Skip to main content

Sometimes I Need to be Reminded of the Destination



Do you ever wish that God’s guiding were as clear as typing an address into an Iphone and pressing the “give me directions button?” Sure, Iphone directions are occasionally circuitous, but I’ve always ended up at the destination. I don’t always feel that way about God’s will. Then I remember that I often view God’s will as a particular path, when instead it is a destination and there are many routes to arrive at that destination. The destination is full redemption of the human person.

Meanwhile there are the paths that we trod here and now.

Several years ago a friend and I read Hearing God by Dallas Willard on the topic of God’s will. She was in Africa homeschooling a couple kids and I was in California just becoming a teacher. We both fell into the jobs we were doing at the time. And yet, both of us understood our jobs as God directed.

Willard argues that instead of one path, one God mandated right or wrong action, for a marriage, a job, or who to hang out with, God instead allows us choices of different paths. Granted within the various paths open to us we are expected to be prayerful (we are also expected to behave as children of God so robbing, lying, manipulation are out), because occasionally God gives very specific commands. I don’t know how often specific commands come or even how they come. I only know that sometimes they do come. (See Peter being commanded to meet Cornelius). Or at least so Willard argues. When a specific command is not given, we are given the freedom to choose the paths that desire or circumstances or both opens up to us.

Ultimately, there is a destination. The destination is that me, Nathan, Felicity… people— are to be redeemed and to be made into creatures that God intends us to be. Lewis speaks of our unredeemed reality as little more then ghosts, ephemeral vapors that need to be hardened and made solid. God’s will is that we become solid, real people and oftentimes circumstances are incidental to that.

Sometimes when I’m really worried about what to do, which job to take or what to do with my time, I have to remember that God is often more concerned with how I approach my tasks and not what the tasks are.

God may I have the endurance to become like you in my everyday life within the freedom you granted me and the wisdom to know if you are leading me to a particular task, conversation, or job. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sleepy Prayers

A small mewling breaks into my night’s sleep. Thankfully, I sleep lighter than was my wont growing up. If I roll over to steal a few more winks, the mewling turns into small cries and groggily I attempt to open my sleep soaked eyes. Food. Felicity needs food. The thoughts fall through my brain. Her little arms flail helplessly in her monkey bassinet and her tiny feet kick at her blanket. If her cries could be translated I’m sure they would consist in “Mommy, please pick me up. I’m hungry.” Or the imperative, “Feed me now!” Pulling myself up, I bend down and pick her up.   The only light turned on is the light above the stove. It casts a faint glow into our bedroom. Holding her I take her to the front room and sit in the glider and rock. I’m sleepy, but I try to hold the moment— “Don’t blink it goes so fast,” people say. I’m trying not to blink, but my eyes are so sleepy. “Let’s pray,” I tell her. Her lips smack and her eyes open and close. She doesn’t know what pra...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Adventure Begins Very Early on the Morning of July 15th

Note: In-N-Out is the first place I go when I arrive back in California. The California chain tastes like coming home. My day had been planned. I was going to walk with friends. Have coffee with my mom and a phone date in the evening. Followed by my husband asking, “what should we have for dinner.” And me responding “In-n-Out.” I’ll admit it I did exercise in hopes of expediting the labor process, but as I had been told, “babies will come when they will.” So I laid my plans: Plan A the aforementioned walk etc. and Plan B— Have a baby. When my mom arrived, full of more energy than I’m used to her having (a contrast with my labored lack of energy), it was apparent that Plan B was in effect. We were most definitely not going to coffee. I was going to have a baby. Labor… it’s not fun. Epidurals… they are a wonderful invention. It was late evening. I’d hoped they’d let me push on the 14 th . The history nerd in me was caught by the idea of having a baby on Bastille D...
1 comment
Read more

Hit the Ground Crawling

So admittedly it's been awhile since a mommy adventure has been documented via typing. The lack of stories mostly coincides with the end of maternity leave, but now the time has come to hit the ground of writing with some crawling. At least Felicity seems to thinks it’s time to crawl. Only she’s finding that her body doesn’t want to cooperate yet. I noticed she wanted to crawl when she started making flips onto her tummy to signal the end of naptime. Then, during playtime, she’d flop onto her large middle and stretch her little fingers grabbing at the toy that rolled just out of reach.  Toes push the ground, but her belly keeps her beached. And the most she’s managed is to scoot backwards or to rotate using her belly as an axis. But the crawling is coming soon.   She wants it badly. The little toes are starting to realize they need to push at the ground and determination to move forward fills her face with each passing day. At the moment, crawling is a Mueller fam...
Post a Comment
Read more