Stop Telling...

"The purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him...When I stop telling God what I want He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance...He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness." ~Oswald Chambers

I have these words on a post-it note on my bathroom mirror. Which means that every morning these words stare me in the face...or I stare at them...something like that. 

Technically every morning I'm reminding myself that the purpose of my life belongs to God (that's not to say every morning I actually remember to live in the reality that my life belongs to Him). As I stumble through my morning, frantically getting ready for the day - the purpose of it all isn't really up to me. As I think about it I find it all rather amazing - the Almighty God has a personal interest in ME. Um, really? That's in Tiffany, right...huh...really? 

Incredible. 

I'm not sure if it's a girl thing, a Tiffany thing, or just a human thing - but I really desire to have purpose. I want to know that my life isn't for nothing. I want to see that all the crap I go through on a seemingly regular basis has some kind of meaning in it. Otherwise I just feel like a pointless mess. So I set out to find meaning for my life - what is that great, amazing, incredible thing that GOD has called me to do? In what awesome way is HE going to use me? I exhaust myself trying to figure it out, seeming to constantly fail in actually achieving any sense of real purpose. I get up, go to work, come home and repeat...I serve in the children's ministry at church and go to bible study...I read my bible, I pray....I spend time with my friends and my family...over and over and over again. Where is the purpose in that? How, Lord, are You going to accomplish anything of worth in THAT?

Silence.

Well, Lord, if You are going to be so quiet on the matter at hand, let me tell you a few things I think would be excellent options for the "purpose of my life." I really should be teaching - you created me to teach, after all. And while we are at it - I should probably be married and be a mom. If You're listening, Lord, I have some splendid ideas of how all of that should work out. Beginning, of course, with a tall dark and handsome man, who is (of course) in love with You and just happens to be incredibly successful at, well, everything he does. Should I keep going...because I could.

I sound pathetic, how annoying. 

Perhaps the best part of this quote from Mr. Chambers is the part where he says "when I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance."

Convicting.

"When I stop telling..."  So really I just need to shut up on the matter. Sometimes it is really hard for me to be quiet (understatement of the year). I really enjoy talking. A lot. I think I have some pretty good ideas, too. Not to mention the things I desire really aren't all that extravagant, are they??

Oh friends! If only it was easier for us (and I'm speaking to myself first) to remember that our Heavenly Father has this "Great Personal Perspective." He sees things we do not. He knows things we never will. He is carefully working out His perfect plan for each of us and loves each one of us so intimately He will stop at nothing to see His glory shine through our lives. All He asks of us is to simply TRUST Him.

Really Convicting.

I must stop. Stop telling, and simply accept what He has for me. Seek to exalt Him in all that I do - no matter how pointless it may seem. 

I'm not sure how this makes you feel, but personally I am experiencing a sense of relief. I really don't have to figure it all out. I don't need to discover what that the ONE GREAT thing is God wants me to do. I simply need to live a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit - to trust Him to fulfill His purpose through me. 

Somehow we ALWAYS end up back at SURRENDER. 

"He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness."

Absolute Faith. 

To accept the good, the bad, the happy and sad, the ugly, the boring and seemingly pointless moments of my life as opportunities to reflect the love and life of the LIVING GOD! To remain surrendered to His work in my life, to simply TRUST His promises to me. To have ABSOLUTE FAITH in Him and His goodness.

"...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 

1 Corinthians 10:31