For some ,its learning to juggle too much, too many demanding forces, too few hours in the day, or pressures from inside ourselves and pressures from without. Some its getting a job, some its the insecurity of a present job, finances, and all of the uncertainty that life can throw at us.
For some - for me - its learning to except where or rather what the Lord has called me to.
But first, let me be absolutely clear, this is in NO WAY related to my marriage, our church, or city. I love my wife with my entire being and could never have asked the Lord for anything more in a wife. She is amazing and exactly the companion I need for my life, and I am exactly what she needs ... as far as needs can be met in another human. Ultimately we both depend on Christ. She is the apple of my eye, and the joy of my coming home in the afternoon (which has been strongly reinforced since she is currently out of town). She is my comfort and my home. The world settles when I'm with her ... and that is not an exaggeration. To come home to her is the one of the best parts of my life, ever!
As for our church, well the Lord lead us to it in unquestionable fashion and quickly too. In fact I was attending before Mere was here with me. So when we were married and she moved up here with me, we jumped in with both feet. Our small group is our family here. They are awesome and diverse, bringing a lot to the table. They are the fellowship and community we prayed for.
As for our city, well we live at the beach! Need I say more? Really, I don't think I do.
I do not want to sound prideful or arrogant, but I think I have a good mind, sharp, and useful ... perhaps not the most, but nonetheless a strong, scientific oriented mind that I want to use. I do not like mindlessness, not all the time. There is too much time on any given day where I am simply not challenged. I think it is fair to say that a job should be fulfilling - not ultimate by any means - but hopefully it can be fulfilling in some mild capacity. Often, lately mine has not been. So I struggle ... sometimes a lot. (Perhaps here is where I deserve a sharp rebuke for my complaints about my job when many I know are in need of a job.)
But several things come to mind, all of which I am very grateful for.
First, is 1 Corinthians 7;17, "Only let each person lead the (specific & current) life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him (for it is his place)." This is not only reassuring but encouraging, because I can recall the very clear way the Lord lead me here to this job. But more than that, this job is not my life. It does happen to take up a lot of time I'd like to devote to other things, but that is not reality. This job is only a facet of my life. My life is reality is with my wife, with our church and community group ... my life is the relationships that I am involved in everyday. Relationships!, that is where value is found! That is where purpose is found as we grow in every relationships to see our God given purpose of exalting Him in each one, and leading others to grow in Christ. Even those at work ... which seem to be a lot harder. The parentheses above are my own input, correct or incorrect they fit with what I am reading and learning in the Scriptures.
I am called to my current job. Perhaps lowly, perhaps mindless at times, perhaps a lot of things that I wish could be different. But it is the job the Lord has assigned and called me too, and it is a part of the life - the time, the place, the circumstances, the relationships - God has graciously given to me. So, I recall this verse from 1 Corinthians when needed.
1 Cor 7:17 also leads to the part of His body that I serve as. Romans 12:3-8 states, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." The HR AREC needs a representative of Christ there, I am not the only one gratefully, but more is better is it not? I am assigned and called the AREC to serve Christ by representing Him faithfully to all I am in contact with in all that I do.
TALK ABOUT VALUE & PURPOSE!!!! Just as God spoke to Adam and Eve saying, "Multiply and tend the garden," so God has spoken to me (more figuratively) to serve in the capacity I am currently in. I am bestowed with the high calling to bring about the Kingdom of God to the HR AREC, whatever that may look like. I am to be working to restore all things to Him, both people and the physical world with which I work so closely.
Ultimately, these longings I feel for purpose are wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ. He is my Savior and He is my life, whether I always act or believe that way. His gospel is the hope of all hopes, and when it comes right down to it, at these moments I must diligently with aid from the Holy Spirit preach the gospel to myself, for I so readily forget it.
Thankful for my lunch hour to work this out!!!
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