Posts Tagged John Eldredge
Nearly Taken out by Ants and a Baby Mouse
Posted by lance tullis in ATG Blog on June 7th, 2010
“The battle in your life is against your joy.” –John Eldredge, Walking with God.
What could go wrong? The weather was right. Everyone was in a good mood. It wasn’t going to be too expensive. Camping was on!!! Just me and the kids, having some memory making time. Well, the memories came, but whether or not they were good, I don’t know.
My daughter got sick. We arrived a little later than expected, and the weather turned incredibly hot. All manageable until the next morning. “Ants!!!” My daughter screamed. Black ants, thousands of them were crawling in our camper. These were big, black, man-eaters. They were on her pillow, on the ceiling, in the cupboards, I mean everywhere. All I could do was say to myself “Stay cool. This is a sabotage attempt. Don’t blow it over ants.” The kids scattered. No one wanted to be near the ants. The ants were everywhere in our campsite: the chairs, table, outside the camper, rocks, bbq, etc. I was about to pack up and go home, when a still small voice said, “Don’t let the enemy rob you of your joy that was meant for this weekend.”
I got my composure, walked down to the manager’s office and asked for a new campsite. She said no problem. I checked out the entire campground. It turned out that we were camping right in the middle of the biggest ant colony in all of California. It gets better, before I could move the camper, a baby mouse was squeaking on the ground under the back of the camper. (Baby mice come from nests).
This was a nice diversion for my middle daughter. She caught it, and put in a cup. At one point she tried to get some ground squirrels to adopt it. There’s more to the story, but I’ll share it later in another blog. (Again, baby mice come from nests).
I could have blown a fuse over the ants. It was definitely a trying moment, but I made a choice to know joy in the midst of a trial. I had prayed all weekend about knowing God’s true joy and to be the best father I could be that weekend. I think my patience dropped a couple of times, but the desire to know God’s joy moved me away from the usual grumpiness that a little hot weather, tired kids, and some dirt can bring on, not to mention the ants.
I read from Eldredge’s Walking with God about this very issue. Joy is the one thing that our enemy goes after, but it’s done in such a way that we stay distracted from what is really going on. He keeps us away from joy by our circumstances, addiction, shame, guilt, failure, and our own expectations. Joy is the one thing that will get us through the toughest of trials. Ask Jesus to help you know the fullness of his joy (John 16:24). Don’t let the enemy rob you of God’s blessing upon your life. Fight for your strength in being in joyous man. It will greatly benefit the world around you. And for the record, it’s a good idea to take ant spray when camping.
Making battle plans with you my brothers,
Lance Tullis
John Eldredge on Fear
Posted by lance tullis in ATG Blog on May 11th, 2010
I describe John Eldredge as a pioneer in men’s-ministry. He has helped move many a man from a passive role in life to being a man fully alive. This is what he writes on fear:
“Because we bear the image of God in our strength, because we are a ‘stem of that victorious stock,’ there’s one thing we all know: We are made to come through. And yet we wonder, Can I? Will I? When the going gets rough, when it really matters, can I really pull it off? That is why every man shares the same core fear of being exposed, being “found out,” that something will happen and he’ll be revealed to be an impostor, and not really a man. Are you aware of that fear? Where would you hate to be called upon to come through, because you don’t know whether or not you can come through?” (Wild at Heart Field Manual. pg 62)
Those questions are at the core of Awaken the Giant. As men, we must be willing to “come through”, no matter how fearful it may be. I can assure on the other side of the fear is not what we imagine. It is glorious victory, but few men ever experience it because of fear. So, I leave you with Eldredge one more time, “”Where would you hate to be called upon to come through?”
Let there be no rest until the fight is over,
Lance