Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Life Assignment

Only let each person lead the life
that the Lord has assigned to him,
and to which God has called him.

I Corinthians 7:17

Here is a confession—I compare my life to the lives lived by others and, more often than not, wonder why I couldn’t have their life. Of course, all the lives I envy "appear" to have more than me, not less. Walking down the streets of a mega rich community recently, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about money. I could do ‘wealthy’ quite nicely!” Of course, none of this is based in reality because what I see is the outside stuff not the soul of their lives. That remains hidden. But then, there are those whose lives genuinely seem to be lived more smoothly.

My husband and I have been talking about “signature sins”; those sins that hound us throughout our lives. They are the ones we never quite give over completely to our Father. In sharing our “signature sins” my envy of the “more fortunate lives” was exposed. It’s an ugly sin.

What strikes me about Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthians is the message of freedom. When I am distracted by a life “over there” the life I’ve been given wanders off trail and before I know it, I’m struggling to bush whack my way back.

Freedom comes in embracing the life God has assigned me, because only then can I completely trust that, no matter what happens, God will see me through. When I look elsewhere, I lose sight of Who is leading my way.

Jesus, forgive me for my envy of the lives
You have given others.
Help me to embrace my assigned life
With all my heart, soul and mind.
Amen.


1 comment:

full of hope said...

Reminds me of our conversation yesterday and brings to mind a favorite verse: Psalm 90:14
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Thanks for your faithful encouragement and challenges presented in your blogs!