Living an inspired life is something that has been very close to my heart for the last 5 years now, but I never contrasted it with the wind. Dan takes this idea of wind and connects it with God, trying new things, thinking outside of the box, and not being conformed to an everyday mediocre lifestyle of church, work, and pleasure. As I stated earlier in my homework post, I love this stuff. This is my language. I can’t help but analyze the apostles as Jesus looked at them and said follow me, while leaving everything wasn’t the end of the road. Later, after Jesus ascended to His right hand throne, the disciples went into the world empowered by the Holy Spirit teaching, preaching, healing, and finally dying. Next, Paul’s life radiates a life of wind, with the miraculous things that God accomplished through him. At this point I can’t help but make the connection between the lives of these men and the inspiration that moved them into the lifestyle that they choose to live.
Sometimes I feel like I’m not even on the same planet as other people. We (my wife and I) have made a choice to live intentionally for God. We try to walk in such a way that God will be glorified in everything we do. We have turned down chances to make more money, because they will derail us from the work that God has called us to do. It is not easy and quite frankly I struggle often with some of the decisions we have made in the past. It is exhilarating to hear Dan teach on this field, because I seldom hear about this type of topic.
Dan opens the topic with an eye opening statement. He says that “spiritual formation usually refers to being a servant.” How true is that!!! It is very rare that you ever hear preaching or teaching on chasing your dreams. This is where I get passionate about encouraging other people to figure out what they love to do, and cross that with God’s will. God has given us individual talents and passions, and I believe we should use those to the best of our abilities to serve Him. There is nothing wrong with going into a field that is out of the ordinary if it’s where God is leading you. There is nothing wrong with wanting to love your job. You have to work the rest of your life, so you better like what you are doing.
Dan goes on explaining that “we need to find out what inspires us.” He also talks about “understanding the wind, in any given time”, and “encourages us to practice harnessing the wind.” He pokes even deeper by provoking you to ask question about yourself, such as “what gives you the energy to do what you do?” Dan also gives great insight on what will happen if you do not keep a steady diet of inspiration in your life. He says that “your ministry life will be corrupted, if you are not inspired regularly.” I have found this to be true in my own life lately. I have found myself going long periods of time without a fresh dose of inspiration, and feel myself getting slightly off. It’s a weird feeling. Dan also strongly encourages us to not only keep inspiration in our own lives, but to figure out what your wife and kids love as well.
Joseph H Toft II
Wow! I can tell by your writing that this subject is near and dear to your heart! I really enjoyed what you had to say. I can relate to what you said about wondering if you are on the same planet as other people
. I often ask myself, “Is this normal, or am I just weird?” Ha!!
Be encouraged and keep the wind in your sails!!