Relax. Everything's going to be awesome.

Genesis 12: 10-13

 ¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. ¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

You know, all those guys from the Bible you heard about when you were a kid? People like Abraham (AKA Abram before God renamed him), David, Joseph, Samson and all the rest? Yeah, most of them were screw ups. In fact, half of the list I’ve just presented we horny screw ups. Yeah, hope I wasn’t the one to have to break that to you.

So, I’ve got two points for today. Number one is mostly for the guys. So, fellas.

Man up.

Honestly, I could stop right there. That is the entire point I’m about to rail on for a minute or two. Man. Up. Now, you may be asking, “Rick, what do you mean by ‘man up’?” Well, what I mean is this. Go find some responsibility and start taking care of it. Don’t worry, it isn’t difficult to find some job that somebody should be doing. all you have to do is start doing it. It could be cleaning up your house or apartment or Mom’s basement. You know, where ever you live. It could be getting a job so you can get out of said basement. Maybe even just getting off your butt and doing your homework. Ooooo. Or better yet, get involved in your church. What a weird idea that would be. Instead of thinking your making the cut by showing up and singing every Sunday, maybe you could try actually trying to help out in some way. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Want another way you can man up? Stop looking for something to make out with or that will boost your ego and go become the kind of man a woman will want to marry. Instead of being wishy washy about all this asking a girl out thing, find a girl you like and ask her out. Then when she says no, try and figure out why. Once you’ve gotten out of the skin tight jeans and into a gym, try again (same girl, different girl, doesn’t really matter so long as you’re giving it a shot instead of writing her sad little poems you’ll never show anyone). Then, once you’ve realized that the world does not revolve around you go actually listen to some sermons. I recommend Mark Driscoll. Especially the one called Trial: Marriage and Men. Rinse and repeat by continuing to work on your flaws and grow closer to God until you’ve become a man. It might not get you a date immediately, but trust me, the people in your life will be glad for it.

Alright, so now that I’ve ranted for a moment let’s talk about Abraham and what a stupid stupid thing he did. Abraham was pretty consistently a loser. In fact, that stunt he pulled with saying his wife was his sister? He did it twice. Not only that, but he let his wife talk him into sleeping with another woman. Then when his wife decided that she didn’t like that woman or the kid she had because of it (who could’ve seen that one coming?) Abraham let her talk him into sending the woman and his freaking son out into the desert to die. It also appears that he spoiled his other son Isaac so much that Isaac never really learned how to raise his own sons.

Abraham really only managed to do one thing right. He trusted God. That right there, makes all the difference. Abraham was not a good guy. He wasn’t a smart guy. He was barely even a man. He was just a rich dude that God decided to use. There is some really good news in that. Trust me, if God used a screw up like Abraham (or David, or Joseph, or Samson, all of whom I’ll probably get to some day.) He can use you. In fact, God wants to use you. God wants to make something through you. Do you ever look at your life and realize that one day you’ll be gone? One day no one living will remember you. Even if you become rich or powerful, you’ll just become a name in the history books that people will argue about. No one will really know who you were as a person. Not if you trust God. Not only will you have the opportunity to do something worth doing with your life, you’ll be remembered for it. It doesn’t matter what kind of screw up you’ve been. What matters is, will you let God use you?