You Can "Blow It Up" Right Where You Are
I walked into a friend’s office and I was surprised to see a large handwritten calendar on his wall that he used to scratch out each day as it passed. He was using it (publicly I might add) to count down the days till he left his job. He was using the calendar as one might if they were a castaway on a desert island, waiting to be delivered from their isolation, or as a prisoner counting out the days left on her sentence.
Maybe you aren’t as blatantly crossing off your days, but you may feel like your weeks are somewhat purposeless, meaningless or boring. You may feel like you are passing your time more than living your life.
Today, I want to help you to lift your eyes … right where you are … to see your life from a totally different, life-changing vantage point. Are you ready for a life-upgrade?
Recognize that you have been placed in your exact location.
This may seem strange to you, but God has placed you in your spot, you haven’t arrived there by mere happenstance.
It’s a crazy idea, I know, but the Bible declares:
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth … He gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:24-28)
God is somehow over the big picture, working through time and space and settings, deepening his connections with us.
Not only is God over the large sweep, He is also involved in your life. “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) He is working in you and around you. He has created you on purpose with purpose … He is involved in it all.
This is a foundational understanding that will transform how you live. Your sense of purpose is in and from God, and His purpose can be expressed through you.
Receive your present roles seriously, and you are on your way to an effective, productive and fruitful life.
God has placed you in your relational and functional setting. Your roles (spouse, sibling, employer, employee, student, neighbor, etc.) are actually assignments from God. As you take the time to define them in fresh and meaningful ways, they become your job descriptions for the different spheres of your life. Your roles become avenues for your unique expression of your design and God’s intent.
God doesn’t want you sitting in front of your calendar, checking off the days like a castaway. Instead, let’s imagine He has formed you and placed you to represent Him, and to do “His stuff” in your roles right where you are now. If this is true … which it is … then it’s time to get clear and get going.
- Take some time to define your roles as clearly as you can. Don’t just describe them, describe them in an inspiring and convicting way. What does God want you to do in that role? How can you express it in a way that excites you? How might you describe your role in a way that makes you feel a bit irresponsible if you don’t do what you believe and are inspired to do?
- Once you have good descriptions of what it means for you to be responsible in the settings in which God has placed you, you are almost there. Each week – or each month – update your understanding. Make it specific. What specifically do you think God wants you to do in that role this week? Put it in your planner.
When you start living this way consistently, it will change your life and the lives of those around you … guaranteed.
A friend of mine took the time to implement these thoughts. He said it changed everything for him. He felt like he was being given the opportunities and responsibilities that God gave to Adam and Eve. He was receiving a fresh sense of his own name (his identity and purpose), and he felt he was getting to “name” his environment (integrating divine purpose with his actions and functions). He was living on purpose and becoming more concretely responsible than ever before … and he was enjoying it.
Let’s change the way we use our calendars. Stop counting off the days. Start planning and implementing God’s purposes for the benefit of others, for your own sense of fulfillment and for God’s delight!
