Guest

This past weekend, we began a brand new series entitled “Extraordinary”. During this series, we are going to try an experiment with Eastside Journey and in our Community Groups. All of the daily entries on the blog and all of the material for the groups will correspond to the weekend messages. My prayer is that having all three work together will make your journey more successful.

This weekend, Jonathan kicked off the series by challenging us to live an extraordinary life. He challenged us to remove the word someday. He challenged us to do and be all the things we were created for now. He challenged us to figure out if we were running the right race. He also had us read together Psalm 39:4-5 ... the theme for this series. I thought we would kick off the week by revisiting those verses in their context.


Psalm 39
1 I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.”
2 But as I stood there in silence - not even speaking of good things - the turmoil within me grew worse.
3 The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words:
4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered - how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”
6 We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.
7 And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
8 Rescue me from my rebellion. Do not let fools mock me.
9 I am silent before you; I won’t say a word, for my punishment is from you.
10 But please stop striking me! I am exhausted by the blows from your hand.
11 When you discipline us for our sins, you consume like a moth what is precious to us. Each of us is but a breath.
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am your guest - a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.
13 Leave me alone so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more.


Guest. This Psalm contains some really great phrases ... all important realizations. The first realization... “remind me how brief my time on earth will be” ... is the theme for our series. The second realization ... “My only hope is in you” ... is the most important realization you will hopefully ever come to (the answer to which race we should be running. The final realization ... “I am your guest” ... is probably less obvious; but equally important for Jesus followers. We are not in charge. We are not in control. We are guests. The sooner we realize that fact ... the more successful our journey will be, along with every other aspect of our life. Which realizations have you come to in your journey? What prompted those realizations?