Showing posts with label Your Role. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Your Role. Show all posts
Has life ever become so consuming, busy and overwhelming that it seems as if you are barely treading water? My life is crazy right now! Granted I am in college as I have been for the past couple of years, but it seems as if this semester is just so much more consuming than others have been. One week might be great, not to much homework or projects and I have plenty of time to study and get things done and then the next week I have tests in nearly every class, projects due, and papers to write!!!
If I stop to think about all the things I have to do I am most likely to start freaking out a little inside and start feeling tense in my chest. I honestly begin to feel so overwhelmed and even begin to doubt myself! However, even in the midst of my crazy life it never ceases to amaze me at all the lessons that I learn and that God sends my way about his faithfulness in any and every circumstance.
I have learned that as overwhelming as life can become and the tasks consuming all I can logically do is take it hour by hour, day by day, task by task, and week by week......taking a fare share of deep calming breaths along the way! While I could easily freeze in fear and stress (and at times might even unconciously respond this way) I know that getting worked up does nothing for me! Taking everything as it comes with faith in my abilities and confidence in God's guidance I know I can overcome any task that looms above me.
Furthermore, I now what it is to feel like you are drowning in stress, work, tasks, and consuming things of life....barely treading water!!! Most often it seems like I am using all of my strength just to keep my head above the water while I battle the current, but in the midst of weakening strength I look up to see that I am not alone! The only way I manage to keep my head above the water without sinking is because God gives me the strength to keep on......to keep treading the water.......and when all is said and done and life has calmed down the current will subside and I will be able to breath on my own.
God is continuoulsy working in my life!!! I know that now more than ever!!! Being in college and around people who I know don't always follow God I have realized how important my job is......of standing strong, being bold in my faith, and standing out as a follower of God.....as someone different and weird! Often, I wonder if just living my life in Christ is enough? Does God want me to stop and talk to someone, does he want me to go somewhere, I often have trouble discerning what his plan in this season is for me? Then of course he says "you want me to use you, okay, then I will" and he gives me something hard to do!!! Of course then I start questioning "why" but in the midst of my curiousity and wondering I realize that is the reason for me being in that particular class, the reason for me being given that topic to do a presentation on, the reason for just being here!!
Take courage in the fact that when the consuming and overwhelming tasks of life loom above, as you barely tread water, that your savior will never abandon you in the midst of it! He will give you the strength to persevere! Take it day by day, moment by moment, and rest in his never ending faithfulness! He has you where you are for a reason, just as I am where I am for a reason (though at times I wonder what that might be). All we need is found in our Heavenly Father....the courage to take on a hard task, the confidence with which to enter a battle, the strength with which to talk to someone, and the faith with which to live for Christ!
-Madison
Have you ever wondered what your
part was in the story? What role do you play? How could a little speck of a
person like you fit into the bigger picture, the main production of life? This
is your time, your “role call,” so what is it that you are here for?
There is a reason and a purpose for
everything in life (though sometimes it may be unknown to us). Everything has a
purpose, otherwise what would be the use of having it. Inventions, gadgets, and
gizmo's are all created with an idea in mind; meant to help us in some way,
solve problems, save time, etc. etc. But what do gadgets and gizmo's have to do
with our life? Well, if God was the inventor and creator behind who we are,
then we can be certain that we are not a sperr of the moment decision. Our
Heavenly Father thought long and hard about you before he created and brought
you into this world. He didn’t just create you, he cast you as an important part
of the story. However, unlike gadgets and gizmo's, which come accompanied by an
instruction manual and directions for use, we were not handed such a helpful
packet. We are cast into the story and learn our part along the way.
Do you know your part in the story? I highly doubt it,
because neither do I. It is not necessarily our place to know our part in the
greater scheme of things, for once again that is the marvelous mystery of God.
Nonetheless, this does not prevent Him from adding lines to our script and
scenes to our story. For slowly, along the way in life, you begin to see
glimpses of the bigger picture. Mind you, it is not all revealed, for that
would ruin the surprise, but yet, every charter will in the end known the
purpose for which they were cast!
Yes, we live without knowing.
Without seeing the full picture. Why? I am not quite sure, for at times I still
question God’s reasoning. Yet, I know that there is a reason, because I am here.
I was given a speaking part and as small as it might seem at the time, I know I
was cast as an important character!
I can’t help but reflect on and want
to read over, and over, and over again the words of one of my favorite authors
N.D. Wilson, when he talks about our roles in the production of life, stating:
We are always on stage. We are always in a novel, and
even when no other characters are
around, the art continues. The Triune audience watches. You have been given
your body, you have been given
your ancestors, your natural strengths and your natural weaknesses. The back story is all in place. You have been drawn,
described, and placed on a
stage unlike any other—the Globe. And you have been given your freedom to act. Your story has begun
already….Apparently you were worth bringing onto this stage. But why? Are you here as an extra in
somebody else’s scene? Are you here as a casualty?...Are
you a cautionary tale? We are all watching. We are all watched….Listen to your dialogue. Look at your
thoughts. Be horrified. Be grateful that God loves characters, and loves characters on journeys, characters
honestly striving to grow….Scene
after scene is given to you and the teeming universe in the audience waits for your reaction (Tilt-A-Whirl; 33-35).
