It has happened before, and it was happening again. I had a weird problem, coded up an "interesting" solution, and then tried to find out why I felt strange about it.
In this case, I was writing a test function in a Django project to loop over a set of Tastypie api endpoints and make sure each endpoint responded without any errors. To allow this test to grow with the file describing the api endpoints and to follow basic DRY principles I decided to import that file, find all the classes of a given type find the attribute I needed to build up the url of the corresponding api endpoint, and use the test client to render that url and check for errors.
My first attempt looked like this:
It may work, but it's not pretty. I'm explicitly checking whether each object I'm looking for is of the correct class, then I'm checking for an attribute, and after that I'm still having to wrap everything in an Exception to handle the case where the first argument to "issubclass" is not, in fact, a class.
So, with the smell of bad code wafting through the air, I went off in search of better solutions. In this search I started in the place where all good programmer start: StackOverflow.
I started with this question about checking if a class is a subclass of another class. At first I dismissed the comment about "python is not java" as a preachy comments on dynamic languages, but that got me thinking: I've heard the same people advocating duck typing and at the same time saying not to use exceptions to control flow. I hadn't really put these 2 together solidly before, but now that I have this problem to work on, I see that these are quite related, and you can't have it both ways. Either you type check, or you handle the unexpected with exceptions.
Coming from a HPC world, I instinctively avoided exceptions because they are usually though of as slow. But after reading this very well phrased question on the topic of asking permission vs asking forgiveness (i.e. type checking vs. exception handling), my mind was starting to change. In python the performance penalty is not so large that Exceptions need only be used for "exeptional" circumstances. After all, iterators are controlled with the StopIteration Exception, and that's part of the core language.
My mind was made after reading a third great question and response explicitly addressing duck typing. The top answer recommends using Exceptions whenever possible as long as nothing really strange is going to happen if you try an operation on the wrong type of object. Most of the time it's better to just document your functions well, let your users decide if they want to use it, and raise and Exception up to them if something went wrong.
So after all this, I went back and tried to put back together my simple function using what I learned. I think the second take is more readable and probably just as fast as the original (the running of the test client for each url is definitely the bottleneck here anyway). The substitution of the getmembers function of the Inspect module helps too.
If you were running into a similar problem with smelly code or preachy internet pythonistas, I hope this helps clear things up.
P.S. - The code snippets were embedded by adding the following snippet directly in the body of the post using the HTML editor feature of Blogger:
<script src="https://gist.github.com/[username]/[gistID]/[gistVersion].js"></script>
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Photography: Layers in GIMP
The goal here was simple: to highlight a certain portion of a photograph with color while the rest stays black and white. For this, I chose a picture of a butterfly. In retrospect this is not the best choice because the butterfly is too dark to stand out well against a black and white background, but oh well. It still worked.
To start, open the image you want to edit in GIMP using File -> Open. Now go to Windows -> Dockable Dialogues -> Layers, or simply use the Ctrl-L command. A window will pop up that shows your current image with the default name, probably "Background". You can click in the eye icon to show or hide the layer.
Now you want to create a duplicate copy of your layer in black and white. Left click on your layer to select, then right click and select the "Duplicate Layer" option. A new layer should appear in the "Layers" window. Click on the eye icon next to your original layer ("background") to hide it so you know you are looking at your new layer.
Next, use Picassa to make your new layer black and white. An easy way to do this is to click to select your new layer in the "Layers" window, then select Colors -> Desaturate. The default settings work, but feel free to play around with the settings to see what works. Most changes can be undone with a simple "Ctrl-Z" if you make a mistake.
Now you have 2 layers: a color and a black and white copy of the same image. Now you need to use something called a layer mask to hide the portion of the black and white image that you want to be in color. So right click on the B&W layer in the Layers window and select "Add Layer Mask". Keep the default setting for "white (full opacity)".
