The why of the what

Do you ever forget why you do what you do?

On Monday, while my urologist was working on me doing the biopsy, I asked him why he chose his particular specialty. He laughed and said, “Because I like to sleep through the night and enjoy my weekends. There aren’t many urological emergencies!” Good answer and one that an obstetrician could not give! Both kinds of physicians offer needed care, but for very different reasons. Why do you do what you do? The short answer might be: to pay the bills, or it’s the first job I was offered, or I married into the company, or I couldn’t afford college and ended up doing this job. Others might remember a passion for children that led them to education, or a desire to make money that pulled them towards a career they saw as lucrative, a love of music that drew them to perform, or a calling from God that was irresistible.

With time’s passing, many might say, “I stopped asking why a long time ago! I just have to keep making the donuts now because the luxury of choice is in the past.” That’s what too many think. Obligations can cause us to lose sight of why we started out doing what we do. When that happens, a kind of desperation lurks that can drive a person to many a foolish decision! Think about ‘why’ beyond your job or career.

In all of life, it is important to stay aware of the ‘why’ that shapes the ‘what.’ Why did you get married? Why do you stay married? Why do you go to the church you attend, relate to others the way you do, do the ministry you do, act the way you do towards others? It’s easy to slide into passivity, to let circumstances and experiences define us, settling into a rut of routine. We will not live the adventure that is possible for those full of faith in God if we are living by default instead by intention! The Bible says, "Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." (Romans 12:2, The Message)

A marriage kept intact ‘for the kids’ cannot know the deepening intimacy of one nurtured by unselfish love.
A job done ‘just for the money,’ will not be done with the same quality as one done ‘as unto Christ.’ (Eph. 6.5)
A ministry done to gain recognition or for self-fulfillment will never have the same sweetness or pure results as one done for God’s glory alone!

As we ask ourselves ‘why’ we might conclude that the only answer is to abandon responsibility or to up end our lives with some radical choice for self-fulfillment. In truth, we have woven webs of obligation to family, church, community, and God that we must not break simply because we have become unhappy or dissatisfied. It is possible to redefine the ‘why’ of our present circumstances by bringing God into our situation and seeking His will. He makes ‘all things new.’ He can give us a new vision that changes us in place and allows us to begin to redefine the way we act. The so-called ‘geographical cure’ for life’s problems, that old lie that promises happiness if only we can find some new place, never works precisely because our greatest problem travels with us! That is ourselves. Without inner transformation, we almost always recreate the same problems that plagued us in the past even when we change spouses, jobs, or locations.

Change the storyline you’re telling yourself! Even a fable starts to sound true if it is told long enough. Ask the Lord to give you courage to face the truth, for the insight to know yourself, for the creativity to re-tell the story of your life in the way that honors His purposes.

"God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything,
more than just ready to do what needs to be done. …
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you.
He gives you something you can then give away,  which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God,
wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God."  (2 Corinthians 9:8-11, The Message)