Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Location Amnesia by Paul Tripp


Location Amnesia

We live in a broken-down world. Every square inch has been dirtied and damaged by sin. Not one part of it shines with anything like the pure glory that was so evident when it was first made. Sin has left this world in a sorry condition. You see it everywhere you look.
At every point and every moment, your life is messier and more complicated than it really ought to be because everything is so much more difficult in such a terribly broken world.
Yet I think many of us live in a permanent state of location amnesia. We have forgotten where we live. We lose sight of the fact that this is a broken-down world, and it sets us up for all kinds of trouble.
We grow angry that things don’t function as they were designed to. We get overwhelmed with feeling sad or lost in the face of the world’s condition. We get tired of the effort and just want to quit.
But remember, God is the ultimate Restorer. One day the world will be completely renewed. In the meantime, he calls you and me to live with hearts of patience and eyes of promise.
He calls us away from self-focused survival and to the hard work of restoration. He calls us away from paralyzing discouragement and the nagging desire to quit. He welcomes us to live in the patience and grace that only he can give.
I’ve added some reflection questions this morning. You could use them personally or with a small group. These reflections questions are a new feature and will now be included each week. I pray that they will be a blessing to you.
  • Where does brokenness touch your everyday life?
  • How do you respond when that brokenness hits?
  • In what ways have you turned into a location amnesiac?
  • How can you respond differently to the brokenness in light of the grace and patience God has given?
God bless
Paul David Tripp
"Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life"