“Good Idea” or “God Idea”?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, October 15, 2007
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Scott continues his thoughts in this article from our friends at CatalystSpace.com…
A very weird drive home .
Nearly a year ago, I was driving home from a meeting with several high school students. As I turned into my neighborhood, I was suddenly struck with the crazy idea that I needed to go back to high school for two weeks. I am a youth pastor, and since working with students is my profession, I am used to weird thoughts. But usually it is a student presenting them to me! I was not sure where this idea was coming from. Was it from God? Or, was it a bi-product of too many late night Taco Bell trips in college? I was not sure, but a funny thing happened. This idea captured my heart.
I have had millions of ideas capture my attention: remodeling my garage to make the world’s coolest game room . building my son a three-story tree house . even creating a t-shirt cannon that would penetrate brick walls! But, for some reason, this idea of “back to school” was different. It penetrated multiple layers of my brain, heart, and spirit.
Over the next few months, I prayed about it. I thought about it. I journaled about it. I shared it with a few close friends and mentors. I even tried to forget about it. I couldn’t shake it. Finally, one night, I wrote in my journal, “God, if this is something you want, you’re going to be the one to make this happen. I don’t even think it’s possible.” Two weeks later, I took a simple step of obedience and found myself in the high school principal’s office presenting the idea that had been formulating in my mind for months. I shared with the principal that I wanted to go back to high school at age 33 to see what today’s students really go through. At this point, the idea could have died right there in her office. Instead, she spun around in her chair, asked me what classes I wanted to take, and began plugging me into the spring semester-as a student!
Six weeks later, I was back in high school. My course schedule was Freshman P.E., Algebra I, Construction, Literature, and Art Class. I was a 33-year old high school student with a locker, a backpack, and an ID (with a horrible photo). I found myself neck deep in student culture, and while the first several days were pretty exciting, I had no idea what God had in store.
Two Weeks Back
God used this opportunity to show me this was not just a “good idea.” It was “His idea.” A week into the experience, what I thought was just another “little idea” ended up in newspapers around the country, on CNN, and even on NBC’s Today Show. I shared with the national media about the stress that student’s today are experiencing. What I thought was a little idea, turned out to be something that He had evidently been preparing in advance for me to do for a long time (see Ephesians 2:10 for a transforming thought about this).
The entire experience was amazing for me. I learned a ton about students, and I learned a ton about how God longs to partner with us to fulfill His great big plans, even preparing the smallest of details! As a Catalyst trained leader, I found myself out on a shaky limb “engaging culture” and being forced to be “courageous in my calling.” I am learning that there is no better place to be! My experience is documented through video and blogs at http://www.twoweeksback.com.
Now back to the problem . Good idea or God idea?
So what about you? How do you know the difference? I have learned that discerning the difference takes time and can be very difficult. I am a work in progress, but here are some thoughts that may help you filter through the ideas in your heart:
Scott Greene writes, "Have you ever been driving and had what you thought was a revolutionary idea? Has an idea for a new venture ever kept you up at night planning and dreaming? Have you ever created a product in your mind that you knew could influence the standard of living for millions of people? Sure you have. We all have had "good ideas." Now, if you are like me, you have probably been confused about which ideas are simply "good ideas" and which ones are "God ideas". "
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