Now go to the Toolbox window (it should have been up the whole time, but if not, go to Windows -> Toolbox to see it) and select the paintbrush tool. Use the menu in the toolbox to select a brush size and type (you probably want to start out with the big circle) and start painting your layer starting at the center of the area that you want to be in color. If you have hidden the original image correctly (i.e. the eye icon is only shown next to the B&W layer), you should see a checkered pattern showing through your image as you paint. Keep painting until all of the portion of the image that you want in color is gone. Make thc brush size smaller and zoom in to get around the edges.
Now you're almost done. Drag the B&W layer so it's above the original in the dialog box. Make sure the "Mode" of each layer (visible in the Layers window) is "Normal". Click the eye icon next to both to make them visible. Viola! Your color should be peeking through your B&W, giving the effect of color highlighting.
Now, go to File -> Save As to save your image. You can select whatever file type you want. Say ok if GIMP complains about JPEG not understanding layers - the default action by GIMP gives you what you want. The final product should be something like what is shown above.
In the image shown above, I got a little fancy and make the layers transparent by changing the "Mode" to "Overlay" for all the layers except the B&W, and I played with contrast color settings and mixed that with a layer where I applied an edge finding filter to make the image pop up. SO obviously there is a lot more you can do, but you'll just have to play around and figure it out. :)
Let me know if this helped!
 |
| The original photo. |
To start, open the image you want to edit in GIMP using File -> Open. Now go to Windows -> Dockable Dialogues -> Layers, or simply use the Ctrl-L command. A window will pop up that shows your current image with the default name, probably "Background". You can click in the eye icon to show or hide the layer.
Now you want to create a duplicate copy of your layer in black and white. Left click on your layer to select, then right click and select the "Duplicate Layer" option. A new layer should appear in the "Layers" window. Click on the eye icon next to your original layer ("background") to hide it so you know you are looking at your new layer.
Next, use Picassa to make your new layer black and white. An easy way to do this is to click to select your new layer in the "Layers" window, then select Colors -> Desaturate. The default settings work, but feel free to play around with the settings to see what works. Most changes can be undone with a simple "Ctrl-Z" if you make a mistake.
Now you have 2 layers: a color and a black and white copy of the same image. Now you need to use something called a layer mask to hide the portion of the black and white image that you want to be in color. So right click on the B&W layer in the Layers window and select "Add Layer Mask". Keep the default setting for "white (full opacity)".
Now go to the Toolbox window (it should have been up the whole time, but if not, go to Windows -> Toolbox to see it) and select the paintbrush tool. Use the menu in the toolbox to select a brush size and type (you probably want to start out with the big circle) and start painting your layer starting at the center of the area that you want to be in color. If you have hidden the original image correctly (i.e. the eye icon is only shown next to the B&W layer), you should see a checkered pattern showing through your image as you paint. Keep painting until all of the portion of the image that you want in color is gone. Make thc brush size smaller and zoom in to get around the edges.
Now you're almost done. Drag the B&W layer so it's above the original in the dialog box. Make sure the "Mode" of each layer (visible in the Layers window) is "Normal". Click the eye icon next to both to make them visible. Viola! Your color should be peeking through your B&W, giving the effect of color highlighting.
 |
| The new image using 3 layers. The B&W is in "normal" mode and the other two are color layers with different qualities in "Overlay" mode to give a mixing feel. |
Now, go to File -> Save As to save your image. You can select whatever file type you want. Say ok if GIMP complains about JPEG not understanding layers - the default action by GIMP gives you what you want. The final product should be something like what is shown above.
In the image shown above, I got a little fancy and make the layers transparent by changing the "Mode" to "Overlay" for all the layers except the B&W, and I played with contrast color settings and mixed that with a layer where I applied an edge finding filter to make the image pop up. SO obviously there is a lot more you can do, but you'll just have to play around and figure it out. :)
Let me know if this helped!
Photography: Before and After for Basic Editing in GIMP and Pisacca
After talking to my wife, I learned that she really liked the color settings on here friends new Canon DSLR. We weren't sure if our Canon SD1000 would be able to produce colors like this, but I figured it was worth looking into.
