“His purpose is in the process.”
Thought provoking---
Isn’t it great when you discover a new way to think about a familiar passage of scripture! I love those times! I experienced this a couple of weeks ago. I am still thinking about the lesson presented in a devotional written by Oswald Chambers in his daily devotional book “My Utmost for His Highest”. I hope you don’t think of this book as too hard to understand….please give it a chance. I had the book for years before I started reading it, and now it is one of my favorites.
I do a lot of thinking about God’s will, and God’s purpose for my life. This devotional especially spoke to me about the “journey” of my life and not necessarily each “destination”. The following is July 28 from My Utmost for His Highest……
“..Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home.” Mark 6:45
We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish—His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (6:49). It is the process, not the outcome that is glorifying to God.
God training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for some time in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.
God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.
–Oswald Chambers
As I work toward a deadline on a project or as I work toward a particular goal, I now try to look at each step along the way to see what is God’s purpose right now, at this moment. “His purpose is in the process.”
