Praying With A Purpose

Today I was looking at a number of e-mails I'd received from companies who had seen my resume and showed an interest in sitting down with me to discuss a job opportunity.  One key thing you have to know here is that the job opportunity they all want to discuss is in my background but not what I had in mind of pursuing after my transitional period from a company merger.  While I was deciding how to respond to these e-mails God began to enlighten me regarding some things about myself that I had not realized.  Though I wanted and truly need to pursue this other path I've had in mind for quite some time, why was I considering totally closing the door on these possible opportunities before me?  Part of it is fear of failure, a greater part of it is fear of this role consuming more of my life than I want to give it.  While being honest with myself about how to respond to these opportunities God spoke to me something so simple: Say YES and PRAY.  Now that might seem a little backwards to some of us because we're use to praying about a situation first and then re-acting.  However, God told me to just say "yes" to these opportunities and pray while you wait for the outcome, whether it's the outcome from a sit down with these prospects or outcome from my response to these e-mails.  So, basically I prayed, "God if not one of these jobs is for me...if you know I would be horrible at performing any of these jobs, then don't let any of them come through for me."  My prayer is that the one job I'm suppoe to have will be the one to come through and save me the headache and stress of interviewing for anything God knows is not mine.

How often do we go through life with the attitude or mentality that we have to do a bunch of things aimlessly and just hope for the best?  How often do people knowingly date a bunch of the wrong people just hoping they turn out to be the right person?  I haven't done that a bunch of times but I can say I've done it more than once; waste of time and resources.  When we know God is telling us "yes" in any area in our lives we can have confidence in moving forward in that area with the right prayer.  And with the right prayer we never have to worry about moving beyond what is right for us in life.  Afterall, if we are truly children of the God we say KNOWS ALL, shouldn't there come a point when we stop throwing darts JUST HOPING to land in the right spot?

For An Audience Of One

Almost a year ago I got rather frustrated with my purpose in life.  It wasn't that I was unaware of who I was made to be as an individual but it was that I was at a place in life where I didn't know how to best utilize what I was made to be.  One day I decided to ask God to show me exactly what I was suppose to be doing with my life (often we fail to consult our Creator).  And when I asked this question I was not seeking the "general" answer most church-goers have already heard (your purpose is to live your life to serve God, etc.).  NO...I was looking for specifics.  I was aware of one involvment I'd discontinued maybe 3 to 4 years earlier that I knew I needed to return to.  I'd walked away from it for personal reasons and at this time that I started seeking last year, I felt it was time for me to return to that...so I did.  Also, around that same time I decided to inquire about serving in a capacity through my church that would not just confine me to serving while at church but it required me devoting time and making a 2 year commitment to this particular service.  Because of the timing of my inquiry I had to wait a year (this is the year) to become involved.  So, this Saturday I have the priviledge of finding out more about this service  before I commit to it.  Of course, I already know that I'm going to commit.  You see, this service involves so many of my natural qualities.  People naturally come to me with problems; sometimes they want advice, sometimes they just want a listener.  The frustrating part is when you want to reach out to people who don't want what you have to offer them (which is why this service will be so rewarding-I'm going where people want it).  I was thinking about this frustration earlier before sitting down to write this and I thought, 'How frustrated God must be to have the gift of peace, freedom from life's strongholds, wisdom...so many gifts yet many reject them'.  It's frustrating to have something valuable to offer others but to find they don't want it.  Truth is while I'm sure it breaks God's heart to see us wonder endlessly, I doubt it's frustration.  We become frustrated because we aren't seeking out those who need and desire what is in us to give.  I've made a commitment in 2011 that if whatever God will have me do is only for the audience of one, then for that audience of one so be it.  For every life we touch, that same life touches at least one other person.

When The Love Is Less Than Desirable

How often have we found ourselves on the receiving end of love that seemed just a little bit less than love?  Probably more often than we care to remember.  We've given what has seemed like our entire heart to another while it seems that they have offered nothing more than what was convenient for them, being sure not to give too much (or nothing at all) of themselves.  We've given our time or been there more times than we care to remember when a friend was in need, yet when we needed them most it seems they thought we could make it on our own.  Unfortunately, though not everyone in life fails us often we may come across those who claim to love us but the actions speak something quite differently.  A few years ago God helped me to begin to understand that many times people say they love someone and earnestly mean what they say with all their heart but they can only love at the level at which they've grown.  Did you get that?  People can love only at the level of their capability within.  Think about it this way....  Can you recall a time in your childhood when you really thought you loved someone with all your heart?  And maybe even today you look back and believe that you did love that person but do you also see that there was a lot you've learned that impacts your view of love for another?  Hopefully your view of love has matured.  And though on a broader scale you would expect that the view of love matures with age, there are still other factors in a person's life that affects their ability to truly love the way we would expect.  I Corinthians 13 gives the perfect definition of love; it encompasses a lot.  I also think this passage serves as a great mirror for ourselves, which brings me to the relationship that I (and I'm sure many of you reading this) need to spend more time perfecting.  I'm speaking of our relationship with God.  How often do we spend so much time talking to everyone else yet we SQUEEZE in a few minutes to pray (little time simply talking to God)?  How often do we spend so much time considering what others think of us yet we hardly give 1st thought to whether or not our actions or what we say offend God - the one we CLAIM to love so much?  How often do we quickly go spend money on ourselves but have to think about handing some money to that person we know needs it because we're so critical or self-righteous concerning what they're going to do with it?  Never mind there is this RESOUNDING annoyance in our spirit to do something. (Oops is that God's voice?)  Yet...we say we love Him, with all our hearts.

The point I'm making here is that though we should never become susceptible to mistreatment or commit to less than God's best he has for us, our own individual relationships with our Creator should be great lessons in understanding and being patient with those who occassionally dissappoint us.  Because we are human, sometimes we mess up in our love walk and God understands and allows us room to grow.  Notice I said he allows us room to GROW.  God never expects less than what he knows we are capable of.  In the same manner, we should allow those we know truly love us room for growth, while expecting their best just as we require the same of ourselves.