I have messed around with Picassa a few times to do some basic editing, and I have also used some of the functions in GIMP to get a little fancy with my editing. Some example of what I found we could do are shown below.
Set 1:
The first image looks o.k., but a little dull. By playing around with some settings in GIMP (mainly color saturation and contrast), I was able to create bit more appealing version in the second photo. In the new photo, the water looks bluer, the plants look greener, and everything just pops a little bit more.
Set 2:
Again, the first image is quite nice, but the colors just look a lot nicer when saturation is boosted.
Set 3:
GIMP is certainly capable of much more than I have done here, but it's still neat that with just a few minutes of messing around you can turn decent photos into really nice photos.
I have messed around with Picassa a few times to do some basic editing, and I have also used some of the functions in GIMP to get a little fancy with my editing. Some example of what I found we could do are shown below.
Set 1:
The first image looks o.k., but a little dull. By playing around with some settings in GIMP (mainly color saturation and contrast), I was able to create bit more appealing version in the second photo. In the new photo, the water looks bluer, the plants look greener, and everything just pops a little bit more.
Set 2:
Again, the first image is quite nice, but the colors just look a lot nicer when saturation is boosted.
Set 3:
The angles looked nice when I took this picture, but the horizon is uneven and the colors just clash a bit too much. Using the softglow filter in GIMP and messing with hue, I was able to make something a bit more interesting.
GIMP is certainly capable of much more than I have done here, but it's still neat that with just a few minutes of messing around you can turn decent photos into really nice photos.
Photography: Getting the most out of a point-and-shoot
Similar to the last post about fishing, this article will be an "information dump" with all of the interesting things I have found about photography while researching it in the last two days.
My wife and I were looking at a DSLR, and after thinking about it, I was simply not convinced that this camera was a great choice. I had read many articles that talked about the wonderful photos that could be taken with point and shoots, so I knew there was untapped potential in our Canon SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph. Further, I knew the cost and size of the DSLR would make it annoying to tote around, and we would always be scared of it breaking.
Thus, I went in search of information on how to get the most out of our little point and shoot.
The first set of three articles are general information on why point-and-shoots are great, and techniques for getting the most of of them.
Night shooting is something we also wanted to try. In particular, we want to shoot a nice night cityscape of Atlanta. These articles have some great tips on how to get very good photos at night, including portraits, stills, and scenery shots.
Since we want to blow up our cityscape photo, I did a little research into what resolution camera we need to get a nice blown-up photo. It turns out that matters very little.
And although cameras don't matter so much, to get my wife really going on photography here are some I picked out as great options. It looks like the travel-zoom category of cameras is the place to look, since the DSLRs and even the micro 4/3 class are a bit big to carry around.
My wife and I were looking at a DSLR, and after thinking about it, I was simply not convinced that this camera was a great choice. I had read many articles that talked about the wonderful photos that could be taken with point and shoots, so I knew there was untapped potential in our Canon SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph. Further, I knew the cost and size of the DSLR would make it annoying to tote around, and we would always be scared of it breaking.
 |
| Our current point-and-shoot. |
The first set of three articles are general information on why point-and-shoots are great, and techniques for getting the most of of them.
- http://lifehacker.com/5489968/get-the-most-from-your-point+and+shoot-camera
- great discussion of what preset modes are good for, like landscape and portrait
- http://photo.net/learn/point-and-shoot-tips
- http://photo.net/learn/point-and-shoot-photo-tips/top-ten-tips/
Night shooting is something we also wanted to try. In particular, we want to shoot a nice night cityscape of Atlanta. These articles have some great tips on how to get very good photos at night, including portraits, stills, and scenery shots.
