A couple I know recently turned a 45 minute trip into a 3 hour journey! How? They missed just one turn and, because they were in an unfamiliar area, did not realize their mistake. If my friends had consulted a map, they would have spared themselves a long detour. Years ago, when I was a student pilot, I set off on a flight on a bright sunny day and about an hour later came to the realization that I was far from the course that I had planned to fly. My airplane was pointed in the right direction, but because I was a rookie, I was not aware of the cross winds that were having a major effect on my true course. If I had kept my flight charts open and checked them, I would have quickly known about those winds. It is possible to think you're making great progress while traveling in the wrong direction!
At this year's end, we have the opportunity to check our progress in life. We need to ask ourselves some hard questions, make certain that we are 'on course.' Perhaps you think that your life is going in the right direction because you're feeling good, having fun, and are self-satisfied. The truth is that we need a way to evaluate our lives using a guide that is outside of ourselves. That is where the importance of the wisdom of the Scripture, the counsel of mature Believers, the guidance of the Spirit, and the practice of regular corporate worship enter the picture!
More than just doing 'good' things, a Believer is called to live in the purposes of God. Rick Warren coined the phrase, the "purpose driven life." He proposes that instead of letting life happen to us, reacting to situations that develop around us as we drift from day to day, that we learn what God desires of us, set our course, and fulfill His plans. Through the preacher Jeremiah God told His people who had let themselves fall far from their holy calling that He had not forgotten or forsaken them. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV)
In order to find those plans and that promised destiny, we must commit ourselves to obedience and we need to do regular course corrections, asking:
"Am I making the choices God wants me to make or following my own desires?
Am I consistently doing what is right or taking the easy way of expedience?
Am I intentionally growing in character or drifting with the crowd and the current?"
December 31st is just another day on the calendar, another flip of the page. However, it is a reminder that a course correction might be due. I urge you to spend some time prayerfully reflecting on your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of those choices you're making that need to be brought into line with the purposes of God.
Perhaps you have made a wrong turn. If you're tolerating something that you know is not pleasing to Him, determine today to change course. Don't wait until you're far from the Way! And know this, too; everyone of us, even those who make good, God-honoring decisions from day to day, have to deal with crosswinds. Temptations arise and threaten to blow us off course. Illness, job loss, political change, and other factors beyond our control brings storms that effect our progress, but if we are guided by the Spirit, they will not take us from His purposes!
Here's a word from the Word. God asks His people to evaluate their lives.
Let these ancient words speak to you today.
"Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: "Consider your ways! "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes." Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the Lord." (Haggai 1:5-8, NKJV)
I pray that His Purposes will become your purposes and that you will find, in Him, a glorious "hope and future."
Happy New Year!
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