I can’t help but LOVE every word written in N.D. Wilson’s
book Tilt-A-Whirl because it is all
so profoundly relevant to our life. When reading I constantly find myself
nodding my head, reading aloud and murmuring in agreement as goosebumps run down
my arm and an inspiring shiver travels down my back and trickles to my toes. This is what life is all about!!! This is
why we are here!!! This spinning globe is not only our home,
but it is our stage! We were called, we were cast, and now it is our turn to
take on our roll.
However, do you have questions? You might
beg to ask: Why now? Why me? For what purpose? Why was I put on this earth at
the time that I was born into existence? Everyone at some time or another
wrestles with these questions, not knowing or realizing the importance of their
part in the story. Sometimes it is a question battling it out with God and
crying in despair “Why!” Other times it is mere curiosity at the reasoning and
workings of a God so amazing and baffling that we wish we could get into his
mind and understand why he does what he does. But then again, I don’t think we
will ever be able to wrap our minds around the things he does, we just have to
know he has a reason for everything. He created the world and everything around
us for goodness sake, we should be able to trust him with something so small as
our part in the story.
On the flip side…….have you ever
thought to wonder what life would be like if you had never been born or born at
a different time in life? Maybe there have even been times that you wished you
might never have existed at all? Out of curiosity or despair we do contemplate
this at times, but what we cannot see is the impact we have had on those around
us.
What! “Lil ole me” has an impact on
people?
Yes, you most certainly do, but most likely you have never had the
opportunity to see it, or if you have, it has been on very rare occasions. Never
the less….you do have an impact….you are important!!
When writing this particular post, I was struck with the idea of using an example from a very famous
classic movie. Most of you have seen it I am sure, but if you never had the
opportunity to watch this film, you really should stop right here and go watch it J!!
This movie It’s a Wonderful Life gives viewers a chance to see what life would
be like if someone wished they had never been born. Teaching a lesson in
cherishing what we have and help us realize the importance of our life……
I remember watching It’s a Wonderful Life when I was younger, but I never grasped the
full meaning of the plot until I had to watch it again as an assignment for my World
View class. While it is a widely celebrated classic, it is even more celebrated
for the lesson and message it gives to viewers.
The movie focuses on the main
character George Bailey who has sacrificed nearly everything in life, giving up
his big dreams to stay and run the family business, take care of his family,
help others and never leave his home town of Bedford Falls; while his brother
goes off to college and everyone else moves on to bigger and better things. At
the climax of the film, George has had enough of his life and decided to commit
suicide on Christmas Eve. That is when Clarence, his guardian Angel, jumps
(literally) into the picture. Clarence shows George the importance of his life,
all the lives that he has touched and what life and Bedford falls would have
become if it were not for George Bailey. George’s brother Harry would have died
as a boy, because George would not have been there to save him and as a result
many a solder would have died in the war because Harry never lived to save
them. His uncle would have been put in an insane asylum, his mother would have
become a poor bitter widow, and Mary (his wife) would have been a deprived
spinster; all because George Bailey was never born. George finally realized the
impact of his life on all those around him, and he begs to be spared from
death. While his troubles are not over yet, as he is faced with possible arrest
because of a failing business, all those that he had helped over the years
gather together and donate enough money to save him and the family business.
His brother salutes him as being “The Richest Man,” and George realizes how
blessed he is.
I love that story!!!! That is just
one example I could think of showing how important our lives are even though we
might not realize it. Thus, the lesson learned here is that we won’t always
know the impact we have. Sometimes we might see our impact, but most often it
is hidden from our view. Because we cannot always see the impact God allows us
to have, it is easy to become discouraged and think that you are not important
to the story….that you do not have a purpose!
But
just think if you never existed!! What would life be…who would your family
be…your friends… Take a character out of a story and you are left with gaps.
Jobs are abandoned, tasks not done, places unvisited, people unmet or
un-introduced.
Taking a character out of a story
would be like taking out a stitch in a garment (bear with me, I like to
sew)…and what would result? The seam would unravel and fall apart. Why? Because
just one little stitch is important in helping hold the entire seam together.
Without the stitch and the seam, there would be no garment…your shirt would
fall to pieces when you put it on…all because of one stitch.
So think of yourself as a stitch in
time or a character on stage or in a novel…I don’t really care how you view
yourself in the greater scheme of things…all that matters to me is that you
know you have a role… you are
valuable…you matter...you are important…you are
treasured…necessary…created…called!
You were created for a purpose and if
you wish it any other way, life as we know it would be changed forever.
You are a Masterpiece,
a character in the story, a piece to the puzzle, a spec of dust, a stitch in
time….LIVE…..you are more than you realize and your story is just beginning!!
Do you feel at times like you don't have a purpose in God's Plan?
Have you ever been in the predicament of George Bailey?
Do you feel at times like you don't have a purpose in God's Plan?
Have you ever been in the predicament of George Bailey?
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