Mission Impossible

PASSAGE OF THE DAY:
Acts 12 (click the link)


KEY VERSE:
Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” (Acts 12:11, NIV)


THE BIG IDEA:
Let go of the American dream and let God make my life a better story.


REFLECTIONS:
Imagine the Mission Impossible theme music and keep that tune playing in your head for a moment.  Bom… bom… bom-bom… Bom… bom… bom-bom… Now visualize the opening scene of a fast-paced action movie with a man, Peter, asleep in a dank prison cell shackled to a soldier on either arm.  A figure appears in the darkness and pokes Peter awake. Doody-doooo… doody-doooo… Da-DA… The shackles fall to the floor and the two make a harrowing and narrow and undetected escape. Then, they are out on the street, running, Bom… bom… bom-bom…  At the first intersection the mysterious figure disappears and Peter is left standing alone in the dark street, flickering street lights causing his chiseled face to shadow and then not (I made that part up).  Very sexy.  Doody-doo… doody-doo… Da-DA…

Now the music fades and the camera zooms in on our hero, sweat trickling down his face in all the right places and he says, “Dude, that really happened.  No way!”

That’s right, Peter was a goober not unlike me, Guy Draper.  He was just a guy.  But what is so awesome about Peter is that he chose to get off the boat and God transformed his life into an adventure movie… a blockbuster.

I think this is the prosperous and abundant life that Jesus has in mind for us.  Not necessarily wealth but rather a rich and adventurous life-journey.  But many times what keeps the theme music from playing is the constant distraction and pull of the American dream.

Our culture paints the good life as one filled with comfort, relaxation and nice things.  We are all about playing it safe and gathering stuff.  We have thoroughly achieved this and yet Americans are generally empty and searching for purpose.

I want my life to be fully available for whatever Jesus might have for me, no matter how nutty or risky that might be.  I want my life to be marked by action and adventure and romance so that one day when I am very, very old my conversations would be filled with phrases like “Dude, that really happened.  No way!”


PRAYER:
<Warning: this prayer is not for sissies.  The last time I prayed it and meant it, things got a little rough.>

Father, I lay the American dream at your feet and pray that you would help me see where you are at work and motivate me to join you there no matter how inconvenient or uncomfortable it might be.


WHO AM I?
I am Guy Draper. My dad was Daniel Boone and we shared many adventures when I was a boy. One of the most memorable was nutria hunting on the bayous of East Texas.  We would troll the bayou in our boat through the night and search the waters with headlights for nutria, raccoons, mink, otter and rabbits.  We carried a giant container that was set in the center of the boat and once we had made a kill, Dad would guide the boat beside the floating carcass and I would grab it by the tail and sling it into the container.  That container would always be overflowing by morning when we would carry them to a local pelt trader and sell them for cash.