The Abandoned Cart
Joe Killian • October 17, 2019
In the first week of selling Our Journey WITH God, I noticed on the dashboard of my online book store
that there were 14 abandoned carts. My first reaction was, "Oh no! How do I get in touch with those people to make sure they get their book?" A part of me wanted to "run through the store" to reconnect the abandoned carts with their owners. After laughing at the notion of chasing virtual cart owners around a digital store a thought occurred to me.
How must God feel when we "abandon" Him? Even with the best of intentions to spend time with God we allow all sorts of distractions and wanderings to draw us away from Him. Depending on the circumstances of our day we may return to Him or rush off into something altogether different.
In fact, the longer I reflect on this the more I recognize how frequently I allow this to happen. "Gosh, I'm really sorry, Lord. Please help me to get reoriented toward you so I can figure out where you're leading me on my journey today." A simple prayer like that helps me immensely. I find that God's Spirit helps me to return to Him. And in those moments I no longer feel distracted and adrift because the God of the universe is there waiting to embrace me. "Thank you, Lord, for never abandoning me."

The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.

Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.