I often wonder what God has in store for us next. What will our life become and what journey will we go on next, good or bad. I do not see the length of the journey but I see the seasons along the road. Seasons of life that help us get through each moment of time, knowing that the storm may only last for a short time but sunshine of joy reveals itself in the morning. Life has those ups and downs, roller coasters of chaos, whirlwinds of desperation, and showers of refreshing. We may never know what lies ahead of us but one thing for sure is that with faith we will overcome, we will make it to the other side, and we will survive whatever we may have to battle in life.
I heard a word this Sunday on Prayer. This topic can often make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe because they just might not know the words to say, or could it be because they have never prayed? Do we keep prayer private as to not offend anyone around? Have we been taught to pray only with those who believe as we do? Why do we refrain from openly praying for others? It is often the innocence of a child that can teach us the greatest of lessons when we fall short. Let me share an example to explain my thoughts. It was on a day that my daughters and I were walking with friends. One of their friends fell and scraped her knee. The adults of course checked on the child to make sure she was alright, but the eldest of my twin daughters was determined to see to it that she had all the help and care she needed. She walked with her until we came to a place to sit. Her determination to help at that point surpassed anything I would have even thought of. She waited for us to stop talking before she stated that we needed to pray for her friends knee. Of course we stopped and closed our eyes as we waited for her to finish her prayer. Wow! A child commanded silence in the most respectful way to pray for a friend. I had to question myself at that point. Why is it that when any of my friends share with me that they are struggling or hurting in some area of their life I don't immediately stop and offer to pray for that situation? Why do we shrink back and only offer to keep them in our prayers but we don't commit to pray right then and there for God to take control of that situation? Are we embarrassed? Do we worry about what others may think of us?
Prayer often becomes that moment where we tend to lay our requests out for God and hope that each one is answered and fulfilled with the least amount of work on our part. Our time with God becomes an asking session instead of a moment to just thank Him for all we do have. I am reminded of moments when we had no food, bills where not paid and utilities were off but we thanked Him for the home we had, the roof over our head, and the clothes on our back. He always made a way of provision for us. We never lacked and our faith was increased. He has never failed us.
The word from Sundays message hit home with me (as it always does) but one particular point he made was all I needed to hear to launch me into tomorrow. If you have to time please visit www.gojourneychurch.com and watch the complete message video from November 10th...but getting back to the statement made, the pastor spoke these words and I immediately knew what I needed to do for the rest of my life. I titled this post "Life on Purpose" for a reason. Those words were," Be faithful with where you are and with what you have now, then God will move you to where He wants you to be and with what He wants you to have." Many of us, and I put myself in there as well, have spent so many prayers complaining and questioning, wondering and waiting for the answers to all of our questions and we get so frustrated with God when we don't get to the place we desire in the time we want to be there. Our prayers were indeed answered but it just wasn't time yet. We can't understand why, but God knows the plans He has for us. There was one main thing I realized through the sermon though, and that is that we often don't take the time to appreciate where we are in life, no matter the current circumstances, because the truth is that we could be in a far worser place. What we do with our today will determine what we will walk into tomorrow. Will we be faithful with what we have now or will we live miserably always dreaming of tomorrow.
I know there are great things ahead for all of us but for now every morning is a new day to appreciate the breath God placed in me and the ability to share with the world how great God is and how much He loves both you and I. He gave me a purpose on this earth just like He did for you and that is why our "Life is on Purpose". Be faithful with what you have today and God will move you into the greatness He has for your tomorrow.
I would love to close with a favorite verse of mine...
"For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
We all have a purpose. Live it and know that your purpose just might be to help change someone else's life through encouragement, and yes, prayer.
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