Modern life, particularly in America, is often perceived as
a series of goals to achieve: go to school, graduate, get a job, get married,
have a family, help them reach their goals, retire, relax, the end. It seems
like we treat spiritual life the same way: get saved, be baptized, go to
church, learn a bit, die and go to heaven, the end. But that’s not how it’s
supposed to work. Jillian Willis says of the walk of faith, “It is a journey,
not a destination. Do not feel you have to be perfect in it” (Sing Over Me: A Women’s Devotional through the Psalms).
This goal-oriented way of thinking presents a problem when
our goals aren’t being met on our schedule or the schedule we think God has in
mind. In school we’re told that if we put in the hard work and apply ourselves
to learning we’ll receive rewards in the form of scholarships or better jobs,
resulting in higher earnings and a more affluent lifestyle. So we try to apply
the same logic to spiritual growth: “If I put time and effort into all the
spiritual disciplines, I’ll be happier, more productive, and be blessed with
many rewards.” While there is some truth to that, the elements of cause and
effect are not that clear in Scripture. Both internal and external
circumstances can interfere, such as unemployment, the sins of ourselves or others,
health problems, and so on.
Willis brings it down to the daily level, “I feel the need
to be ‘productive’ every day. In my mind productivity doesn’t include
relationships, it includes checking off items on my ‘to do’ list.” I can
identify with that. My office calendar has items to check off each day or week.
If a day has many items listed, I feel pressured to make sure I get them all
done before I go home. But if the day has nothing listed, I feel like I’m
wasting time that could be better spent somehow. The worst days are the ones
with many scheduled tasks that get interrupted by unscheduled tasks.
It is convicting to
realize that Jesus never hurried to get something done, and He didn’t bypass
relationships because He had something else to do. However, He knew His
priorities and sometimes had to state them clearly: “Let us go on to the next
towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38
ESV). “Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the
third day I finish My course… for it cannot be that a prophet should perish
away from Jerusalem” (Luke 13:32-33). Where our agendas include tasks, His
agenda is people. If the agenda is to do a job, we need to know what, how,
when, and where. But if the agenda is relationships, all we need to know is
who.
Some days I just need the reminder that it’s not all about
my lists. God may have someone or something that’s not on my schedule for
today, or some life destination that isn’t on my map. He has a tendency to take
His disciples through Samaria and through valleys we might otherwise choose to
avoid. His agenda is to draw people close so that He can carry us through.
“You have seen how the
Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went
until you came to this place” (Deuteronomy 1:31).
© 2015 Dawn Rutan
