When we try to conform to others we appear awkward. Functioning in roles that are not meant for us exhausts energy and dulls the heart’s desire for those things that are meant for us. If we feel depleted at the end of a day it may indicate a need to align our lives with our true vocation.
Our true vocation is clarified as we hear His voice and bravely respond to His cue. To walk in His way is to walk in awareness of who He is in us. It is a process of defining and redefining. Lucidity often comes when our circumstances are stirred. When circumstances are provoked shifts occur. These shifts make crooked places straight. He straightens the path and it gets easier to know where our ‘yes and no’ belong.
How is your energy account? Are you energized at the end of the day? Or do you feel overdrawn? Does it feel like funds were misappropriated? Is your enthusiasm level taxed? We waste energy on crooked paths. A crooked path is a path not our own. Not every path is ours to take – even if it’s a good path – just like every pretty trinket is not ours to buy. We learn to discern the things in life that bear our name. Time and energy are great commodities and quality of life requires their stewardship. If we spend our life on endeavors that have no real value to who Christ is in us then we will never taste the joy we’re meant to savor.
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.
ISAIAH 55:2-3 (NIV)
It is easy to admit when we spend money then find we have nothing of real value to show for it. Can we be equally honest about how we spend life? Is too much time spent on that which does not satisfy? Why do we fail to notice the longing in our heart or suppress our true being? The vision of who we are is to be cultivated. How much vitality is spent on things that do not reflect God’s unique purpose in us? We could be healthier and happier on less income if it meant more life. The same is true for activity – we may need to slow down in order to find out what means the most.
To surrender and trust God with our lives is always a great need. Have we become a slave to world or religion? Do we work to hold an image of what others call success? Why is our nose to the grindstone? Is it to silence the flesh as we busy ourselves so we don’t feel the hollow? Excess and debt means long hours or taking jobs based on pay scale—leaving little time for enjoyment.
Not all are mis-aligned. Some found the way to their heart’s desire and live well-balanced lives. But many others are still out of place; this is good because it will create the strain that is meant to bring us to our knees. I pray we become painfully aware of our dissatisfaction so that we will yield to the Lord’s challenge and witness the shifts that will effect much change. Functioning as God created us to function not only makes our life better but it improves the lives of those who have now been pushed a little closer to their true vocation as a result of our move.
There were times in my life when I felt I was doing the work of three or four people. Then my world shook violently and I fell out of place…but I landed in my own space! I am no longer compelled to do that which others are meant to do, but many still are. To carry a load (often at the cost of home life) and act like things are under control only blocks the true view. Others look on and assume that no help is needed. Bitterness over the lack of help may take root but we are in the way of receiving our own help.
Here’s an illustration. A clothing store displays properly fitted garments on mannequins. Why? Because clothes that don’t fit are not appealing. If the clothes are too big or too small for the frame it’s hard for customers to imagine themselves wearing that garment. Likewise, if we wear roles that are not made for us then those roles look unappealing, making it difficult for others to imagine themselves in that role. They cannot even recognize their own role because we are wearing it so badly!
We think if we don’t do certain things nobody else will. A false need for approval or control makes us pick up other people’s slack. It can become compulsive and obsessive behavior. We don’t believe God will maneuver people into position in time to keep things rolling. The grace that would deliver us is missed when we don’t step back, sit down, say no, and wait with patience for the help that is on its way. In Isaiah 55 the Lord says,
“This plan of mine is not what you would work out, neither are my thoughts the same as yours! For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours, and my thoughts than yours.”
Could it be as simple as letting go? What would happen if we did only those things we had the grace to do with joy? What if we practiced saying “no thanks” to obligation and people-pleasing and “yes please” in response to Christ in us? What if we were our true selves without fear of poverty, comparison, or rejection? Would God sustain us? Applaud us? Would we know the joy of our salvation? Would this fresh obedience bring new life to our energy and sustain our passion? Who knows, we may even enter His rest—although it may look different than what we’ve imagined! We may be more active, but far less tired!
Repositioning into roles that fit us will help us see the fullness of His love for us. He wants to lead us to a quality of life that is beyond our limiting beliefs. We’re walking and working as if life depended on us. He wants to prove to us that it does not. He wants us to know our own inner design, to become the servants of His choosing so our disposition can reflect His glory.
Disposition: the way something is positioned; how temperament is bestowed; the usual manner of response, habitual tendency or inclination; the inner arrangement or placement of one’s humor that causes a natural willingness or responsiveness.
In fellowship with Him we begin to recognize and appreciate Who He is in us. We learn to value the way He is positioned within us, how our temperament is bestowed, and how the arrangement of our humor allows us to respond more naturally to one thing over another. We love ourselves because we see Him in His own design. This love reaches out to others. When we are in the right vein we can give sacrificially and yet our energy account remains full.
When we are finally aligned with who God’s made us to be then we can give without effort. We have an abundant supply to minister to the needs of mankind when we find our proper place in Him – which is our proper place in this world! It is much easier for a hand to tie a shoe lace than it is for an elbow—and the hand has fun doing it! It doesn’t have the frustrations of an elbow trying to accomplish this same feat. And the esteem of the elbow is lifted once it realizes it isn’t stupid – it’s just not a hand! Thank God for the elbows out there who are willing to try to tie shoe laces – but may they find the courage to stop so someone else can lend them a hand!
Love gives us courage to be honest with ourselves and with each other. Love moves us into our proper positions. Love frees us from the fear of man. It gives us courage to try something new, walk a new path, explore new territory. And when love gives us this much freedom there is nothing we wouldn’t do for love.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-8 (NIV)
Christ aligns our heart with His love. Hearing His voice breaks up our fallow ground so we can receive His seeds of love. When we know we’re loved we love in return. Love can make a barren womb give life. It takes a mere shell of a man or a woman and transforms them into radiance. Love sparks the heart and the whole person comes to life. Heads turn to look at someone who was all but invisible before love entered their life.
God’s love makes it safe for us to take the risks we couldn’t take while we were still afraid of disappointing people with our honest need to change positions. I am sure there are roles that we still wear that we know will never fit our frame. And then there are the roles that feel like they don’t fit but the Lord assures us they are ours to grow into. We know the difference as we start moving toward honesty. Let’s take a step, throw a stone, do something different. Re-positioning needs to occur. Let’s pick something up or lay something down. We will experience a great sigh of relief. As we take a breath of fresh air the long-lost zest for life will return. A sweet deposit will be made into our energy account.
Find a place that has a role to fit your frame. You may have time and energy to spend or financial resources to advance a mission. What is your role? There are places that have elbows who are waiting for a hand. Some have shed roles that no longer fit so you can imagine how lovely they will look on you! Your love for a ministry and the confidence to name the role that fits your frame will be delightful wherever you go!