The problem is that we're trying to hard to work for our own advantage. If we work honestly and truly for God, He will accomplish things in our lives we never could have dreamed possible. Doing things only for ourselves promotes selfishness, paranoia, and worrying, that are all avoidable. It is much better that we come to him, all of us that labour and are burdened, and Jesus will refresh us all. For his yoke is sweet and his burden light.
I personally have sought what I thought I was missing, what I thought God wanted me to find, and ended up wasting my time, ending up tired, confused, and wondering what had happened. I believe He wants me to concentrate on things that will really shape my future, like school and extra curriculars, and actually having meaningful relationships with people I can call friends, and working on my family life. This is better than searching for the lost love I wish I could have, because that's something He will give to me, if it is His will, when I am truly ready for it. So all this shooting really ends up causing a lot of fall out.
But I think there's a simple solution. Don't shoot yet. Wait for the Sun to come out, so you can see what you're doing, and then the path will be straight. In the light of God's love, things will become a bit clearer. And He works "not in our ways", so we might have to wait a little while, but everything will turn out better. It seems better now, to not shoot for the moon, but to ready the gunpowder for the sunlight's gentle touch, and wait for the explosion of a lifetime.
I completely agree with you on this matter, and it's actually something that I have been pondering a lot about lately. In fact, I was reading Ecclesiastes this morning. That whole book is pretty much the definition of your post!
ReplyDelete"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him who can eat or find enjoyment?"-Ecclesiastes 2:26. How I long and hope that everything I do is for the Lord and does not go to waste and become meaningless, but, just like you say, he must wait for the sun to come out to point us where meaning trule lies in our lives. How hard that can be sometimes though. It's definitely easier said than done for me.
I think this concept is so hard to grasp within the culture that we live today: a culture that pushes for the younger generation to be the top of thie notch in school so they can get into a good college, so they can become highly paid professionals, so they can live in fancy houses and have expensive cars, and work more than they see their own families. The moon looks so magnificant from the Earth until you arrive and are dissapointed by a homely ground of white dust.It's a really sad way to live...being so busy and stressed out all the time because people feel they have to live up to the world's standard of happiness. It's so much more rewarding when we choose to put some margin in our lives, and THEN let God fill it with what He desires for our lives. Anyway, this was a geat post. No coincidence, either! I've been thinking a lot about this lately as well!
-Taylor