I used to think
that the most difficult decision I would have to make would be to decide on a college
and a major, or perhaps the colors of my wedding (haha), not paying any thought
to the black fog that would be mysterious post-grad life.
Over the past
year, my prayer life has strongly revolved around two key points: (1) That God
would strategically place me where He wants me to be, especially in terms of
job(s), and (2) Exodus 33:15, “If your presence
will not go with me, do not bring [me] up from here.”
A.W. Tozer wrote, “Outside the will of God,
there’s nothing I want. Inside the will of God, there’s nothing I fear.” This has been a vital anthem to my
spirit in this season of figuring out life as something other than a
student. It has so much to do with
trust- trusting that the choices and places God calls me to are for His glory
and my good, even when those choices and people and places don’t glitter and
glow. It’s easy to make decisions
in our flesh about what choices seem right, seem good, seem logical. But so often, God calls us to choose
paths that are seemingly absurd to the logical mind. Build an ark. Find a way
through the sea. Take two years
off. Take the job with the pay cut. Live in this neighborhood, or this city, or
this country.
Because here’s the thing- at His core, God
delights in turning ashes to beauty, turning the Valleys of Achor in our lives
into Doors of Hope (read: Hosea 2:15).
He is enamored by opportunities to transform, to make whole, to make
new. How often do we own that same
perspective? I know I often struggle to maintain it. Looking at my piling bills, the traffic, the slow progress,
etc- sometimes I forget to see beneath the dirt and malaise of day to day life
to see the glimmer of change, the consistent, quiet breath of the Holy Spirit
dancing about me, waiting oh so patiently for my attention, my full, undivided
attention.
I have no clue who I’m writing this for (beyond
God, obviously), but I know that I for one have felt the tension lately of the
many opportunities and decisions that await at my doorstep, and I’ve felt the
stirring of the Spirit over areas and opportunities that seem lackluster to the
bare eye. So for those of you feeling like God has for some reason taken you
into “boring” territory, or “dry” seasons, this is my battlecry along with you-
look again. Look again, with your eyes on Him. Sing out to the dry bones, to take life and arise. Because
the beauty of grace and faith is not merely that we’re forgiven, but that we’re
invited to participate in the act of redemption, in stewarding this
supernatural gift of making things new, and whole, and full of His glory.
Press in for the full measure. And know that, at
any moment, you lack NOTHING; the Father of lights gives good gifts, and you
have to know and believe that any relationship or resource not currently in
your life is for your best. If He is constantly fighting for our wholeness, we
have to believe that this alone is His motivation behind His every choice to
give and to take away. He’s an amazing Father of unfailing lovingkindness.
"And he said to Him, 'If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?'" Exodus 33:15-16
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