Got Time?

"I don't know if I'll have time to accomplish my goals."  "I'm too old to get involved in ministry."  "I just don't know how God will accomplish anything with me."  These are statements I have heard over my time in ministry.  These are also statements I have made during my time in ministry as well.

The counsel I would give others was "God is the one with the plan for you. He has promised that He WILL complete His plans for you."  While that sounds good, I struggled with stressing about God's plans for my own life.  What if I died before He completed His plans for me?  What if I missed the opportunity for God to make His plans for me to come to fruition?  What if....?

The lesson has been extremely difficult for me to learn because I have the tendency to think, rethink, overthink, and stress from overthinking.  Mainly it's a trust issue that I have struggled with.  But truth be told, God is the one with the plans for me.  God is the one who PROMISED that He WILL complete His plans for me.  God has NEVER broken a single promise yet, and won't start with me.  The enemy, however, likes to whisper doubts in order to get us to distrust God.  When doubts come to mind, I am learning to stop right then and there, and pray asking God to renew my trust in Him and His plans for me. It's an ongoing challenge, but God's the one with the plan and my time on this Earth to accomplish it.

Line Up

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt?"

Matthew 7:1-3 

I have come to a decision...I'm going to stop reading political posts, articles, arguments, because they make me cynical and I have found myself judging others because they present themselves as the answer to all our issues.  

As a matter of fact, after I came to my decision, I found notes from a sermon I heard many years ago that I truly believe God put right where I could find it just at the moment I needed to be reminded of it.  You see, growing up the Biblical characters were portrayed as so gleaming holy that the Sun reflected their purity.  As I got older, and to be honest a bit more jaded, I gave up trying because I could never measure up.  Until I heard a sermon at age 30 that changed my way of thinking.  

Consider this:

Jacob lied to Abraham so he could steal the birthright from Esau.

Peter lied about knowing Jesus even to the point of using profanity to emphasize the point.

David had an adulterous affair and had one of his best friends killed.

Noah got drunk when God let them out of the ark.  Honestly, if I was cooped up with that crew for 40 days and 40 nights...

Jonah ran away from God so he wouldn't have to do what God told him.  Didn't work out so well.

Paul was a murderer, a criminal, was arrested several times, tortured people and had a temper.

Miriam was a gossip

Martha was a worrier

Thomas doubted and refused to believe without Jesus coming to prove His resurrection. 

Sara was impatient and even went to far as to laugh at idea that God could fulfill His promise.

Elijah dealt with depression, self doubt, fear.

Abraham was old.

Lazarus was dead.

And God, in His wisdom, used each of these and more to fulfill His purposes.  So, who am I do think badly of anyone?  God uses the most unlikely people to reach others.  If God can do that with THIS bunch, WE are in good company.

Your Sweet Spot

God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him.

Philippians 2:13 

 

Have found your "Sweet Spot"?  That place where you know what you do well and have love to do?  I admit that for the longest time I knew what God called me to do, but I honestly couldn't imagine doing it.  But know that I am doing what He called me to do, created me to do, designed me to do, filled me with the passion to do, I can't imagine doing anything else.

 

God didn't design us to live a life of misery.  He didn't instill in us gifts and talents just for them to remain dormant or never be used.  He loves us too much for that.  Take an inventory of your life to figure out what you are good at doing and what you enjoy doing.  You'll most likely find more than one sweet spot.

Something for the Monty Python Enthusiasts

What is your quest?  Ever think about that?  A quest is often defined as a "pursuit" or "search."  Webster defines a Quest as: "a chivalrous enterprise in medieval romance usually involving an adventurous journey."

Do you have a lifelong dream?  Do you have a Quest?  Are you pursuing a calling? Is there any pursuit that has dominated your life for years?   You see, without a quest, our lives become dull, bleak, hopeless, and just a matter of existence.  Without a pursuit our lives become weak and there's really little reason to get out of bed in the morning.  We just drift along, going with the flow with no enthusiasm, gathering debris.

A quest fuels a need.....a drive to fulfill our mission. It absolutely refuses to let us become complacent! A quest lights a fire under us and will not let us just coast along without direction wherever the whim may take us.  A quest gives us purpose!  It gives us a reason to move forward!  It keeps us from becoming idle. It pushes, pulls, drags us forward.

Did you know that God has a quest as well?  God's quest is found in Philippians 1:6 - "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." God's quest is to get us where HE has planned for us and He will not stop until His quest is fulfilled.

"What is your quest?"

Knitted Together For A Purpose

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

Psalm 139:13

As many of you probably already know, I crochet.  I make BUBBAs (Butt Ugly But Big Afghans) and give them away.  Now....I considered learning to knit, but the thought of two pointy things in my hands brought mental images of the bodily harm I would most likely endure, so I stuck with crochet. When I am working on these BUBBAs there is already an image in mind of how I want it to look.  Carefully selecting the colors so they complement with enough contrast to illuminate the message.  I know how I HOPE it will turn out, but I am prone to errors.

Now when God knits us together, He has an image He in mind for us.....HIS image.  And God knits us together so carefully and lovingly that we are perfectly formed for the mission He has for us.  He coordinates every aspect of our lives to prepare us to fulfill His calling for us.  You see, we are here for a reason.  We are alive for a purpose.  We have a mission.

I've spoken with people who say "I wish I knew what my mission was." Or "I have no idea why I'm here."  I felt the same way, and some days I wonder if I am actually fulfilling God's mission for me or am I trying to do God's job.  The fact of the matter, each of us was perfectly created for the mission that is as unique and personal as each individual.  No two missions are the same. No two people are the same.  Even identical twins have their own uniqueness.  

Your mission might be to reach out to someone others have ignored.  Your mission might be to share your story so they realize they are not alone in their struggles.  Everyone has a mission! If you worry about what your mission might be, or wonder if you are fulfilling your mission, ask God to show you and then keep your eyes and ears open!  God LOVES to show us.