- http://www.digital-photography-school.com/6-tips-for-better-night-photos-with-a-point-and-shoot-camera
- the author of this article has the same model as us
- note the relationship between shutter speed and aperature, and what that does for focus
- note the tradeoffs between using iso and shutter speed to capture good photos
- http://www.pointandshootshutterbug.com/6-steps-to-improving-your-night-photography.html
- again, author has the same camera as us!
Since we want to blow up our cityscape photo, I did a little research into what resolution camera we need to get a nice blown-up photo. It turns out that matters very little.
- http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm
- http://www.design215.com/toolbox/megapixels.php
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/technology/08pogue.html
And although cameras don't matter so much, to get my wife really going on photography here are some I picked out as great options. It looks like the travel-zoom category of cameras is the place to look, since the DSLRs and even the micro 4/3 class are a bit big to carry around.
- http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_powershot_sx40_hs_review/
- Full-size mega zoom with a bit more built in versatility, but much larger than most compacts. Not very portable, but lots of options with feel of DSLR. This is probably my least favorite.
- costs ~$370
- http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_powershot_sx230_hs_review/
- A compact mega zoom with lots of features and great quality photo
- NOTE: Smaller cameras are harder to hold and usually have less battery power and a narrower aperture lens
- costs ~$200
- http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_cybershot_dsc_hx9v_review/
- A travel-zoom a bit larger than the Canon above, with more features, great image quality, and a slightly larger body for a better grip.
- CNET review
- ~$330
- http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_lumix_dmc_lx5_review/
- Similar to the above, but a class above in terms of picture quality, speed, and manual options.
- CNET review
- ~$350
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Fishing Tips
In was a bit frustrated when I went fishing over the summer and had no luck at all fishing. As in not a single bite. So I did a ton of research and tried to figure out what I did wrong. Below is most of what I found.
Gear
10 Things every tackle box needs and Let's outfit a tacklebox
Weights, lures, hooks, pliers, etc.
Spinning reels vs baitcast reels
Baitcast gives a little more control and is necessary for very heavy-duty applications, spin cast works better for very light lures.
Tip for clearing backlash
How often to replace line
1-2 times per year depending on use.
Hook buyer guide
Types of fish
Bass
Tips for catching bass
Fishing line for bass
Choosing the right lures
Topwater tips
Crappie
Location, presentation, behavior
Spring crappie tips
John on crappie fishing
Bream
Soft plastics for bream
Poppers for bream
Catfish
How to make catfish soap
Soap bait demo
How to make a catfish jug
Carp
Prepping carp for cooking
Doughball recipies
NPR doughball tips
Weakfish
How to catch weakfish in the bay
Bluefish
How to catch bluefish
Guide to bluefish
Stripers
Live bait rigs
Bunker head rig
Rigs
How to tie double fishing line
How to tie a surgeon's knot
Sabiki rig for surf casting
Live bait rigs
Types of lures
Lurenet
A website that sells lures, but also has good explanations about what each design is, what it is useful for, etc.
Quick overview of lure types
Top water lures
Soft plastics with KVD
Topwater lures for saltwater
Jerk bait
How to fish using a jerk bait
Spinner bait
How to work a spinner bait
Spinnerbait with KVD
Spinner bait tactics
Spoons
Spoons are good for finding fish and fishing quickly. Best in deep water.
Jigging spoons on YouTube
Basic tips
Jigging spoons in salt water
Jigging spoons tips
Jig and Pig
5 tips
Finesse jig tips
Bass edge jig tips
Basics
Jigs with KVD
Jigging for bluefish and stripers with bucktails
Bass professor jig and pork
Bass professor bucktail jig
Jig and pig made simple
Buzzbait
Tips
Bass professor buzz baits
Plastic worms
Tips for bass
Tips for plastic grubs or worms
4 minute tip video
Carolina vs Texas rigs
Carolina rig made simple
Texas, Caolina, and floating rigs
Swim bait
Basic promotional video tips
Plastic frogs
Tips
Rattle
Rattletrap tips
Casting Technique
Skip cast
Easy cast for surf casting
Texas long distance surf casting
Off the beach surf cast
Retrieval technique
Basics to lure retreives
Walk the dog
Platforms
Kayak
3 golden rules
Georgia Kayak Fishing
Bay
Bay fishing tips
Met Atlanta
What fish live in streams in metropolitain Atlanta
Environment
Bass professor - environment
Bass profesor - Big bass feed midday
Bass professor - night fishing
Bass professor - Shallow water for big bass
Bass professor - fishing a new lake
Coldwater lures
Color selection
Bass professor tips
This will be updated and cleaned up later.
