>I like this definition of God’s wisdom, which directly affects His will for our lives..
“God orchestrates only the best possible results by the best possible means to accomplish the highest purpose for the most people for the longest time.” -Chip Ingram
That is God’s will.. to affect the most people possible for the kingdom. Our lives as Christians are included in that. We are not put on this earth to live happy and comfortable all the time. In this country, though, I think many struggle with settling in mediocrity because of society’s expectations. Go to college, get married, have kids, work hard, retire wealthy. Life doesn’t always work out that way.
I’ve mentioned before that I thought for sure I’d have a baby by now. Turns out that that would not have been a good plan since Aaron has been absent for going on two years.
Some days I wonder why in the world I’m working minimum wage when I busted my butt for magna cum laude and a BA. In heaven, no one is going to care about the tens of thousands of dollars I am still paying for my private education. It’s not going to matter. All that will matter is: Did I obey the Lord when He called me out? Was I eager, and not reluctant, to answer the call, like Isaiah? Did I live a life full of the fruits of the Spirit, affecting everyone around me in a positive manner?
There is no way we can plan our lives for the best possible outcome. Even when we have the privilege of the Holy Spirit to guide us, we can’t know what our future holds. All we are guaranteed is right now. Today. Not even tomorrow or two weeks from now. And how much time do we ponder and worry about what will be happening in the future? It’s quite ridiculous if you think about it.
I tell you, the day I realized that my purpose on earth is to glorify God and worship Him, I felt a gap close. An abyss that most fall into, and try to fill their whole lives with…. stuff. Materialism. Workaholism. Alcoholism. Addiction. Sex. Money. Pleasure. Relationships. Things.
The truth is, you (I mean you!) will never be satisfied until you are doing what the Spirit desires to do. Never ever ever.
I have been really thinking lately… with some spare time I have… about life and more specifically what I am doing and who I’m affecting (or whom.. I never really knew the difference). I can see why I majored in Spanish, why I married my husband, why I taught school.
But sometimes about the latter I wonder why it was only for two years. Maybe my work was done there? Maybe it was time for me to move on, Korea or not? At Jo-Ann’s I have new relationships and a new area of outreach. Come June and moving time, where will God place me next? Will it have anything to do with my areas of expertise? Maybe.
I know that God has used my talents for Him. I pray that He does. I have seen that with teaching and piano and Spanish and sewing and running that God has used me to bless others. I have seen that He is giving me a bigger and bigger heart of compassion and empathy. It was good to go to college, but I didn’t need it to learn any of that.
I just pray I don’t fall off the wagon of doing good and doing His will. I don’t want to commit the sin of omission, where if we don’t do what we know we ought to, we sin (James 4). I want to be blameless and be more like Jesus.
It takes a daily drive and motivation. Intrinsic motivation and even beyond that, spiritual. As Chip Ingram said in a recent podcast, God’s grace cannot be catapulted into hypothetical situations. That’s why it’s so silly to worry about the future (Matthew 6). We are given grace for today, and need to seek a new outpouring daily.
mercies per mile 