and I'll add running down a laundry list of requests that might not mean a hill of beans to Him].

Reckless Abandon

There's a reckless abandon with which the mature Christian lives. Those who are close to God step further and further away from themselves as they swoon for Him and His heart ... His mind about things. Our perpetual goal is to keep the line of communication open on our end so that we're never foreign in His presence ... that our communion with Him is (as my pastor says) one seamless garment of prayer, praise, and worship.

There's an awesome sense of security that we have when the intense interests of our hearts are the intense interests of God's. We can't go wrong panting for God and all He desires. With this posture we'll always look up and find ourselves in the right place in life, being and doing as God would have it.