the process

so, i'm in the midst of this house-switching thing. this self-imposed stress, i guess i would call it. even though i had sort of rationalized that the best way to buy a new home would be to find it, buy it, and THEN sell mabel, i am finding it is kind of a hard task. last night, a huge planter fell off my garage, showing the rotten wood of the window frame underneath. sigh. add it to the list of things to fix before i can show the house. it's quite a list, actually, and it scares me.

i have been tossing around the idea that God is not too concerned about what will happen in the next few months. we chatted about it in bible study last night. when i said 'i don't think God really cares if i live here or there', i think one of the ladies disagreed. i did not mean that in the sense that God doesn't care, but i think i was pointing to the fact that my stress has to do with whether or not i may have made a HUGE mistake in following God by buying this house so quickly. trying to go back now, after the fact, and figure out how to get peace.

God is faithful, friends. he doesn't leave us hanging in our situations. He is reminding me today that today is what matters to Him. that peace is available, NOW. and each moment that we turn our 'stuff' to Him. so, with a huge exhale, i'm off for the day on a good foot.

oh. and if you feel like reading what He spoke to me to realign me to Him today, here it is. happy thursday!!

He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . . —Mark 6:45

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (Mark 6:49). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.