Unfinished: Believing is Only the Beginning
Verse
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
Food for Thought
Why is it that so many Christians seem to lack that sense of fullness of life? They go to church, read their Bibles, and say their prayers but still feel something is missing.
We all know the familiar expression “He can’t see the forest for the trees.” It is used to describe a person who is so absorbed in the things right in front of him that he has lost a sense of the bigger picture. I believe this is exactly what has happened to many Christians in the twenty-first century—we have become so absorbed by the “trees” of our everyday lives that we have lost a sense of the bigger story within which our lives take place. We grow up, go to school, begin careers, get married, have kids, and struggle daily with life’s challenges. These are the trees of our lives that occupy most of our waking hours.
If we are ever truly going to find purpose and meaning in our lives, we first have to rise above the trees to rediscover the forest—we have to understand what God is doing in the world and how we fit in.
Fortunately, as Christians we have a way out of this dilemma. If God is the Author of the bigger story within which our own stories take place, if he is the Creator of the forest in which we all walk, then we can find the deepest meaning and purpose of our lives only when we discover the role he uniquely created for us to play in his bigger purpose.
Doesn’t it make sense that the Author of the bigger story, the Author who created each of the characters in the story, would have a specific role for each of those characters to play? The implication of this is profound. God created you intentionally to play a very specific role in his unfolding story. And you will feel fully complete only when you discover the role you were born to play.
Question for Reflection
If you were to cast yourself in a play about your life, what role would you fill? How does this reflect the way you see God using (or not using) you?
Prayer
Lord, help me to see the greater story you are telling in this world and in my life. Please show me how my role is essential, and don’t let me miss the chance to contribute to your work.
Unfinished: Believing is Only the Beginning. Copyright © 2013 by World Vision.