Gear
10 Things every tackle box needs and Let's outfit a tacklebox
Weights, lures, hooks, pliers, etc.
Spinning reels vs baitcast reels
Baitcast gives a little more control and is necessary for very heavy-duty applications, spin cast works better for very light lures.
Tip for clearing backlash
How often to replace line
1-2 times per year depending on use.
Hook buyer guide
Types of fish
Bass
Tips for catching bass
Fishing line for bass
Choosing the right lures
Topwater tips
Crappie
Location, presentation, behavior
Spring crappie tips
John on crappie fishing
Bream
Soft plastics for bream
Poppers for bream
Catfish
How to make catfish soap
Soap bait demo
How to make a catfish jug
Carp
Prepping carp for cooking
Doughball recipies
NPR doughball tips
Weakfish
How to catch weakfish in the bay
Bluefish
How to catch bluefish
Guide to bluefish
Stripers
Live bait rigs
Bunker head rig
Rigs
How to tie double fishing line
How to tie a surgeon's knot
Sabiki rig for surf casting
Live bait rigs
Types of lures
Lurenet
A website that sells lures, but also has good explanations about what each design is, what it is useful for, etc.
Quick overview of lure types
Top water lures
Soft plastics with KVD
Topwater lures for saltwater
Jerk bait
How to fish using a jerk bait
Spinner bait
How to work a spinner bait
Spinnerbait with KVD
Spinner bait tactics
Spoons
Spoons are good for finding fish and fishing quickly. Best in deep water.
Jigging spoons on YouTube
Basic tips
Jigging spoons in salt water
Jigging spoons tips
Jig and Pig
5 tips
Finesse jig tips
Bass edge jig tips
Basics
Jigs with KVD
Jigging for bluefish and stripers with bucktails
Bass professor jig and pork
Bass professor bucktail jig
Jig and pig made simple
Buzzbait
Tips
Bass professor buzz baits
Plastic worms
Tips for bass
Tips for plastic grubs or worms
4 minute tip video
Carolina vs Texas rigs
Carolina rig made simple
Texas, Caolina, and floating rigs
Swim bait
Basic promotional video tips
Plastic frogs
Tips
Rattle
Rattletrap tips
Casting Technique
Skip cast
Easy cast for surf casting
Texas long distance surf casting
Off the beach surf cast
Retrieval technique
Basics to lure retreives
Walk the dog
Platforms
Kayak
3 golden rules
Georgia Kayak Fishing
Bay
Bay fishing tips
Met Atlanta
What fish live in streams in metropolitain Atlanta
Environment
Bass professor - environment
Bass profesor - Big bass feed midday
Bass professor - night fishing
Bass professor - Shallow water for big bass
Bass professor - fishing a new lake
Coldwater lures
Color selection
Bass professor tips
This will be updated and cleaned up later.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Ayn Rand and Objectivism
Last fall I finished reading Atlas Shrugged. I had wanted to read it for a while, having heard it mentioned by many people withing similar political ideologies to myself, and I was really excited when I finally found it on the shelf of a Goodwill for $1. At ~1200 pages that's quite the bang for the buck.
I have to say that overall I am not entirely impressed. Ayn Rand seems to suffer from the same problem handling concision as Noam Chomskey.
Obviously she is a smart person, but perhaps she could express things in less words? Several times in the book I felt quite anxious for things to progress, and instead the same themes were getting pounded on over and over again.
