Lately I've had to face a lot of closed doors. It seems like every door possible in my life closed in a matter of just a few months. I went from the fast pace of leading a School of Worship, to leading 6 weeks of prayer and worship and recording an album, and working like a maniac to being trapped in my house pretty much 24/7. Clearly God is trying to say something and I think it's about time I listen, but I'll be honest, all these instances have left me with a great sense of loss. Most of us know, especially in this economy, how hard it is to count your blessings when the list appears to keep getting smaller and smaller. It's easy to praise God and trust him when everything is going good and you have everything you need, but it's a whole other story when you're searching frantically to find something to be thankful for. I guess it's through experiences like this that Paul learned to say that he was able to be content with a lot but also with little. (I would say nothing, but that's never true because no matter how bad off we are, as long as we still have breath we have something to be thankful for.)
God has really been teaching me that instead of looking ahead at where I want to be (or really just where I think I should be) I need to focus more on what I can do right now with what I've been given. It's so easy to get caught up in striving to reach goals when that's where your eyes are fixed. But that's not what God tells us to do. He says that when we seek His Kingdom first and make that priority, everything else just falls into place.
So lets look at the parable of the talents for a minute. Most know the story, God gave them each a certain amount of talents. One buried his, another doubled his and the other like really multiplied it. (like more then the second guy because he was trusted with more). My point with this is, God gives stuff to us all. Some have more then others but we all have been entrusted with something. Even if all you have is breath in your lungs, you have something to offer the world. You have something to help bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. That is the goal. I really feel like instead of always looking ahead at where we are not at, or what we don't have, it makes us a slave to the future. If we focus on what we have been given right here, right now and steward it well (meaning do everything possible to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth with what we have right now) then God can trust us with more. But if we are always focused on what we don't have, its like burying what we do have. It's a lie from the enemy to believe that you're not useful until you've reached your "destiny" because you will always feel like you need to be better at something or have more of other things. But what if your destiny is everyday waking up and looking at what you have in your hands and saying "God, thank you for everything you've entrusted me with. How do I bring your Kingdom to earth with all this?" This mindset frees us from the lie that we haven't yet arrived and are useless until we do. It also frees us from the expectations and opinions of where others think we should be. There is a reason you are alive today. You have a destiny. Don't wait for conditions to be perfect for you to walk in it because they never will be. Do it NOW!
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