Moving Toward Destiny

It’s been a really long week…a lot of late nights and early mornings with all kinds of craziness stuffed in between. When I got home from church on this 104-degree day, I really just wanted to follow my husband’s lead, lay in the air conditioning, and take a nap! Instead, I sat melting into the couch, involuntarily nodding in and out of consciousness, thinking about how tired I was…too tired to even go lay down. I wanted to sleep, but I didn’t want to move. Just as I determined to allow myself to fall sideways across the couch and “rest my eyes,” I looked around and saw shoes in the middle of the floor, electronics were strewn all over the place, and a basket of laundry that needed to be folded. Ugh! 

Sighing heavily, I reluctantly dragged myself into a vertical position and began picking up the mess, knowing it needed to be done and I wouldn’t have the time or desire to do it later. But you know what happened? As I began to pick up a few items, I went ahead and grabbed a few more, then moved this, pitched that, and wiped something else down. Now my living room looks much more livable! But you know what else? The whole time I was cleaning, I didn’t feel the need for a nap. I felt energized by the movement, so I just kept going! 

In a moment of routine housework, I felt God telling me, “This is how things work with Me.” Though I really didn’t feel like I had what it takes to do all that I needed to get done, once I got my mind off of how I felt and started moving in a direction that was more productive, I had all the energy and strength required to accomplish the task at hand. But the key was, I had to start moving first. 

God has amazing plans for our lives. But to accomplish all we were created to do, we have to get our butts up off the couch and begin to move toward those things. Yeah, He could miraculously make certain things happen that would launch us directly into our destiny, but the fact of the matter is, He doesn’t really want to do that. I mean, He’ll create situations that will allow us to learn what we need to learn and He will help us meet people who are helpful to meet along the way. But He created us with free will because He wants us to choose Him and to choose to pursue His plans for our lives. Therefore, it takes voluntarily movement on our parts to walk in the way He will show us. Do you hear all those verbs?! Move, pursue, walk…our future requires our action. 

I once heard someone say, “God won’t ordain planted feet.” If we have our heels dug into comfort zones or ideas about how things ought to look before we start moving, then we’re going to miss out on on the fullness of God’s plans for our lives. We have to be willing to move by faith and trust that God will sustain us, even when we’re not sure we have what it takes to get the job done. 

Recently, I’ve been resisting a position that God has me in. It doesn’t look the way I want it to look. It’s definitely not what I have been asking him for. Yet, it’s abundantly clear, this is where He has me for now. So instead of sitting here, murmuring and complaining about what I want, I’ve simply told Him, “Daddy, if this is where you have me, then there is purpose in it. Show me how to shine your light in this place and I will trust you to move me to into the dreams you’ve placed in my heart when the time is right.” So I’m moving. I’m determined to use this situation as a training ground that will launch me into my destiny at a later date. Meanwhile, I’m not mad or disappointed. I’m actually starting to get excited about the hidden treasures He has for me in this wild unknown.

Yep. God will instruct us and He will teach us, but it’s up to us to go. Where are you stalled out today? Is there something that has you pulling back and resisting forward movement? Is there something that makes you want to stay on the couch instead of diving in to do the tough stuff you don’t really want to do? I think it’s a good day to lay down our lazy feelings and our ideas about an easier, more attractive road and just begin to move in His grace, right where we are. As we do this, we can trust God that the strength, wisdom, and growth will come. In the end, we’ll be glad we did, as we enjoy the view from the place God prepared for us before the foundation of the world.