From one point of view, this was exactly what she wanted. Atlas was supposed to be her grand philosophical exposition on Objectivism, and she surly did beat in the basics. When I finished the book and read the section in the back which explained what objectivism was I really didn't find too many surprises. Still, I was a little surprise by the shallowness of the philosophy. The basic idea is certainly interesting - it's basically rational self interest. This looks to be very similar to John Piper's Christian hedonism, but falls short of encapsulating the richness of the human experience in a similar manner.
A recent post on the Mokingbird blog talks about the consequences of this partially developed world view. If a philosophical system leaves no room for the pleasure that comes from helping other people, some of whom many not deserve it, even as a selfish motive for a better world for yourself or your children, there is something seriously amiss.
Now, I don't think Ayn Rand completely missed this. In Atlas there are several incidences of people helping each other, but she seemed a bit unable to address this in any formal manner, and thus it seems many of her adherents ignore this component of her philosophy and stick to strict surface-level self interest.
I think this is akin to adopting a surface level philosophy of utilitarianism. Even introductory level philosophy class discussions quickly show how we all object to the idea of killing one to save a few (see below). So is utilitarianism not at all valid? I don't think so. I think we have to go a bit further to look at the full implications for a set of actions. What are the larger societal consequences? How does this change the choice of maximum utility? Unless we go far past the immediate surface level variables defining our problem, we cannot hope to really address something so complex as a moral choice with any degree of rigor.
Still, I would say its best not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are parts of the book that were inspiring and genuinely interesting, and I really did enjoy the story at large. The idea of striving for self dependence and owning up to our own self interest were very refreshing to me, but it is also important not to adopt a system of morality without making sure you fully understand what it is and why its set up the way it is. Anything less is simply morally irresponsible.
I have to say that overall I am not entirely impressed. Ayn Rand seems to suffer from the same problem handling concision as Noam Chomskey.
Obviously she is a smart person, but perhaps she could express things in less words? Several times in the book I felt quite anxious for things to progress, and instead the same themes were getting pounded on over and over again.
From one point of view, this was exactly what she wanted. Atlas was supposed to be her grand philosophical exposition on Objectivism, and she surly did beat in the basics. When I finished the book and read the section in the back which explained what objectivism was I really didn't find too many surprises. Still, I was a little surprise by the shallowness of the philosophy. The basic idea is certainly interesting - it's basically rational self interest. This looks to be very similar to John Piper's Christian hedonism, but falls short of encapsulating the richness of the human experience in a similar manner.
A recent post on the Mokingbird blog talks about the consequences of this partially developed world view. If a philosophical system leaves no room for the pleasure that comes from helping other people, some of whom many not deserve it, even as a selfish motive for a better world for yourself or your children, there is something seriously amiss.
Now, I don't think Ayn Rand completely missed this. In Atlas there are several incidences of people helping each other, but she seemed a bit unable to address this in any formal manner, and thus it seems many of her adherents ignore this component of her philosophy and stick to strict surface-level self interest.
I think this is akin to adopting a surface level philosophy of utilitarianism. Even introductory level philosophy class discussions quickly show how we all object to the idea of killing one to save a few (see below). So is utilitarianism not at all valid? I don't think so. I think we have to go a bit further to look at the full implications for a set of actions. What are the larger societal consequences? How does this change the choice of maximum utility? Unless we go far past the immediate surface level variables defining our problem, we cannot hope to really address something so complex as a moral choice with any degree of rigor.
Still, I would say its best not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are parts of the book that were inspiring and genuinely interesting, and I really did enjoy the story at large. The idea of striving for self dependence and owning up to our own self interest were very refreshing to me, but it is also important not to adopt a system of morality without making sure you fully understand what it is and why its set up the way it is. Anything less is simply morally irresponsible.
