Episode 7 / Less is More
One of the aspects in basic training was to learn how to shoot our weapons. And we're out there on the range and everybody's learning how to zero in and shoot their weapon properly. We'd been there all day. And now everybody is on the bus and they're ready to go back to the barracks. Finally get to the mess hall, eat a somewhat edible meal.
But there was one guy who couldn't even zero his rifle, and that one guy was me. And the, I'm in a fighting position with a drill sergeant and he said, "Son, if you can't do this, you're not gonna make it in this man's army." And in truth, at that point, I was done. I didn't even wanna be there. What happened was my first day of the military was getting all of your physicals and one of them being your eyes checked.
Uh, before I went into the army, I had stayed up more than 24 hours with Shanessa, who was my girlfriend back then, and so I was exhausted when I got there. And they woke us up just like everybody thinks, banging on trash cans and all this and that, screaming and yelling. And the first thing that I had to do was go get my eyes checked.
Well, I was barely awake. The um, and when I got my eyes checked, they were saying, you know, "What do you see?" And I'm like, "I don't know." I had sleepy eyes. I couldn't, I couldn't see at all, basically. So anyway, they gave me what's called BCGs or the military term for the glasses, they make us wear.
They're literally named by all of the soldiers, BCGs, which means birth control glasses cuz if you wear these things a girl will never look at you. I don't know if we should put that in there for the church. So they gave me these glasses and they told me that I had to wear 'em. These glasses gave me headaches.
Oh, they were so annoying. And I would ask the drill sergeants time and time again, "Hey, can I please take these things off?" Like when no one was watching, I'd take 'em off and I could see clearly, but I'd put these things on and everything would be blurry. So now jump back to the kid in the foxhole. I'm wearing the glasses, the target, even the front and the rear sight are completely blurry to me and I'm asking the drill Sergeant at this point, "Drill sergeant, can I please take off my glasses?" After a couple more clips, in three rounds in clips being shot, the drill sergeant finally agreed. And he allowed me to take my glasses off. And then they gave me a 30 round clip so that I could qualify and I qualified that day. I actually shot expert, but they gave me a sharp shooter, um, because of how long it took for me, uh, to get it.
Well, here's my point. I didn't need the glasses. I just needed to be able to see. So sometimes less is really more. The next part of our code is less is more. I want to start this one out by using an acronym that you perhaps have seen on different memes. It's been out for a few years, but it's something that has left a fingerprint in my heart and in my mind.
The word is B.U.S.Y that they use as an acronym, and they, the way it's defined is busy is Being Under Satan's Yoke. And that's what less is more, where this is really coming from. In ministry or we see someone else or another ministry or we see a great idea or look at what they did. Maybe we should do that too.
This all revolves around less is more. We don't need to do everything that's out there, even if it's something amazing, unless God directs us to do it. To give a biblical example, Nehemiah was called, by God, you could say, to go back and to help rebuild the wall. There's 10,000 things that needed to be done there in Jerusalem and in its rebuilding.
But he had one lane, he had one task, and Ezra came later, uh, Zerubbabel, uh, later, but he stayed and he did his one thing. Less is more is a lot like that. Just. But it also to me gives a huge relief and I hope like a breath of confidence. We don't have to do everything else that is out there. We just need to do what God wants us to do and then have the rest, that I did what he asked me to do.
And catch a breath of fresh air. So when I first started serving the Lord, man, the Lord really got a hold of my heart and I just wanted to do anything and everything for him. Uh, I got involved with any ministry that would take me, and, but then it got to the point where I wasn't home. I wasn't with my kids, I wasn't with my wife.
I was pouring out, pouring out, pouring out. But I had nothing to give to those closest to me, and I really thought I was doing the right thing and I thought that I was honoring God. As time went on, I ended up with lot of chest pain, gained a ton of weight. Nobody could kind of, you know, I was sick a lot and stuff like that.
And, uh, so one time a friend just said to me, "Man, you look really stressed out." And they asked what was going on in my life. And I had talked to 20 people about the pressure that I felt in my chest, the pain that I had. Um, but one person said to me, "That's called stress. You, you were pouring yourself out and you're just moving in a hundred directions, and if you don't slow down, this is gonna kill you."
That was a huge revelation to me. That I was trying to do the right thing. I wanted to do the right thing, and I thought the more that I did, did, did, did, did that it would bless God and it would bless other people. But I had no idea that it was actually killing me. So less is more, and it always will be.
