40 Days of Purpose - Day 39

Balancing your life

I just think of how many secular lifestyle magazines try to tell us what we need to do to maximise what we get out of life. Only this week someone said that I looked like I suffer from “Hurried Woman Syndrome” (I think that they meant harassed…) It seems like we try to squeeze every last drop out of life. Today’s chapter of the PDL just highlighted how we have got that all wrong. We need to be balanced with the 5 purposes that God has for us.

Initially, I became rather daunted at the prospect, as some of God’s purposes are easier to fulfil than others (the thought of failure my bête noir came flooding back). However, it is being honest with God about those areas of weakness and allowing him to reveal His strength through us. One of the things that has stayed with me about this book is how very practical it is. This is probably why I feel so challenged because it is stirring me to take action when I would prefer to remain in my comfort zone.

God knows where we are on our journey with Him and does not expect us to be “balanced” overnight. I think that the scriptual journals for self-evaluation are a good idea so that we do not get underdeveloped in any of the purposes that God has for us. I had not thought that in our problems God uses them to allow all 5 purposes to be fulfilled. It gives me great comfort but also an awareness that I only see a fraction of God’s plan for me. When problems arise it will be easy to see where some of God’s purposes will be completed but not necessarily the others. Even if I do not know how God will use these circumstances for His glory, I am to trust and pray for the 5 purposes to be achieved. I believe I need to be more open to Him for God to show me how this is to be done but also for me to be obedient to Him. I wonder how I could have been a Christian for the past 20 years without knowing this.

Well, tomorrow is the last day for the PDL. There has been so much in this book I wonder how I will be able to tie up all the loose ends!!!