Waiting on God's Timing
Last night at Bible study we delved into the issue of God's timing for a little while. My big question was: How do I know if I'm waiting on God or just being passive? Which is also related to: How do I know I'm taking action on the right things and not just ignoring God's timing? I wasn't really sure where to start in scripture, so I looked up a bunch of articles online and read them (and esp. their scripture references) to get some context.
The first ones I read were by Oswald Chambers. He says "When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait" and "Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment." I guess the main problem here is how to identify a time of waiting. Sure, if God has us in a "time of waiting" it makes sense to try to figure out why, but how do we know we have come into such a time. Also, I don't really agree with the idea that if we always act in God's timing He will always accomplish things "without any heartache or disappointment." I think even when we are perfectly in God's will things will not be smooth sailing. Although going against God's will usually makes things tougher in the long run, the straight-and-narrow isn't always bright and sunny!
The next thing I read was a random article from a website I hadn't heard of before, so I was a little skeptical of its content. Still, I have to say I agreed with most of it. It mentioned that when it comes to tough decisions, we have God's word, then the wisdom He gives us, then the wise counsel of others, with waiting on God really coming after all those. The Bible and most of the articles I read are clear about the fact that God makes some things clear to us through these means, and He intends for us to make use of them. A short sound clip from John Piper (about 3 minutes long) also mentions this, saying there is a tension between our need to take action and waiting on God's timing and guidance. Sometimes we have to have faith that the wisdom God is giving us is sufficient to guide us through many of the small decisions in life, but we should continually seek God to center ourselves on this wisdom and specifically seek His guidance on major decisions.
The next article I read did a really great job of describing what waiting on the Lord looks like. We should be characterized by:
1) confident assurance
2) patient endurance
3) steadfast hope
4) willing obedience
One quote from this article that stuck me was: "Waiting is the rule rather than the exception, and we should wait with confidence and assurance in God's plan and provision." I think what the author means is that more often than not we don't know what's next and we must be patient and wait until God reveals that to us. That aligns with one of my favorite quotes from Oswald Chambers: "The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty." Although we are uncertain of the path our lives will take, we have great certainty in the person of Christ, and that is where we put out hope.
From these I feel like I better understand why to wait on God, when its o.k. to just go ahead and act, and what waiting on God looks like. A few other resources really solidified that perspective.
The first few were passages from the Bible. In Isaiah the Bible says that those who wait on the Lord will gain strength and not grow weary. Certainly great strength comes from knowing we are doing God's will. Similarly, in John Christ talks about how important it is for us to abide in Him. Without Christ, not only will we grow tired and weary, but also our work will not be of any eternal value! There are many other verses in the Bible mentioning waiting on the Lord, but these two really impacted me. To truly be productive and be a good steward of what God has given me, I must slow down and seek His will -- just moving faster and doing what seems right will not be as effective in the long run. The Bible makes it clear that even those who do great acts for Christ are not saved unless they know Christ intimately. This is very convicting to me, as I have a tendency to value my work for Christ over my relationship with Him.
The last one I read was a short magazine article that really did a good job of summing things up. In the article, the author mentions that when she asked her grandfather about how to understand God's plan for her life, he told her “when you pray, pray as to get to know Christ. Prayer is about knowing our Father in heaven.” This means that when we pray, we should seek Christ and wait on Him, not just on His provision. Christ is the object of our lives, not His blessing. If we start praying our prayers seeking Christ and not with an ulterior motive of convincing Christ of our need for something we will generally find ourselves much more satisfied.
In total, I think I see much more clearly now how to progress. We should walk by faith in Christ as closely as we can, using the word, wisdom, and Godly counsel to guide us. Every day, and especially for the big decisions, we need to seek Christ Himself. We should wait confidently and hopefully (expecting Christ's provision), patiently (not acting rashly or without consulting God), and obediently (willing to act on what God reveals to us). If we do all these things life may not be rosy, but we can be assured God will give us strength, we will be having an eternal impact, and most importantly, we will know Christ and He will know us in the end.
I hope this was as helpful to you as it was for me and you are encouraged by the call to walk by faith.
