Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. …
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

• Hebrews 11:1-3, 17-19

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

• Hebrews 11:29-40

“I hope these life stories have done more than encourage you; I hope they have eliminated every excuse for not living a radical, love-motivated life. I hope they have challenged the multitudes who ‘feel called to the rich’ and ignore the poor. If biblical examples seem unattainable, hopefully these average, everyday people give you hope that you, too, can live a life worth writing about.”

• Francis Chan, crazy love

Rev. Francis Chan spent the last chapter on being obsessed.  Then the title of the next chapter is: Who Really Lives that Way?

The more than a dozen examples that he gives are people from George Müller, who lived about 200 years ago to the present.  I have read Müller’s book, Answers to Prayer.  If you think you have a great prayer life, it might fall short of his.  In running an orphanage, he prayed countless times when the children would not have food the next day and while still praying there was a knock at the door.  But to be honest, I don’t know if I recognized anyone else’s story.  Many lost their lives serving God, but the point is, they were obsessed.

I have written about the girl who became a great woman, working as a Wycliffe Bible translator in Ghana.  Another of the graduates from my high school, that same year was on her way to Russia about the time the wall came down.  I do not know if she went.  Another of my classmates worked with inner-city boys in Denver, Colorado for many years.  I worked on the lay-witness mission team for the Methodist church in northern Mississippi and the guy who ran it, and most of the team dedicated their lives, at least one weekend each month if not more often to witness to people about Jesus.  As a fellow member of the team would say, “We are going into the church, turning it upside down, shaking it really hard, and when we leave Sunday afternoon, they won’t know what hit them.”

Rev. Chan’s group was proof that people really do live their lives “that way.”  But I like looking at those I know or at least knew.  People do live their lives that way, and when you are ever around them, you can feel it.

But do you ever decide, “I want what they have.”

Many do that very thing, but it has to be all in.  In Mark Batterson’s book, All In, he starts the book by telling about people from western Europe volunteering to be missionaries to remote places in the world.  They did not pack a suitcase.  They packed their coffin.  They boarded the ship with their coffin for two reasons.  One was to signify that this was an “all in” time in their lives, but it could be used to pack their belongings.  The second was that they had the coffin for others to bury them in.  They were not returning home.  What better way to pack your socks and an extra roll of toilet paper.  My first trip to India, I packed extra toilet paper.  The roll in the hotel room would only last one use and the paper felt like wiping with sandpaper.  I am glad I was prepared.

I would not wish to compare myself with the people in Rev. Chan’s book, the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11, or the few I mentioned earlier.  I am “retired.”  But I work maybe 4-5 hours on Sunday.  I feel that I should since a lot of what I do is praising God.  The other six days of the week, I am researching or writing for 10-15 hours every day.  Of course, there is an occasional day of reduced hours in there due to buying groceries, going to the pharmacy or doctor visits, where I get very chatty with the nurses and doctors.  My socializing time is on Sunday, teaching a Sunday school class, which leads to at least one of those 10 hour work days each week to spend time in preparation for the class.  So, maybe 80 hours per week writing.

But, no one is trying to kill me.  I am not being beaten for what I believe.  And unlike my Savior, I know where I will attempt to sleep tonight.

So, no, I cannot apply for anyone’s list of living an obsessed life for Jesus Christ.

Lord, fill me with Your love.  Thank You for loving me.  Lord, we make excuses.  We do a little and think we’ve done more than our share.  But we fall short.  Do we really love you with “crazy love?”  Are we obsessed with serving you?  Give us strength to do more, and at times, wake us up!  We can always do more.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.