The Future

We like to see the big picture and know the huge things we are going to do “for the Lord.”  And I admit I fall in to this category often.  I want to do great things for the Lord.  I want to serve people and impact lives.  Essentially, I want to know that I made a difference.  Isn’t this what we all want: to know we mattered?  Though these statements look sacrificial on the front end, are they not still all about me?  Don’t each of these statements say what I want to see myself do?  God chooses to use us when and how He desires.  He doesn’t always tell us where we are going.  Sometimes I forget that many of the figures in the Bible did not know where they were going most of the time.  Abraham did not know where He was going, He just started walking because the Lord said to.  I need to stop wondering what I can do and start asking what He is doing?  I don’t need to wait for some distant day in the future to serve Him.  There are needs wherever we find ourselves.  This summer I learned a lot about resting in today.  I’m still learning.  But I need to understand that if I am serving the Lord today, in this moment, then I will be where I am supposed to be in 10-20 years.  Yes, it is important that I work for what I feel is right and that I feel a sense of purpose.  But that purpose should be less about me and more about my neighbor.  That purpose should be less about quick fixes, easy results, and fast improvements and more about the slow, steady journey to equality, love, and justice.  That purpose should be less about my life and more about joining hands with the powerful and the least of these and working towards a common goal; working towards a goal of humanity and not simply my own goal.  Instead of selfishly worrying about my life, I want to rest in the knowledge that I will be taken care of and be where I am supposed to be.  Instead of asking the Lord for things, I want to listen to His desires.  Instead of wondering what about me, I want to hear the call and respond like Isaiah saying, “Here I am Lord, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).  So here I am Lord.  Thy will and not mine own be done.

“Within the journey itself, leaders gain the wisdom to trust that God will provide what is needed for the next step.” ~ Reconciling All Things by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

Life is improve.  We never know anything for sure.  So why do I spend so much time worrying?  I should do what I can in this moment; in this day.  The next day’s lines will come.  It’s a mystery.  How else could beautiful surprises take place?