Being
a teacher, it delights me when a child asks for my permission to do
something that is pleasing to me. For example, "Ms. Taylor, I'm
finished with snack, can I clean the room?" Perhaps even more
delightful is when a child already knows what pleases me, and just
goes for it! Just last week, I sat down in my reading chair for story
time, not realizing that I had forgotten my very important clipboard
that goes with me everywhere. Immediately, a sweet child got up,
walked over to my desk, and brought me the clipboard and a pen
without me having to say a word. Now THAT is delightful! That is the
sign of a child who knows me-- knows me so well, he didn't even have
to ask what I needed. He knew my will, and he went for it!
I
can only imagine that our Father is the same way with his children.
Yes, he loves for us to consult him before making decisions. But I
have to believe that His ultimate desire is for us to grow to know
Him
so well that
we are constantly walking
in His will without
Him having to say a word.
I
can't say that I'm at that point with Him yet. I long to have that
level of obedience. I yearn to know Him so well, that I can
confidently walk out His calling on my life without needing to spend
countless nights in tears over what His "perfect" will for
me is. But maybe walking out his good and perfect plan for my life
doesn't begin with me. Maybe it begins with a pursuit of Him and an
understanding of His will for all people, not just Hanna. Perhaps it
is through the accomplishment of His will for all people that my life
is aligned with the plan that He has for me. So instead of asking the
question, "What is it that you desire for my life? What
specifically would you have me do? Where would you have me serve? Who
would you have me love?" I need to take a step back and remember
the purpose of life.
What
is the purpose of life, you ask? I think these verses put it nicely:
Ephesians
1: 5-12
He
destined us in
love
to
be his sons
through
Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, to
the praise of his glorious grace
which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. For
he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his
will, according to his purpose which he set forth in
Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to
unite all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth. In him, according to the
purpose of Him who
accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will, we
who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live
for the praise of his glory.
Did
you get all that? We serve a God Who's desire is to be glorified
because of His grace.
He is not interested in our begrudging obedience. He is glorified in
the joyful praises of His people who have willingly
submitted to Him because
of his glorious grace.
In order for all of heaven and earth to be united to Him, we as
believers have been appointed to live for the sole purpose of
praising Him and making Him famous. He is involving us in this
action-packed story of redemption, not because He needs us, but
because our gratefulness brings Him glory. We
have been chosen to represent Him to those who do not know Him, and
we should be so honored.
Let's
take this back to the classroom.
It's
every teacher's desire to have a room full of willingly obedient
children. I get absolutely no satisfaction from having to dictate
every minute of every school day and in turn cultivate a room full of
begrudgingly obedient children who go CRAZY the moment I leave the
room because they have not developed a true sense of joyful
obedience. Contrarily, when I have cultivated the deep desire in my
children to do the right thing, I can trust them with making their
own decisions. Like the child I mentioned earlier who wanted to clean
the classroom after snack-- Do I care if he cleans the tables or
sweeps the floor? No! He's cleaning, and I'm so proud that he
realizes the importance of cleanliness and desires to please his
teacher! The boy that brought me my clipboard and a pen-- Do I tell
him, "Well, son, I actually preferred to use the blue pen, not
the black pen. Your life will not be as joyful as it would have been
had you chosen the blue pen." No! His heart was in the right
place and my will for a clipboard and pen was accomplished.
I'm
preaching to myself here when I say that it's time to stop dissecting
the calling on our lives. Why waste time trying to figure out
precisely where, when, who, and how, when we have already been given
the "what!" Fear is the reason for our hesitation. For me,
it's the fear of not being perfectly aligned with God's will. What if
God doesn't bless it? A precious friend of mine recently told me,
"You shouldn't worry so much over the specifics of God's calling
on your life. Sometimes you just have to go. If your heart is in the
right place, God
is going to bless it."Let's
begin with having a good opinion of God, and stop assuming His
approval of us is dependent on whether we choose to sweep the floor
or clean the tables. He is happy with what accomplishes His will,
whether it be the blue pen or the black.
May
you be covered in His dust,
Hanna