God’s will

I got a letter in the mail the yesterday.  Let me stop right there and dwell on that for just a moment:  A friend of mine had something she wanted to tell me so she wrote it down, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and put it in the mail.  She didn’t text me.  She didn’t post on my Facebook page.  She actually sent me mail.

I don’t do that for other people nearly enough…

Anyway, the point of the letter she sent was to share with me the following quote:

God’s plan for you is not past tense or hidden in the obscurity of the future.  It is continuous.  God’s will is always current.  It is for this you have been brought into the kingdom: to live this day, within its circumstances, in obedience.  ~Jeannette Clift George

That hit me pretty hard.  I had to think about it and mull it over for a while, but yeah, that got me. 

So often we spend a lot of time and energy trying to “discover” God’s will for our lives.  But what if, instead of using our time and energy on that, we used our time and energy in our current situation?  What if instead of waiting for our future to begin, we dedicated ourselves to living as if today is all we get? 

What if we really believed that God planned out every last one of our days before we were even born? (Psalm 139:16)

Perhaps we would be more content and at peace with our present circumstances.  Perhaps we would make the most of every day we have (and I don’t mean stuff as much into every day as possible and be completely exhausted at the end of the day…)

I don’t know what this would look like for you.  For me, I think it means that I need to stop wondering if I’m really where I’m supposed to be right now.  It doesn’t mean I’m just going to sit here until the next thing comes along.  I’m still going to plan for my future and I’m still going to look for opportunities. 

But I will stop resenting my current circumstances.  I will trust that God knows what He’s doing with my life.  I will rest in the knowledge that nothing I can do will ever sidetrack God’s plan for me because nothing I can do will ever take Him by surprise.

It means that I will decide “to live this day, in its circumstances, in obedience”, because when I do that, then I will be living in the center of God’s will.

So what does living in the present look like for you?   What benefits do you see in choosing to believe that you are exactly where God wants you right now?

 

On the verge

About 10 years ago, I went to Maine with my family for vacation.  It was incredibly beautiful, as you can probably imagine.  The first couple of nights, we stayed in Yarmouth and when we woke up the first morning, a dense fog covered the town, shrouding everything in an eerie mist.  We went for a walk in it and it was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had.

From there, we went to Bar Harbor.  Now when people hear you’re going to Maine for the first time, one if the first things they tell you is “dress warm”.  So we packed jeans and sweatshirts and jackets.  The day we went to Bar Harbor, it was 96F.

Finally, we made our way to Acadia State Park.  If you’ve never been there, do yourself a huge favor and add it to the list of places to see before you die.  It’s incredible!  You stand at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on gigantic boulders, high above the surface of the water, and on a clear day, I swear you could see Ireland if you squinted hard enough.  The water is a deep, navy blue and when the waves crash on the rocks, the foam is such a pure white against the dark water.  It really is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.  (And I got some amazing pictures that week!)

There have been many times in the past few years when I’ve felt like I’m standing on the edge of one of those boulders.  Behind me is the rocky path I’ve taken, full of hard climbs, tree roots, and wild flowers.  Ahead of me is the edge.  I’ve come to the end of the trail and there I stand, looking out at my future.  In my mind, it’s beautiful, but full of mystery and potential danger.  I can’t take another step toward it yet, but I can look out over it and wonder what it contains. 

And I wait.  I wait for a bridge to be built so I can cross over into my next adventure.  I wait for a boat to show up that will take me out into the ocean of “what’s next?”  I stand and I wonder – will it be good?  Will I like what’s coming next?  Or will it be hard?  Will it make me struggle and hurt?

We don’t know what our futures hold, but there are a few things we do know for sure:

1. God planned out our next step ages ago and He’s already in our next moment.  (Isaiah 25:1)
2. Our faith will continue to be stretched and made stronger. (James 1:3-4)
3. Whatever God has next for us is good and perfect and will be just the right thing for us. (Romans 12:2)

Our Father loves us so much and He always wants what’s best for us.  Sometimes, what’s best for us makes us happy.  Sometimes, what’s best for us confuses us because we don’t know our whole story yet.  Sometimes, what’s best for us feels like the worst possible thing.  Regardless of how it feels, though, what God allows into our lives is, in fact, the absolute best.

If you’re on the verge, on the edge of what you know, looking out into what you don’t know, ask God to help you let go of your security, your assumptions, your expectations and your fears.  Ask Him to strengthen your faith.  And then trust Him completely, without reservation.  Trust that the One who formed you in your mother’s womb and who planned out every last one of your days knows every step you need to take to end up exactly where He wants you to be: the center of His will.

Are you standing at the edge of what you know, ready for what’s next?  If you’ve already taken the next step, how are you seeing God at work in your life?