John Markum

Ignorance is Bliss*

*Sometimes

Let me explain… Information is important, and willfully ignoring what’s right in from of you is fatal. However, the experts, the professionals, the tenured and most experienced people will often give counsel that is counter intuitive to the gut instinct building inside of you to break molds, attempt the impossible, and set a new expectation for what’s “normal.”

Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, you must ignore conventional wisdom regarding what you know you’re suppose to do. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that, “God chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; the weak things to confound the strong.”

If I had listened to the “wisdom” given me at various points in my life, I wouldn’t have gone into ministry, found my wife, had kids when we did, live where we live, started a church, grown a beard…

On a related note, people are super nosey! Which is kind of my point. Anyone can have a strong opinion rooted in their experience. But that doesn’t make it law for you. For every worthwhile pursuit, there’s a thousand voices giving compelling arguments as to why you shouldn’t even try. But you know the alternative means going to work, paying bills, repeat, wait for the embrace of death. You can’t play it safe.

Live. Attempt greatness. Risk failure. Accept defeat. Rise again. Pray harder. Rest. Take a fresh look. Learn. Grow. Fail again. Rise again. Find your breakthrough. Overcome. Look back. Celebrate. 20 years have past. Someone calls you an “over-night success.”  They’re inspired now. They don’t even know! It’s too late. There’s no stopping them now…

What can you say? Ignorance is Bliss. Sometimes.

Blessings,
Pastor John

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