What Does Flourishing Look Like?

On a recent phone call a man said one of the more honest statements I’ve ever heard: 

“I just wish that it was easier.”

Boy, do I resonate with that. How often do we hear it? I wish it was easier. I wish all of this work would just come together. I wish I didn’t want to drink that much. I wish I wasn’t so angry. I wish I wasn’t attracted to them. 

I wish that the realizations I have in therapy were easier to apply to everyday life. I wish the three main points the pastor said on Sunday could be auto updated into my brain and behavior like MacOS. 

Or whatever you Android sinners use. 

I wish that the feedback I receive in the circle was naturally a filter I used to talk to my wife. I wish it would all just click. 

If you have ever felt this way, believe me, you are not alone. 

The reality is that we weren’t designed this way originally. 

In an upcoming Hangar Podcast episode, Broadmoor pastor Neil Marsh taught at length on the original status of mankind. It was much more practical and peaceful than these “I wish” statements we resort to. 

In short: man was whole and thriving. Neil used the word “flourishing.” 

In the garden setting, man had companionship and a commision from God that was rewarding. He had things to put effort towards physically, relationally, and spiritually. And that exertion was fulfilling. 

We know that man received from God and rested well. What a world to live in. Flourishing indeed. 

But every person reading this remembers how the plot ultimately twists. Those good gifts were taken for granted and, ultimately, man’s misuse of freedom spelled out our future funerals. 

Sin entered the scene bringing with it deceit and death. But God was not done. 

Like a father, He informs man of the impact of his decisions. He tends to man's basic needs. He addresses man’s shame and mercifully severs him from the source of it. 

And already in those first few moments of separation God began to put into motion a solution that would bring us back together. 

A story that sets the stage for our questions: Why isn’t it easier?

Well, our own story takes place before the happy ending of that original one. 

I learned a lot from Neil in our time together, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did whenever it is published this Wednesday.

The most impactful information that he shared was that there is hope. 

Those foundational aspects of the garden are still the things that I need to flourish currently. Life will never be “easy” but it resembles our original design much more when we tend to those needs.

God’s intention was for us to be in relationship with Him, now through the revolutionary avenue that Jesus provided us with. He knows that we need to tend to good work that is fulfilling. We need to be known fully and labor towards leaving our shame behind us. 

As hangarmen, we know that these things only take place when we take seriously our commitment to the confessional community and our duty to discipleship. We must be seen and see others well. 

Because our brokenness is evident, but so is the growth that happens when we approach life together.