Soon after I returned to the Lord many years ago, I began to realize that God has a plan and a purpose for my life and for each person’s life. I have, by God’s grace, endeavoured to discover and walk in that plan and to encourage others to do so. This has not been an easy journey as there is resistance both from within myself and from outside myself. Yet God opens unexpected doors and blesses and enables what He initiates. His plans indeed turn out to be good but costly (Jeremiah 29:11-12, Luke 18:28-30).
Others may denigrate or misunderstand God’s plans for you. I remember when the Lord sent me and my family to Thunder Bay to begin a new stage of life and ministry after my ordination in the Anglican Church. I was telling another recently ordained minister about this and he responded as if I were being punished or sidelined by being sent to what he perceived as a backwater. Instead of being offended or thrown off by this, I just thought how sad that his sense of serving the Lord is to go somewhere that seems to offer greater visibility. I have run into many believers who overtly or subtly hold this kind of attitude. This is the mistake Lot made in choosing his inheritance for himself and on the basis of what looked good to him (Genesis 13:10-13). Later he had to flee the place that looked good to him just before it came under a devastating judgment (Genesis 19:1-29).
(Sometimes, God does call a person to great visibility but we are neither to seek it nor resist it. It is God’s call and God’s timing, not ours. See Hebrews 5:4)
I served in Thunder Bay because that is where God knew I was needed and where God would work out his purposes for me and my family. Then when God was finished, He moved us on. Some resisted this move and would have held onto me. But God needed me somewhere else. God is the one to whom we will ultimately have to give account (Romans 14:10-13, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
I have found that the most important thing is to be faithful wherever God has planted me—to see whatever I am doing as ministry to Him first and then to others whom He sends across my path (Colossians 3:23-24, Luke !0:27). This principle applies to everyone not just to those set apart for ordained ministry or for full-time missions. It is so important to see whatever you are doing is a ministry not just a job or just filling in time or just earning money. It is important not to see whatever you are doing right now as just a means to an end rather than as part of God’s unfolding plan. Everything God gives for you to do is intended to be ministry to the Lord first and then to those whom He sends across your path. God will use you wherever you are if you adopt this attitude. He will use you to help others on their journey and use what you are doing for Him to transform you from the inside out—to increase His healing and holiness in your life.
I have also learned that, just as there are seasons in the year, there are seasons in life (Ecclesiastes 3:1). It is best to cooperate with the season of life and of the year into which God has called and placed you. We are now starting into the summer season. It is a season in which, for many, there will be opportunities for refreshment—both physical and spiritual. It is important to take such times that are potentially less hectic to seek God’s face (Psalm 27:8) and to let Him refresh you in every way (Acts 3:19-20). Avoid the temptation to fill up the time with too much busyness. Don’t be afraid of just being in the Lord’s Presence. God wants to minister to you and to speak to you and to be with you. Make space for Him.
In this season of my own life, I am sensing God’s call to finish a book-length manuscript that I started several years ago. It is a spiritual autobiography that focuses on my journey of receiving inner or emotional healing over many years. The purpose is to help others trust in the Lord for this kind of healing—especially for those who have experienced significant hurts early in life (Jeremiah 30:17).
So I will take my own advice and use this summer as a time to seek the Lord’s face, to receive His times of refreshing with an open and expectant heart and mind, and to respond to God’s call to complete the story of my healing journey. I won’t be doing a weekly blog for the next few months but, at this point, am open to starting up again in the fall if the Lord so leads. It has been a great joy to do this and it has helped to hone my writing skills. (It’s funny that, until the Lord made it clear that He had called me to write, I never thought of myself as a writer even though so much of my life has been focused on written and spoken words.) I really appreciate the encouraging feedback I have received and would greatly appreciate your ongoing prayers for this season of writing. I may post something on my blog from time to time to ask for specific prayer or to give a brief update.
In this Pentecost season of the Father’s love, may you by the enabling of the Holy Spirit fulfil all the Father’s plans for you as you trust in Jesus.
