“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

As a young adult in this world, this is one of those passages that I like to reflect on when I need to make a life decision, when my morals are compromised and I feel pressures to just give up and throw in the towel. When people nag at me and say I won’t succeed, “don’t let anyone look down on you.” When people around me use harsh words about others and impure language, “set an example in speech.” When I am pressured to engage in something that is against the character of God, “set an example in conduct.” When I am told who to accept and who to reject, “set an example in love.” When my trust in God is tested by hard times, “set an example in faith.” And when I am encouraged to violate my body, my eyes, or my thoughts with impurities, “set an example in purity.”

Paul was addressing Timothy who was a young man and a leader in the church. And this verse is often used to address a young crowd. But it can also apply to anyone of any age and season of life. I encourage you to read the passage again, taking out the “you are young” part and fill in your own situation.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are old…Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are single…Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are poor…,but set an  example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

The followers of Christ are from a range of ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, socio-economic lifestyles, etc. Diversity is one of the beauties of our faith. Yet despite all of our differences, we have one thing in common: a call to follow God, serve others, love Him and honor Him in everything we do. And that is what unites us, the similar call.

Everyone of us should always remember to keep I Timothy in our hearts and minds. As followers of Christ we are all called to be different. We are called to reject things that others accept, to say things that others won’t, to love the ones that others hate, to devote ourselves to things others don’t waste their time on, and to always put ourselves last on our life list.

In the stillness, as you wait for an answer, you hear one word.

Wait.

And that’s your answer. That’s what He leaves you with. And it’s one of the hardest words to hear.

None of us like to wait for things. In this day and age, we strive for immediacy. We like to get things accomplished fast, get to places fast, and find the fastest way to check those daily items off our to-do list.

Patience is something that many of us lack in our lives. We live in a society where we are encouraged to get what we want, when we want, and we all fall into that self-gratifying pattern, even in the simple things. I can’t count how many times I have past someone by on the road because they were driving too slow for me, or I let waiting in line at the store annoy me. What’s even worse is that many of us feel that we are wasting time if we do things too slow. There is so much to do and the faster we do things, the more we can accomplish. Many of us are in over drive all day, and by the time the day is almost over, we have a few hours to ourselves in the evening and then its back to running around the next day. We have jobs and appointments and kids to drive around and errands and chores.

There is no time for patience. It has become a foreign concept to a lot of us. Waiting and the stillness of waiting are not in our modern vocabulary. So when God tells us to wait, which he does frequently, we cringe. We dread that answer and when he gives it, we feel hopeless. For once, we are not in charge of what happens. We are not in the drive’s seat, deciding on how the near future will unfold. God is in that seat and he’s calling the shots. We can’t control what happens; and even worse we have no idea what will happen. That’s the worst part about “wait.” Not only do we not get the answer we wanted, but we have no idea what the future will hold. We are in the dark and now our problem has just gotten bigger. We are now not only at a standstill, waiting for God to act, but we are in a room that’s pitch black and we can’t even see the hand in front of our face. The future is completely shrouded from us.

Everyone of us will or already has experienced a time of waiting with God. There is no denying that’s it’s hard: hard to not know, hard to trust. God is making the decisions and we can’t see what he sees. Our life is in his hands and we have no control. We can’t choose what we want or what we think we need. It’s all up to him. For us more often than not this can be a discomforting thought.

But we need a new perspective. First, we need to realize that the majority of decisions we make solo end in failure or mistake. If we don’t seek God in those big decisions in life, then we inevitably choose the wrong option. We have a consistent habit as humans to gravitate to that which is bad for us, the wrong choice. It’s in our nature.

We try to rationalize every option, and we try to discern with our own intellect what the best would be. Our reason is flawed, and there is so much about life and the world that we have no grasp on. If there is anyone we should not trust it’s ourselves.

O.O.O. Three words that describe a part of the character of God. Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence.

The one that applies here is omniscience or all-knowing. God knows everything that happened, everything that’s happening, and everything that will happen. We have all heard this preached in church countless of times, but too often we don’t fully grasped what this means in our lives.

God knows what is best and he knows that where he has called you to be is the most satisfying and fulfilling place to be. It may not be the funniest or the happiest or even the safest. But it will be blessed.

Epic is in a time of waiting, waiting for God to bring people onto the launch team and be a part of the vision and calling. It’s hard not to know, it’s hard to wait. But with each passing day God is introducing beautiful hearts to our team and we trust in His plan. We know that he will continue to bring more and more beautiful hearts; until then we will wait and trust in Him.

“See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

It’s a worn out cliché but true nonetheless: Life is full of new beginnings. A period of life ends and we enter into something new. We pass from child to young adult, college student to graduate, single to married, parent to grandparent. It’s what makes life exciting.

God’s story also is about beginnings, the ultimate beginning. He sent his only Son to die for us and start a whole new chapter in the pages of history. His blood covered all humanity’s sin. Now we are no longer in bondage to the evils of the world. We have a new life, a new hope. All those who put their trust in him are free, and will be in paradise with their Lord and Savior for eternity. Christ’s death ushered in a new era, the coming of the Kingdom of God.

And more than that, he has promised us a future new beginning, when the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness and He will call all of us to himself. It will be a time of no more death or sickness or suffering. We will spend endless time, sitting at his feet, worshipping him.

But for now, on this earth, we have been called to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19). As a reflection of what God did for us on the cross and what he plans to do at the end, we are called to make our own new beginnings. As Christians, we are to reach out and show others the love of Christ. We are to show them that they can start their own new beginning in Him.

EPIC is just one of many body of believers that is fulfilling Christ’s commission. In the heart of Columbus, God is calling us to reach out to others and show them His plan and how much he loves them.

God says: “See I am doing a new thing!”

It is our prayer that God’s hand will be heavy in the launching of EPIC. We pray that He will do great things through us in the lives of others. We pray that we will get the marvelous opportunity of starting thousands of new beginnings.