One genuine prayer of the Christian person is to be used by God. This is where spiritual and unspiritual persons divide. And the purposes of love separate them. But, all of us hate being used for loveless gain, whereas we delight in being used toward purposeful ends.
Contrasts in Being Used
There would hardly be a bigger dissimilarity between being used and abused and being selected for a special task that aligns with our core identity. One has rejection written all over it; the other acceptance in abundance.
Even more intrinsically, the former has refused to love, whilst the latter is effused in love. God has been left out on the first; the second has “God” written all over it.
Being used one way leaves us feeling dirty, depressed, and angry. Being used the other way leaves us never feeling better; that is, we feel purposefully used. This is how God uses us.
Feeling Purposefully Used
Deeper down, still, the purposes of our entire lives are enshrined in finding effective use of ourselves. Life is otherwise boring, frustrating, pointless, or hopeless.
We cannot find our purpose despite God. And we either find our purpose(s) or we’re gifted them. God is the great Disposer of the desire within and the opportunity alike. It’s a blasphemous travesty on anyone’s part to defraud God the credit for instilling and satisfying the desire of purpose.
For every success and every good gift, God’s the one we thank (James 1:17).
Feeling purposefully used helps us see the unique importance of simplicity in our lives. When our purpose is known, and we have the capacity to achieve it, we can live the simple life that God has ordained for us.
Driving Home Our Purpose
Having dealt with the issue of whether we feel ‘used’ or not, we can go on with our purpose. Indeed, it is our God-destined responsibility to ensure we drive home this purpose of ours.
Sheeting home the advantage as soon as we’ve reeled in this purpose of ours is about making the most of our now-established ascendancy. We are to be used to our maximum potential, give or take the rest we need. This is the need for balance so there are no regrets later as we look back. Our purpose never requires us to go beyond our purpose.
***
It’s an honour to be used by God—to be selected, of all human beings, and placed in our situation, at our time, with the resources open to us, and to use all that to serve the Lord in our mortal beings. As we focus on God, and not on externalities, our Lord speaks encouragement and challenge to us. To feel anointed is what the purpose of life is all about.
© 2011 S. J. Wickham.
No comments:
Post a Comment