Speaking for myself, and most other people in my age group of "emerging adulthood", we worry a LOT. We worry about all kinds of things- where will I live? what job will I do? Will I like it? Will it be fulfilling? Should I get married? Who should I marry? What am I supposed to do with my life? Should I take that job? should I date that person? Where will I be in 5 months? Where will I be in 5 years? I know I have even said to my mom in the past "You are so lucky because you know where you live and who you are married to and where you work!" We end up talking a lot about "seeking God's will" and "praying about it" and spend a great deal of time running possible scenarios in our head of what could be next for us. This all points back to a fundamental problem with how we are viewing God's will. God's will for things in our individual lives can be mysterious, but God's will for creation, and his people, is startlingly plain. We spend so much time worrying about the unknown Will that we tend to ignore the revealed Will. We focus on ourselves, and our neat little lives, and fail to see what God's will is all about. It isn't about our comfort or our happy ending with a white picket fence. It is about loving and serving, healing the hurts, and drawing people to Himself. You cannot be fully in God's will if you are only focused on the details of his will for small particular scenarios in your life. You have to turn that over to him, and pray that he will make those things plain. Surrender - turn it over, and be ready for whatever comes, whenever it comes. But in the mean time ALL the time, we need to be focused on his revealed will that he has plainly laid out over and over and over again in the bible :
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice,
and untie the chords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free, to share your food with the hungry,
and provide the poor wanderer with shelter?"
Isaiah 58:6-7
These are just a few examples. As young people (especially single people) we have the unique opportunity to devote ourselves to the service of others in our community. This is beyond just feeding poor people, or donating your clothes. This is feeding your friend that has had a stressful week, or giving someone a ride. This is loving people no matter how they treat you, because it isn't about you. This is about getting the focus off yourself long enough to become quick at SEEING needs, and meeting them, without considering "What's in it for me?"
Friends, we have to quit letting worry steal our Joy. God knows what he has for us, and no matter what it is, it is good. Be open to anything, and in seasons of waiting, be busy! God has already given us a mandate of what we are to do, and if we aren't doing that, how can we expect him to give us more? If we cannot get over ourselves enough to serve others as a single, how do we imagine we are ready to serve as spouse or a child? This isn't really a season of "waiting" for "our lives to start". This is our time to BE where God has put us and be there 1,000% at whatever it is he has for us to do - whatever your job is, working hard, loving people, and having a servants heart in all circumstances. And, at least to me, this is enough to keep me busy for a lifetime - if God has family and all that for me later, great. But what he has for me now is more than enough, and I don't want to waste time wondering. It's time to be doing!
"You have to look past your own interests to be in the will of God, because it is not about you anymore. Want to know God's will for your life? Help those who can give you nothing back...that is the revealed will of God. Do that, seek him, and trust that he will make what is secret revealed. GO get busy doing what he has revealed - your journey is no longer about you, but about overcoming yourself to serve someone else. Being in the will of God means running to the issues instead of away from them. It means you dont have time to shun people, because you are too busy serving them. Being in God's will gets your knees dirty!"
Chris Davis from this morning's message at Downtown Church, very paraphrased.
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice,
and untie the chords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free, to share your food with the hungry,
and provide the poor wanderer with shelter?"
Isaiah 58:6-7
Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”
He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep."
John 21:17
"Learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed,
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:17
"What God accepts as pure and faultless is this : to look after orphans and widows in their distress"
James 1:27
John 21:17
"Learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed,
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:17
"What God accepts as pure and faultless is this : to look after orphans and widows in their distress"
James 1:27
These are just a few examples. As young people (especially single people) we have the unique opportunity to devote ourselves to the service of others in our community. This is beyond just feeding poor people, or donating your clothes. This is feeding your friend that has had a stressful week, or giving someone a ride. This is loving people no matter how they treat you, because it isn't about you. This is about getting the focus off yourself long enough to become quick at SEEING needs, and meeting them, without considering "What's in it for me?"
Friends, we have to quit letting worry steal our Joy. God knows what he has for us, and no matter what it is, it is good. Be open to anything, and in seasons of waiting, be busy! God has already given us a mandate of what we are to do, and if we aren't doing that, how can we expect him to give us more? If we cannot get over ourselves enough to serve others as a single, how do we imagine we are ready to serve as spouse or a child? This isn't really a season of "waiting" for "our lives to start". This is our time to BE where God has put us and be there 1,000% at whatever it is he has for us to do - whatever your job is, working hard, loving people, and having a servants heart in all circumstances. And, at least to me, this is enough to keep me busy for a lifetime - if God has family and all that for me later, great. But what he has for me now is more than enough, and I don't want to waste time wondering. It's time to be doing!
"You have to look past your own interests to be in the will of God, because it is not about you anymore. Want to know God's will for your life? Help those who can give you nothing back...that is the revealed will of God. Do that, seek him, and trust that he will make what is secret revealed. GO get busy doing what he has revealed - your journey is no longer about you, but about overcoming yourself to serve someone else. Being in the will of God means running to the issues instead of away from them. It means you dont have time to shun people, because you are too busy serving them. Being in God's will gets your knees dirty!"
Chris Davis from this morning's message at Downtown Church, very paraphrased.