Verses
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 NKJV
“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7 NKJV
“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.” Ezra 3:10-13 NKJV
“So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.” Nehemiah 4:16-18 NKJV
But there was one guy who couldn't even zero his rifle, and that one guy was me. And the, I'm in a fighting position with a drill sergeant and he said, "Son, if you can't do this, you're not gonna make it in this man's army." And in truth, at that point, I was done. I didn't even wanna be there. What happened was my first day of the military was getting all of your physicals and one of them being your eyes checked.
Uh, before I went into the army, I had stayed up more than 24 hours with Shanessa, who was my girlfriend back then, and so I was exhausted when I got there. And they woke us up just like everybody thinks, banging on trash cans and all this and that, screaming and yelling. And the first thing that I had to do was go get my eyes checked.
Well, I was barely awake. The um, and when I got my eyes checked, they were saying, you know, "What do you see?" And I'm like, "I don't know." I had sleepy eyes. I couldn't, I couldn't see at all, basically. So anyway, they gave me what's called BCGs or the military term for the glasses, they make us wear.
They're literally named by all of the soldiers, BCGs, which means birth control glasses cuz if you wear these things a girl will never look at you. I don't know if we should put that in there for the church. So they gave me these glasses and they told me that I had to wear 'em. These glasses gave me headaches.
Oh, they were so annoying. And I would ask the drill sergeants time and time again, "Hey, can I please take these things off?" Like when no one was watching, I'd take 'em off and I could see clearly, but I'd put these things on and everything would be blurry. So now jump back to the kid in the foxhole. I'm wearing the glasses, the target, even the front and the rear sight are completely blurry to me and I'm asking the drill Sergeant at this point, "Drill sergeant, can I please take off my glasses?" After a couple more clips, in three rounds in clips being shot, the drill sergeant finally agreed. And he allowed me to take my glasses off. And then they gave me a 30 round clip so that I could qualify and I qualified that day. I actually shot expert, but they gave me a sharp shooter, um, because of how long it took for me, uh, to get it.
Well, here's my point. I didn't need the glasses. I just needed to be able to see. So sometimes less is really more. The next part of our code is less is more. I want to start this one out by using an acronym that you perhaps have seen on different memes. It's been out for a few years, but it's something that has left a fingerprint in my heart and in my mind.
The word is B.U.S.Y that they use as an acronym, and they, the way it's defined is busy is Being Under Satan's Yoke. And that's what less is more, where this is really coming from. In ministry or we see someone else or another ministry or we see a great idea or look at what they did. Maybe we should do that too.
This all revolves around less is more. We don't need to do everything that's out there, even if it's something amazing, unless God directs us to do it. To give a biblical example, Nehemiah was called, by God, you could say, to go back and to help rebuild the wall. There's 10,000 things that needed to be done there in Jerusalem and in its rebuilding.
But he had one lane, he had one task, and Ezra came later, uh, Zerubbabel, uh, later, but he stayed and he did his one thing. Less is more is a lot like that. Just. But it also to me gives a huge relief and I hope like a breath of confidence. We don't have to do everything else that is out there. We just need to do what God wants us to do and then have the rest, that I did what he asked me to do.
And catch a breath of fresh air. So when I first started serving the Lord, man, the Lord really got a hold of my heart and I just wanted to do anything and everything for him. Uh, I got involved with any ministry that would take me, and, but then it got to the point where I wasn't home. I wasn't with my kids, I wasn't with my wife.
I was pouring out, pouring out, pouring out. But I had nothing to give to those closest to me, and I really thought I was doing the right thing and I thought that I was honoring God. As time went on, I ended up with lot of chest pain, gained a ton of weight. Nobody could kind of, you know, I was sick a lot and stuff like that.
And, uh, so one time a friend just said to me, "Man, you look really stressed out." And they asked what was going on in my life. And I had talked to 20 people about the pressure that I felt in my chest, the pain that I had. Um, but one person said to me, "That's called stress. You, you were pouring yourself out and you're just moving in a hundred directions, and if you don't slow down, this is gonna kill you."
That was a huge revelation to me. That I was trying to do the right thing. I wanted to do the right thing, and I thought the more that I did, did, did, did, did that it would bless God and it would bless other people. But I had no idea that it was actually killing me. So less is more, and it always will be.
Verses
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 NKJV
“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7 NKJV
“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.” Ezra 3:10-13 NKJV
“So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.” Nehemiah 4:16-18 NKJV
Recent
Archive
Categories
no categories
No Comments