A couple of weeks ago, my small group leader challenged us to find a
word that would serve as a cornerstone for our year, which would
stimulate us to be better individuals, that would motivate us to become
stronger spiritually.
As we went around the room, there were some great terms being chosen
– faith, honesty, wait, truth, caring, etcetera. When it came time for
me to reveal mine, although it has been something I have been trying to
incorporate into my life for a little while now, I felt the Spirit
prodding me to proclaim “intentional” as my foundational word.
With
each passing year, I have strongly believed God was going to “do a
work” on me. I sensed it was going to be “life-changing” in many ways.
I thought I would be able to reflect back and pinpoint this moment in time where my life turned the corner or “took off.”
Maybe
in the past this has been the “hopeful wishes” of an optimist, or the
positive thoughts of an idealist, however I have truly seen glimpses of
how God can work in and through my life when I approach it
intentionally.
After searching a number of Bible translations, I
was hard-pressed to find any instance or form of the word being used,
save one. Nevertheless, this philosophy can be argued as the basis of
how God wants us all to live.
I know your deeds, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So,
because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you
out of my mouth (Revelation 3:15).
Many of us, me included at
times, “desire” a change or “want” something different for our life, but
we never take the steps to do anything about it. We just “go with the
flow” and live the lukewarm existence which has plagued us for so long,
and then wonder why we’re still at the same place years later.
We say we want a new job, but haven’t bothered to search, decide what we’d like to do or even prepare a resume.
We
affirm we want to be in a relationship, but we don’t put ourselves in a
position to meet new people or deviate from our past patterns of
behavior.
We declare we are going to accomplish “something” this year, but don’t take any steps in order to do so.
Whatever it is, we have to decide to make a concerted effort to do it. No one else is going to do it for us.
I’m
not a huge “reality show” fanatic and don’t necessarily agree with the
premise or all of the actions of the contestants at times, but I do
admire those that compete on The Bachelor/Bachelorette and The Biggest
Loser for the sole reason that they made the effort with the intention
of finding their spouse or losing weight, especially in light of the
scrutiny of a national audience watching.
This is in no means the
solution or direction for everyone; however, it clearly illustrates how
some have made an intentional step to pursue what they want for their
life.
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me
(Revelation 3:20).
Although this passage is familiar to us as a
scripture we are introduced to at the outset of our Christian walk, it
reminds me of being at my family’s home during the holidays when someone
knocks on the door. Someone usually yells for someone else to “get the
door” and oftentimes with it being a family member who locked themselves
out, someone runs over, quickly unlocking it and runs off.
This
may be the mindset of how some of us deal with potential opportunities
we’re presented with – we ignore it, we want someone else to do the
work, or expect it to happen by itself.
Opportunities (and
changes) come in variety of ways. Sometimes they come knocking, other
times we have to go in search of, and still others we need to break a
door down in order to create one. In each case we need to take the
personal responsibility to intentionally pursue it.
Recently, I
had to relocate to a new area for a short period of time. Discovering it
was only going to be for a month, I could have easily and justifiably
quietly gone about my work and found plenty of things to occupy my time.
However, I sensed the need to get “plugged into the community” even for
a short stint. On the very first Sunday at my new location, I found a
church, signed up for a men’s group and joined two life groups, all the
while not knowing a soul.
Did I feel comfortable doing it? No. Was I confident? Not really. Was it worth it? Definitely!
Within
a month, I have connected with several people, offered to help in a
number of areas (even beyond my stay) and grown both personally and
spiritually – all the result of having a willingness to be used, making
myself available, and being intentional.
Life can be difficult and life can seem unfair.
When
I have found this to be most true is when I go about my day without a
specific plan or purpose. I live “hoping,” “wishing” or even (just)
“praying” for something without any further involvement. I do “what is
necessary,” no more, no less. This is the epitome of a lukewarm life –
living to get by, doing what is “expected,” and producing a vanilla
result.
God created and fashioned us with a purpose far greater
than that. No wonder why He would “spit,” “spew,” or “vomit” us out of
his mouth (differing versions of Revelation 3:15) if we are going to
live that way.
The adventure in life begins when we pursue what
we were individually created to do, not by following the crowd or
choosing to live in a manner just to survive, but rather in a manner to
thrive.
Live purposefully, live deliberately, live intentionally and you can overcome anything you believe is standing in your way.
[written by Cliff Young]
