Digging Deeper LIVE with Andi and Brian Hale

Escape Room

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38

An escape room is a game in which a team of players discovers clues, solves puzzles, and accomplishes tasks in a limited amount of time. If the game ends and you're still stuck inside, a staff member will enter the room to show you the clues you missed, walk you through the solution, and escort you safely outside, where you will then be free to leave. We're going to use the escape room as an analogy so let's God size it.

Escape Room Challenge: Pay Sin Debt For All!

Was Jesus willing?

Yes! As we can see by our scripture verse, Jesus left Glory to do the will of the Father (Him who sent Me.)

I've known a few people who have done escape rooms, but it's not for everyone. Even though people know full well, no harm will come to them, and if they panic, someone will come let them out. It sounds like a pretty safe thrill experience. But you rarely see lines outside of these places, and you may not even know where one is. Now think of this more like a scene from SAW, and there was no way out other than death.

Jesus knew the path He was on and did so willingly. He didn't sulk. He didn't try to get out of it. He didn't try to convince someone else to take His place. He simply loved us enough to go to the cross and ultimately the grave for us.

I love our scripture verse because it sets the bar for us to follow the will of God. If Jesus was going to be doing "the will of Him who sent Me," then so can we.

Getting out of my subdivision takes a while due to traffic some days. But do you know what day it never takes time to get out? Sunday. Specifically, Sunday mornings for Church. There is no traffic on the highways and byways of America on Sunday mornings.

Our Savior left glory to pay a sin debt He did not owe, but we struggle to get out of bed once a week to worship God. Let's show God that we are willing to do His will and thank Jesus for doing so as well.

Uncommen Questions:

Do you find it hard to do God's will? Do you pray about that?

When was the last time you read the story of the events leading up and through Jesus dying on the cross?

Uncommen Challenge:

I challenge us all to be open to doing the will of God even when it's hard, just as Jesus did.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Even once we’ve made the choice to view our work as a sacrificial response to the call of our Caller, we still live in a world that constantly wars against our decision. If we are to effectively create for the glory of God and the good of others, rather than primarily for our own fame and fortune, we must, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our minds]." But how, practically, do we do this? As J.R.R. Tolkien shows us, a community of fellow Christian creators is an essential ingredient.

Any Tolkien fan knows that the author had a thing for trees. One morning, Tolkien woke up to find that a beloved tree just outside his home had been inexplicably chopped down by a neighbor. Tolkien was grieved because, for him, the fate the tree experienced represented what Tolkien feared for his “internal tree,” The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien had spent decades working on what he hoped would be the crowning achievement of his career; but as World War II crescendoed across Europe, Tolkien’s progress on the project had slowed considerably. With invasion of Britain seemingly imminent, Tolkien began to despair that, like the tree, his life might be suddenly chopped down, his life’s work with it.

Fortunately for Tolkien, he had surrounded himself with a community of other Christians to help renew his mind and maintain his eternal perspective. This group of friends, known as “the Inklings,” was comprised of men who shared Tolkien’s love of the Lord and literature, most notably among them, C.S. Lewis. For two decades, the group met with varying regularity at an Oxford pub called The Eagle and Child (which you can still visit today). At one of these get-togethers, we know that Tolkien brought up the slain tree and his fear that The Lord of the Rings might suffer the same fate. 

It was the Inklings that encouraged Tolkien to persevere in his work, while also reminding him that, even if his magnum opus was never completed, the simple act of being faithful to God’s call to create had eternal significance. We all know the rest of the story: Tolkien pressed on with this eternal perspective and The Lord of the Rings became one of the best-selling novels of all time.

Without regular communion with other believers to refresh their eternal perspectives, Tolkien may have never completed The Lord of the Rings, and Lewis may have never finished The Chronicles of Narnia. As we create in this world, it takes regular communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ to renew our minds and continually “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18).