Catching You: A 5-Day Plan to Creating a Life of Security and Loveنموونە

God gives us many gifts, talents, and personality quirks, and he tucks much beauty into each of our unique souls. Then what do we do? We look over at the person standing next to us. . . . We lose sight of what God has done and is doing within us. We lose sight of all the goodness he infused in us. We become consumed with feelings of inadequacy and shame, instead of savoring the gifts God in his inestimable mercy has chosen to give us. And then we fail, lost as we are in our discontent, to use the gifts we have been given to set our little corners of the world on fire. Deep down we know we’re supposed to be dancing about, setting these bonfires aflame. But we’re not. So we feel restless.

Instead of anchoring ourselves to God and his will with every inhalation and exhalation, we try to break free and pull away so that we can run down other paths that look more alluring. Paths that, through rose-colored glasses, seem to shine more brightly, come with more acclaim, and lead to more satisfaction and higher highs. But these are highs that last but a moment, and satisfactions that will ultimately leave us hungry and yearning. Only once we allow God to reveal his unique plans for our lives and then embrace that vision will we find the peace, pleasure, and contentment we seek.

Being who we are meant to be and doing the work we are given to do means looking around at all the beautiful souls walking the earth, seeing all the fruitful, fertile, impressive work they are doing, and saying, “Thank you, God, for the people who are adding something to our world that no one else could. Thank you, God, for giving them those gifts. Thank you, God, that they have embraced their gifts and are using them. Thank you, God, for giving me other gifts and for allowing me to cooperate with you in other ways. And thank you, God, that when people see me doing the work that is mine and mine alone, I may one day do it in such perfect union with you that through me they will see and feel your love.”

That’s what I want anyway. That’s what I yearn for. Because I can’t imagine experiencing a greater level of peace than what I would experience were I to become a perfect conduit of God’s love.