One of the deepest desires in the human heart is to live a life that is both productive and fulfilling. To make a vital connection with other people, and God, and with life itself. As our world spins faster and faster toward the new millennium, it seems like there are many things that militate against this kind of life fulfillment. Everybody wants a piece of us. There are unceasing demands for our time, our attention, our money. Our "plate" is full to overflowing, and it seems that many people are racing just to catch up with themselves and their commitments. It's an uncomfortable, unfulfilling feeling. Disconnected, out of control.

My observation is that as people struggle to balance their desire for fulfillment and productivity with life’s demands, they find themselves in one of two conditions. One, I will call "skimming" and the other "grasping."

Skimming is the state of being that occurs when we are skidding across the surface of life--Ed calls it "hitting the high spots"--we are ultra busy, overcommitted, exhausted. We are covering a lot of ground, but not touching down very often. Not connecting with those we love, not feeling that fulfillment that we so desire. Meanwhile, the kids are growing up, the folks are growing old, and God. . .well, who knows what God might be up to. I’m afraid to ask, because I’m sure it will just lead to one more demand. "Skimmers" are prone to be activity addicts, or adrenaline addicts. We live for the next rush of excitement or the next crisis, or even the next rush of being needed or in demand.

People who are adrenaline addicts can't just "be." They have to "do," or they think something is wrong. Many people even create extra work for themselves, or create a crisis, just to keep moving, keep the rush.

Not too long ago the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that firefighters in Genoa, Texas, were accused of deliberately setting more than forty destructive fires. When they were caught, they said, "We had nothing to do. We just wanted to get the red lights flashing and the bells clanging." (Fresh Illustrations, 28). Without "action" their life seemed meaningless.

Are you skimming over the surface of life, while life itself is passing you by?

Or are you grasping desperately to get hold of life, as it slips through your fingers? Many of us are grasping--reaching--trying desperately to fill an emptiness that just won't quit. When I use the word "grasping" I don't mean greedy. I’m referring to that uncomfortable, uneasy feeling that there is just never enough. Never enough time. Never enough money. Never enough love and affection. Never enough appreciation for who I am and what I'm doing. Out of this emptiness comes a desire to get a grip on life itself, to get some measure of control when circumstances seem to be spinning out of orbit.

Sometimes our desire to control leads us to some pretty bizarre and even destructive behavior that actually makes life worse. For instance, when Steve Tran of Westminster, California, closed the door on twenty-five activated bug bombs, he thought he had seen the last of the cockroaches that shared his apartment. When the spray reached the pilot light of the stove, it ignited, blasting his screen door across the street, breaking all his windows, and setting his furniture ablaze. "I really wanted to kill all of them," he said. "I thought if I used a lot more, it would last longer." According to the label, just two canisters of the fumigant would have solved Steve's roach problem. The blast caused over $10,000 damage to the apartment building. And the cockroaches? Steve reported, "By Sunday, I saw them walking around." (ibid, 13)

For Steve, it was cockroaches. For others, the intense desire to control leads to explosive anger, domestic violence, and even murder. But even the nonviolent ones among us may have to acknowledge that they exert inappropriate control when trying to salvage a relationship or help someone else solve a problem or make changes in their life. And all of this, just to avoid facing the emptiness within.

Now, lest you think that preachers are immune from such problems as grasping and skimming, let me tell you about my life. I have recently taken on new responsibilities with the Committee on Ministry—which means more phone calls, more paperwork, more meetings; I have been vitally involved in the activities and planning for Promises to Keep (more phone calls, more paperwork, more meetings). I’ve begun to take on more of the pastoral side of ministry, now that Ed is ready to begin his temporary assignment at Belmar (more phone calls, more visits, thankfully no extra paperwork). There are many new and exciting things happening at Morning Star that have needed varying levels of attention from me (more phone calls, more paperwork, more meetings). There have been moments lately, when even the high spots seemed pretty far below where I was flying, and I have been desperately wishing that there were more hours in a day.

