I thought that if you were pursuing the will of God, He would make it easy.
If you knew your purpose and chased it down, I figured God would confirm it all with signs and wonders.
I’ve discovered sometimes He does. And sometimes He doesn’t.
I thought that once I finally reached the point of having a plane ticket to Zimbabwe, things would get easier. Nope. They got harder.
The enemy even prevented me from leaving on the original date of my departure in July! There were some really bad storms that grounded several planes and cancelled a bunch of flights.
This time I and my prayer team are praying up a storm as I prepare to fly back out next week! So far, so good—God’s hand is staying back a bunch of storms that cropped up almost overnight last week: http://www.ktvu.com/news/they-are-forming-like-roaches-6-storms-over-atlantic-pacific-regions-tie-a-modern-record. I’d appreciate it if you would pray, too!
Even if and when things do get harder, there is something He does want for all of us: a focused faith, obedience, persistence, and gratitude. It’s not that He will or won’t make life easier as we pursue His will; it’s conforming to the image of His Son That much, I’ve learned.
No matter what one’s calling is, character growth counts in that journey. Whether you become a plumber or a pilot, get married or stay single, are young or are seasoned, your direction doesn’t matter as much as who you become on the way there.
There’s a gratuitous mystery that we Christians have bestowed on the concept of calling. We often spend lots of time chasing the concept of calling and all the things we think calling comes with. When we don’t get those things, Disappointment often appears with its buddy Bitterness.
All of it is totally unnecessary. But character is necessary. Why?
Not only will character make you better to be around, but it will prove that you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. You’ll develop endurance and demonstrate Christlikeness. And it will make you into who you need to be for the journey as well as the destination ahead of you.
The enemy never sleeps, but neither does God.
He has you on this journey for a reason and He’s not going to give up. The faith, obedience, persistence, and gratitude we foster as we forge forward won’t keep us safe from all harm. We will ultimately accomplish His purposes no matter how we get to heaven.
There’s no need to brush off character development as something bad people have to do when they want to become “good” people. Maturation—another word for character development—will get you ready for both the known and the unknown.
You see, on the way to God’s will, you never know what—or whom—He will allow into your life. Becoming mature will help you learn and grow through the unknown until you learn to deal with it—or them—differently. Then those situations won’t be unknown to you. (Give the enemy another headache!)
So, while you’re pursuing God and God’s will for your life, don’t dismiss the challenges to your character that come along the way. Never toss the chance to become a better and stronger person. Do it for yourself, and for your future.
Even if you do know God’s will and start chasing it, life won’t necessarily become easy. But knowing you are going after it will help anchor you when the enemy tries to throw you off course. And if you process your unknowns and obey God through them, you can’t lose no matter what the enemy shoves at you.
It’s a win for all, I say—except the enemy, of course. But what he wants doesn’t matter. Right?
So hound God’s purpose for you with all your might. He is for you, not against you. He will help you get there, just like He’s helping me get (back) to Zimbabwe. Blessings! Glenda
BTW if you want regular updates of my adventures in Zimbabwe with pictures, head over to my Facebook page, which is the same name as my blog. If you don’t want to type all that, when you get into your FB account, search for “4singlechristians”. Or click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/4singlechristians (you don’t have to have a FB account just to look it up). See you on FB!
