The HOW

Passion. Love. Fulfillment. Strong words, but words people use on a daily basis to describe their lives and what they’re going after.

“I love my job.”

“I really can’t see myself doing anything else.”

“This is just my passion.”

“I am so grateful that I get to spend time doing this. God has laid it on my heart and I am just so lucky to be able to find some element of fulfillment in what I do.”

These are all about the WHAT and not the HOW. They directly describe WHAT is being done and how this is able to bring about some degree of peace. Yet this is different, in a sense, from what we (or at least I) was raised to believe.

Isn’t it possible to be truly satisfied in life as a Christian no matter your field or profession? Isn’t Christ’s sacrifice and the continual intercession of the Holy Spirit on my behalf enough to bring about that “peace that surpasses all understanding”? Isn’t it about HOW my steps are ordered as I immerse myself in the Word, trusting that He will open doors and work through me to plant the seeds…WHOEVER I come into contact with and WHATEVER my circumstances. Or did Gandalf speak in vain: “But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

This isn’t Sunday School. Answers like “Well, I guess it’s probably a little of both” or “God knows the heart” are unhelpful and superficial here. There has to be firmer ground. It might be possible that something has been overlooked. Maybe it isn’t just about the HOW. Maybe there is a deeper calling to which I am accountable and which utilizes my gifts, talents, and passions in a way that not only brings glory to my Father but leads to fulfillment in my life as well. I’m not talking about some single, mystical path that I need to tread carefully lest I slip and and somehow thwart God’s plan. I’m not that arrogant. What I am speaking of, though, is a specific lot in life in which I am able to thrive and for which it is OK to hope.

CALLING might be too strong of a word, but not by much. Would the Apostle Paul have touched people if he had been a merchant or a weaver? Without a doubt. Would he have been as passionate and fulfilled as he clearly was in living his life as a zealous ambassador of the Gospel (granted, you can be this anywhere but he lived SPECIFICALLY as a missionary)? I tend to think not.

There is hope and pregnant potential right there within all of us. For some it’s just below the surface and for others it may be buried. Wounds cut deep and we tear off the scabs again and again before we allow any real healing to take place. But our God is relentless. And I know he wants more for us.

He’s just got to.