Purpose

More To Do

I’m a big fan of to-do lists. When I start a project they tell me what I have to accomplish; later they tell me what I’ve already completed, and what I have left to do. They keep me organized – letting me know what I should work on next, and they provide a wonderful feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when I can cross things off the list. Like many people, I often have a lot going on, and to-do lists help me make sure that everything that needs to get done gets completed.

There are times that I wish God gave me a to-do list – a specific set of projects that He wants me to complete. I would guess I’m not alone. Although keeping His commands should be on all of our lists, we often wish some of the more personal decisions in life were a little clearer – Where should I live?  Where should I work? Who should I marry?  What ministry should I serve in at church? The answers to these questions are different for different people and a divine to-do list would certainly help make the decisions easier.

But God rarely works like this. God doesn’t specifically lay out in advance all the things that He has planned for our lives. Instead, His children know this; if we are still here, there are still things on our list that He still wants us to do.

I was reminded of this recently. As I’ve written about previously (here, here and here), I have a dear friend who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. What I hadn’t yet shared on this blog is that within three days of her diagnosis, my friend’s health took a sharp decline to the point that we all said our good-byes. There was sadness in those farewells as we knew we would miss her, but there was also hopefulness as we knew that she was not only prepared, but eager to be in the presence of her King. She was ready for Heaven, and it appeared that Heaven was ready for her.

However, through a series of what can only be described as providential events, a day after saying our goodbyes she was alert enough to see a specialist who scheduled surgery. The surgery was successful, the prognosis hopeful, and my friend is still with us today. While just like with every person, we don’t know how long we have with her, we are grateful for the “extra innings.” However it’s hard not to feel that perhaps she got the short-end of the deal. She was at Heaven’s door, yet God had her stay here. And the only reason I can think that would be is that there are still things on this side of Heaven for her to do. There are still works that God wants to use her to complete.

And if you’re reading this, the same is true for you.

 

Now it’s your turn: 

How should knowing that God has things He wants to accomplish in and through us change  how we live our lives?

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Hope

Obscured View

As I’ve previously written about, I have a long drive to work. Thankfully,I like to drive and God doesn’t let these extended times spent on the road go to waste. He often uses them to teach me things about Himself and about the Christian life. It is no mistake that the Christian life is often compared to a journey for there is much about a significant time spent traveling that equates to the time we spend on this Earth walking with God.

Since the seasons have started to change (a subtle occurrence in Southern California, to be sure), there is now the greater possibility that my morning commute will be peppered with fog. Usually, the sun is breaking through so the condense air is nothing more than a pretty filter for the bright rays of light. Sometimes, however, the fog is heavy and it makes seeing what’s in front of me a challenge. Even the car that just passed me, can be difficult to see within a few seconds.

One unexpected outcome of this is that the fog can make my familiar journey seem strange. The landscape and the signs that I’m used to seeing our hidden from my view, and therefore the road appears to be a different one. I will be heading towards my exit, and have to check and make sure that it is the right path  to take because all my suroundings look different. Even though I know the way, the fog makes it seem unfamiliar. It takes that which I know to be true, and makes me think twice about it.

Sometimes we let the foggy teachings of this world do the same to us. We start off on our familiar journey with God, but we let the heavy air obscure our sight. It appears to change the path that we’re on, even though it is in fact, the one that God has called us to walk.  We wonder if we’re heading the right direction because we can’t see the familiar signs and settings. Not because they aren’t there, but because we are letting other considerations – our thoughts, feelings, and desires – hide them from us.

Yet when we are on the right path – when we are walking where God has called us to walk – the fact that our view is hazy shouldn’t prevent us from our journey. After all, He is above the fog – and He still sees the journey that we’re walking. Instead we need to do what I do on my morning commute – drive through the fog and continue down the path He’s called us to  The things that cloud our view that aren’t from God need to be dismissed – much like the morning fog fades in the light of day.

If the foggy things of this life are obscuring our view – we need to keep moving forward – knowing that for His children the fog is temporary, but the path He has us on leads to eternity.

 

Why does the fog of this life impact our walk with God? How can we prevent it from doing so?

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