As someone who has grown up going to church every Sunday for as long as I can remember, it’s interesting that the more I learn about God, the more I realise there’s so much I don’t know. It’s a lifetime of discovering, relating, meditating, learning, investigating, memorising, listening and loving that drives me closer to God each and every day. It’s the intimacy of hearing His still, soft voice speak directly into my life that both humbles and energises me.
Although it would take way too long to give you all of the wisdom I’ve heard over the years, there is one conversation in particular that has been instrumental to my faith in Jesus, especially over the past few years.
It came at a time when we, as a team from Church, were planning to travel to Fiji and I was sharing with a dear friend about the block of land we had just bought and our plans to build a house. I distinctly remember the rush I felt sharing our news and, confession time, as I was explaining to her how quickly we’d made the decision to build, I ignorantly remember saying something along the lines of “I move fast, make decisions fast and God keeps up.” Oh how I cringe at the thought of it now.
Although I don’t think (hope) I meant it as it was said, instead of giggling along with me, my friend reminded me of three truths that will stay with me forever:
We are part of God’s plan, and not the other way around.
Once I was really able to grasp onto this truth, it’s incredible how freeing it is. That we don’t have to keep struggling to keep all the balls in the air, or to make all the right parenting decisions. It freed me up to make mistakes and not beat myself up about them. It opened my eyes to know that God’s ultimate plan will always come to fruition, no matter what my part is in it.
The Boss Lady reminded our staff team this morning that if we knew what 2020 would bring, our plan would be a straight line to success. But ultimately we wouldn’t learn anything, except that we are able to control our own circumstances. But when we submit ourselves to God’s plan, the road to success looks messy. There’s hurdles and raging rivers and obstacles we don’t know how we’ll get around, but there can be a deep joy and assurance in that. Through it God grows our faith, our character and our dependence on Him by taking us through these difficult journeys. And success is defined differently in God’s plan too. Keeping an eternal perspective shows us that it is the journey of faith that really matters in God’s economy.
Knowing I’m part of God’s plan also gave me the realisation that I do have a part in it. That not only am I noticed by Him, but He knows my innermost thoughts, desires, actions, emotions, even before I do. The fact that God has given me, and all of us, a part in His divine plan for His world is breathtaking. How overwhelmingly intimate that He would want to use us in this minute period of history to be His people for His cause.
How important it is to slow down.
This tip was the start of investing in a slower life. Some of which I’ve shared about before. It has changed my perspective that being busy doesn’t always mean being productive or useful. It helped me to see that so much of my life was being wasted by not prioritising what should always have my greatest attention.
A few things have helped even further with this. Living in Fiji-time helped to shift my focus and see that my running rampant was starting to hurt me and my family. The period of lockdown caused by COVID-19 forced us to slow down, where we were able to focus on our marriage and children like never before. I’ve also learnt the benefit of boundaries. It’s important to be there for others when you can, but unless you also balance that with self-care, you will be useless to everyone.
That God doesn’t march to the beat of my drum.
It’s important to remember that the inherent self-seeking mindset that drives many of us wasn’t God’s original design for His children. Fellowship, meditating on the Word, loving God and loving others; that has always been His plan. But we’ve lost our way and often need to surrender our plans to Him and continue to seek His will, rather than pressing forward without Him, expecting Him to run along beside (or even behind) us.
Perhaps this wisdom from Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 will help reshape our thinking:
“What do workers gain from their toil?I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.”
Have a wonderful Christmas, friends.
BB
