Your Plan, My Plan & Profundity?

When someone asks me, "How's it going," what do I say? I suspect that answer tends to depend on whether the person asking is really a friend or just an acquaintance--and whether I think he or she really expects more than a superficial answer.

Brandow Brothers

But there's another contributing influence to my response, too. It's about whether or not what's going on for me--how my day or life is going in the moment--seems to match-up with how I think it should feel or look or be. Implicitly, my answer to the question now perhaps becomes a mild reflection of how well I think life is playing out. Is my day or life going according to my plan and expectations? Is it on course (happily!), off course (a bummer), irretrievably off course (a real big downer)?  

Sis Suzie and Dad

Of course, how "on" or "off" course my life feels gets emotional. We all do that. And as we all know, our emotions tend to predict our behavior. So, wisely and appropriately I remind myself how Biblical scripture unequivocally challenges me, a Christ follower, to police my thoughts, be real (not phony) AND to think profoundly! 

Profundity is demonstrated in one's resolve. It's about purposefully, every day, and especially in such moments, choosing to anchor and then interpret the events and circumstances of my life from a broader perspective. It's one that stretches beyond the serendipitous influence of mere time-space limited scenarios and circumstances. 

Three Generations

Here are some simple Biblical examples I know of  that illustrate this kind of resolve--and profundity:

• Abraham's response to Isaac's inquiry with the statement, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." Genesis 22:8
• Job's response to his wife's inquiry, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him!" Job 13:15
• Jesus' anguished statement to his Father in the garden, "... yet not my will but thine be done." Matthew 26:39
• Jesus' John 9:3 statement to his disciples that the reason behind the blind man's troubling situation was, "...that the works of God might be manifest in him (the blind man)." 
• Peter's statements to Jewish Christian exiles, "...though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials." 1Peter 1: 3-6, the contrast between vs s. 3-5 with vs. 6.
• Jesus' admonition to his disciples to order their whole lives around Kingdom principles and priorities, "...but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things (food, clothing, housing) will be yours as well." Matthew 6:33 
• I think of the song, "This world is not my home I'm just passing through, my treasures are laid up away beyond the blue, the angels beckon me from heavens open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore..."

Hmmm.

So, how's it going?

Dick