A sister-friend of mine is notorious for retreats. I can get with that. I need to take them far more than my schedule allows. The thing with her is that her preference is to take retreats alone. When I first learned of her sabbatical-hunger for alone time, I thought it was strange, a tad bit selfish even. Why would a person need or want to visit some of the most beautiful places alone, and not have someone there with whom to share them? The fact is, until meeting her, I had never really considered the importance of having a deeper knowledge of myself. It didn’t dawn on me that communing with God alone, in the context of our oneness, would be integral to having a richer experience in my relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastes 3:1(NKJV) tells us, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:” God has devised a plan for the entire universe. It is an incredibly good plan, perfect in every way. He is God, the Creator of all that we survey, and He’s good through and through. This truth is driven home in Romans 8:28(NKJV), which tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” No matter how much we mess up, God’s plan will still move forward within the confines of His appointed season and time. Our missteps and mistakes does not impede God’s plan. All things will work together for good, because everything that He does works beautifully.
God’s plan included our rescue through Jesus Christ. This is how we become a part of His family, and remain safe in His loving care. Everybody will not make the choice to be rescued by Christ, but for those of us who do, all things will work together for us. They will coagulate, cooperate, and converge at a point where we are lifted higher, and God’s plan for our lives is moved further along. The magnet that pulls all the pieces together is purpose.
So many of us endeavor to build the foundation of our personhood on things like career, profession, creative ability and artistry, or family. These are important aspects to life. They give it flavor, but we can’t define ourselves by anything other than what God says we are. In Ephesians 2:10 (NLT), the Apostle Paul tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
We are the handy work of our Creator. He knows every detail about us. He knows what we need and should be doing, and how we should be doing it. Nothing about our existence was left to chance. He’s an on-purpose God and He created us to be an on-purpose people. He planned that we should do good things long before we were born. Doing good things is a part of your destiny. It’s what you are called to do.
So it can be no secret that our greatest ambition in life should be to operate within God’s plan. To operate within God’s plan is to recognize that we are called according to His divine purpose. Our love for Him should motivate us to seek to do His Will and to do those things that He has purposed us to do; chief among them is our obligation to live love and to give it out whenever, wherever, and however we are led by the Holy Spirit.
People’s lives end up becoming very fragmented when they have no clue why they’re here and what they’re supposed to be doing—I mean really supposed to be doing. When this happens, every moment feels like an out-of-body experience; like you’re watching someone else go through the motions of living your life. You know deep down that what you’re doing each day isn’t bringing you joy. You’re just doing what you must do to hold everything together. That’s not exactly a purpose-driven existence, is it?
God is the glue. His plan for us beautifully unfolds as we walk in our God-inspired purpose, and it’s not just a crescendo oriented event. It’s an everyday thing, where we’re fulfilled with meaningful experiences. We’re on a conduit-mission where we’re continually filled by Heavenly Father as we pour into the lives He has ordained we should touch and influence.
The absence of this will leave us feeling flat. We approach every day with a tank already running low. So, we feel empty, numb, and very often emotionally depleted. This changes the moment you catch a glimpse of your authentic self.
My sister-friend caught this glimpse. She operates out of the overflow. She moves in her groove, confidently and gracefully. During those times when it becomes clear to her that the flavor of what she brings to the table feels a little stale, she takes the time to press-in to Heavenly Father with some serious alone time with Him. We all need to do this.
The Holy Spirit is a person. He’s our Comforter, and He should be our best friend. Deep calls to deep. This is something we can never forget. We should desire to segregate time to spend only with him, because spending quiet time to meditate and focus only on God will help us to live the deep calling of our divine purpose and nature. We’re on a mission from Him, and He knows all the details. He will share them with us freely if we will take the time to develop a richer relationship with Him, so that we can know our authentic self and purpose through the love of Jesus Christ. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“A Deeper Knowledge of Yourself” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.