OUR PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14; Romans 9:1-24; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 20:1

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

“Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?”

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

I love the idea that God is actually out in the world seeking people to strengthen. A whole lot of folks need his power right now. We are foundering, frightened and lost, though, so many of us don’t even know where to look. Those who have given up hope may not know to look at all. Thus, it’s a great comfort to understand the Lord of the universe is searching for us, to empower us with His unmatched strength. Good Shepherd that He is, He is more than willing to leave His flock and venture onto our home court. Assuming we allow Him to come near at all, we still have another hurdle to clear before any relationship with our Creator can really begin. We have to be willing to accept His strength and grace as He would give it, not just as we would like it to be.

I’m convinced this is the very heart of burnout. We reject or fail to accept the role Christ has planned for us, so we prevent ourselves from claiming the power He would provide to accomplish it. Instead, we maintain our own course in our own strength until we eventually realize we have no strength left. We fancy ourselves becoming the square peg that will fit – or be made to fit - the round hole, never appreciating that God made us as He did for a very specific reason.

No plan of the Holy Spirit’s comes off an assembly line, and the parts He uses are all custom made. Therefore, when we do not follow the path He has chosen for us, we are not well-equipped to do anything else. Our lives become conflicted and dissonant. Nothing works smoothly or well. Frustration can build until we give up on Yahweh altogether. We rarely stop to consider the problem may be our refusal to accept the roles for which we were created. We want to be successful. Christ desires that we be eternal. We want to be secure. The Holy Spirit designed us to be reliant. We want good physical health; God wants us holy. We strive for perfection. Jesus offers grace. In short, we can become so overwhelmed trying to act like what we want to be that we forget we were actually created for a uniquely different purpose altogether.

Inevitably, we blame God when things don’t work out. We question why He did not move adversity out of our way. We challenge His authority over our lives. We resent Him not creating us more athletic, handsome, intelligent or witty. We pout when we don’t get the one break separating us from our heart’s desire. Overall, it should be no surprise when we live unfulfilled and underutilized lives if we are filling our days with such anger or mere busyness which was never intended for us. Our personal significance does not come from the amount of time we spend in activities, be they work, recreation or even service. Our personal significance comes from the amount of time we allow the Holy Spirit to spend acting through us.

I have a suspicion that, if we will reconcile ourselves to the persons we were created to be, we will be able to relax a lot more and enjoy - instead of struggle through – our existence. I know that, for me, life is too often a challenge match offering a prize I shouldn’t want and a penalty for losing that wounds my soul. There is just no profit in trying to be anybody else or in taking on roles for which we really aren’t equipped. I don’t think God necessarily wants to make things easy on us, per se, but I do believe He wants us to fill the roles and opportunities He designed us to fit. The Lord made us the way He did for a reason. No one is better qualified or more gifted to do the job Jesus has for us here on earth. It only makes sense, then, for us to stop trying to do everybody else’s job and quit attempting to fix the world. Our time is far better spent learning and using the gifts we were given, rather than trying to develop talents our earthly bodies simply weren’t built or meant to house. Life’s a lot easier when we fit into it rather than fight it.