Being you!

For 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

One of the most challenging things about serving those who are at the end of their life is dealing with disappointments. So many times I hear about the things the person, "wished" they had done.

However, there are just as many times when I hear people share how they knew, "This is what God put me here on this earth to do."

They say that "hindsight is 20/20," and that somehow looking back seems to create a clearer picture. Perhaps it does, but in that constant state of looking back, the road ahead can become clouded by "what if's?"

Being able to be whom God created you to be can be overwhleming at times. Not necessarily when it comes to doing, or being, that person. No, it's often difficult because we become concerned what others will think.

While we are reminded to love one another, to turn the cheek when hurt, and to be the instruments of Christ in a chaotic, and sometimes hurtful world, I have also learned from listening to the stories of others, that sometimes we must learn to let go. And sometimes, that means people as well.

Years ago as a young pastor serving my first church, a family left the faith community. Somehow I felt it was my fault, and a few people even helped me to own that situation, offering suggestions. I visited, invited, took them dinner, along with a number of other things. And then came the truth.

They were simply not being fed.

It had abdolutely nothing to do with me. I was even told, "We stayed until they got a new minister, but we had decided to leave months ago. We were just waiting for the right time."

So often we have our own ideas of where people need to be, while the reality is, they have a need to be where God wants them to grow!

Jesus listened, and knew the people he encountered. The disciples were people that he called out to, "Follow me," and they did! Empty nets along the shoreline, fishermen no more! A tax collector Levi, who left his office one day and became Matthew. And even one who would betray him was told, "Go and do what you must."

Our lives are about doing and becoming what God wants us to be. I love it when I hear stories of reaching the place where God has wanted the person to be, and even more amazed at how the person arrived at that place.

Moses wandered a desert. Noah road out the rains. Jesus was born in a stable. And you are here today. Each of is have a purpose. Each of us are the created Child of God, designed to be unique, and to live out our lives within that desgin.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2018