Can you relate to any of this? There's got to be a better way. And there is.

Somebody recently sent me a "thought for the day" on e-mail. It said, "being in charge of your life is not the same as being in control of your life." I think most of us presume that a good goal is to get control of our life. But that would also necessarily require that we could control what happens to us--and we can't do that. But we can take charge of our life, and that is what God calls us to do. And that is what will enable us to find the fulfillment and the productivity that we seek. That is what will enable us to live successfully: to make those vital connections with other people, and God, and life itself.

So how do we take charge of our life, without trying to control everybody around us? There is a secret that can be learned and put to practice in your life. It begins with simply understanding that life's a gift. It cannot be bought or sold or bartered. God has given it to us, and God calls us to manage what we've been given. We are not the owners—we are the managers (stewards). You’ve heard the expression, you can’t take it with you? The reason you can’t take it with you is because it didn’t belong to you in the first place. Everything we have, including life itself, is on loan to us.

In the passage from Philippians, Paul tells us that he has learned a secret--the secret of being content. "I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need." That sounds just the opposite of what I have been describing about contemporary life, where it seems that even when we have a lot, it's not enough. With Paul, even in poverty, he has enough.

What's his secret? A good education? A money market account? Life insurance? Hard work? His good looks?

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Through him who strengthens me. At the heart of the word that we’ve translated "strengthens" is the Greek word dunamis, which means power, and if you listen closely, you can hear the English word dynamite in it. It’s a word used often in the New Testament to describe God’s power. So, we could also translate it, I can do all things through him who puts his power in me, or through him who empowers me.

Paul’s secret comes from experiencing the truth of what Jesus said: "I am the vine, you are the branches. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." The secret of a fulfilling and genuinely productive life is to abide in Jesus.

I know that this word "abide" is sort of archaic. But it simply means to live or to dwell. It means to stay connected, the same way that a branch stays connected to a vine. The branches that stay connected, stay productive. Life's a gift, and if we are going to be productive, we've got to stay connected to the source. We need to live with Jesus. And I don’t mean "live with" in the sense that many people live with their families. You know what I’m talking about: running here and there, coming home from time to time, hardly ever seeing each other, rarely eating together or having a meaningful conversation. That’s how many of us live with each other. But we need to really hang onto Jesus, not just say hello once in a while.

Let me explain what I mean. On a commuter flight from Portland, Maine to Boston in 1987, the pilot heard an unusual noise near the rear of the plane. Henry Dempsey turned the controls over to the co-pilot and went back to check it out. As he reached the tail section, the plane hit an air pocket, and Dempsey was tossed against the

rear door. He quickly discovered the source of the mysterious noise. The rear door had been improperly latched prior to take-off, and it flew open. Dempsey was instantly sucked out of the tiny jet. The co-pilot saw the red light that indicated an open door. He radioed the nearest airport requesting permission for an emergency landing. He reported that the pilot had fallen out of the plane and wanted a helicopter to search the area. After the plane landed, the ground crew found Dempsey holding on to the outdoor ladder of the aircraft. Somehow he had caught the ladder and held on for ten minutes as the plane flew 200 mph at an altitude of 4,000 feet, and then, when landing, he kept his head from hitting the runway, which was only 12 inches away. According to the news reports, it took airport personnel several minutes to pry Dempsey’s fingers free from the ladder. (Pastor’s story file, 15.12.3)

That’s how hard we need to hand onto Jesus. The problem with most skimmers and graspers is that we’re holding on for dear life, but we’re holding onto the wrong things.

Life's a gift. And we are not the source of that life. Nor are our parents or our friends or our boss. God is the source of life. And God wants us to be fulfilled. God wants us to be productive.

As long as we insist on going through life grasping and skimming, there will never be enough. On the other hand, we can do "everything" through the one who empowers us.

When we are vitally connected to Jesus, we begin to discover a sufficiency that is overwhelming. And out of that sufficiency, flows fulfillment, productivity, and generosity.