Also, I'm usually not a big fan of "Christian" music, but I like this guy and it seems appropriate here:
The first ones I read were by Oswald Chambers. He says "When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait" and "Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment." I guess the main problem here is how to identify a time of waiting. Sure, if God has us in a "time of waiting" it makes sense to try to figure out why, but how do we know we have come into such a time. Also, I don't really agree with the idea that if we always act in God's timing He will always accomplish things "without any heartache or disappointment." I think even when we are perfectly in God's will things will not be smooth sailing. Although going against God's will usually makes things tougher in the long run, the straight-and-narrow isn't always bright and sunny!
The next thing I read was a random article from a website I hadn't heard of before, so I was a little skeptical of its content. Still, I have to say I agreed with most of it. It mentioned that when it comes to tough decisions, we have God's word, then the wisdom He gives us, then the wise counsel of others, with waiting on God really coming after all those. The Bible and most of the articles I read are clear about the fact that God makes some things clear to us through these means, and He intends for us to make use of them. A short sound clip from John Piper (about 3 minutes long) also mentions this, saying there is a tension between our need to take action and waiting on God's timing and guidance. Sometimes we have to have faith that the wisdom God is giving us is sufficient to guide us through many of the small decisions in life, but we should continually seek God to center ourselves on this wisdom and specifically seek His guidance on major decisions.
The next article I read did a really great job of describing what waiting on the Lord looks like. We should be characterized by:
1) confident assurance
2) patient endurance
3) steadfast hope
4) willing obedience
One quote from this article that stuck me was: "Waiting is the rule rather than the exception, and we should wait with confidence and assurance in God's plan and provision." I think what the author means is that more often than not we don't know what's next and we must be patient and wait until God reveals that to us. That aligns with one of my favorite quotes from Oswald Chambers: "The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty." Although we are uncertain of the path our lives will take, we have great certainty in the person of Christ, and that is where we put out hope.
From these I feel like I better understand why to wait on God, when its o.k. to just go ahead and act, and what waiting on God looks like. A few other resources really solidified that perspective.
The first few were passages from the Bible. In Isaiah the Bible says that those who wait on the Lord will gain strength and not grow weary. Certainly great strength comes from knowing we are doing God's will. Similarly, in John Christ talks about how important it is for us to abide in Him. Without Christ, not only will we grow tired and weary, but also our work will not be of any eternal value! There are many other verses in the Bible mentioning waiting on the Lord, but these two really impacted me. To truly be productive and be a good steward of what God has given me, I must slow down and seek His will -- just moving faster and doing what seems right will not be as effective in the long run. The Bible makes it clear that even those who do great acts for Christ are not saved unless they know Christ intimately. This is very convicting to me, as I have a tendency to value my work for Christ over my relationship with Him.
The last one I read was a short magazine article that really did a good job of summing things up. In the article, the author mentions that when she asked her grandfather about how to understand God's plan for her life, he told her “when you pray, pray as to get to know Christ. Prayer is about knowing our Father in heaven.” This means that when we pray, we should seek Christ and wait on Him, not just on His provision. Christ is the object of our lives, not His blessing. If we start praying our prayers seeking Christ and not with an ulterior motive of convincing Christ of our need for something we will generally find ourselves much more satisfied.
In total, I think I see much more clearly now how to progress. We should walk by faith in Christ as closely as we can, using the word, wisdom, and Godly counsel to guide us. Every day, and especially for the big decisions, we need to seek Christ Himself. We should wait confidently and hopefully (expecting Christ's provision), patiently (not acting rashly or without consulting God), and obediently (willing to act on what God reveals to us). If we do all these things life may not be rosy, but we can be assured God will give us strength, we will be having an eternal impact, and most importantly, we will know Christ and He will know us in the end.
I hope this was as helpful to you as it was for me and you are encouraged by the call to walk by faith.
Also, I'm usually not a big fan of "Christian" music, but I like this guy and it seems appropriate here:
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