I don't believe there is one great thing I was made to do in this world. I believe there is one great God I was made to glorify. And there will be many ways, even a million little ways, I will declare his glory with my life.
---Emily P Freeman, A Million Little Ways
And yes... I believe there are a million little ways for me to glorify God... each day... but this book... this author... goes on to talk about our desires... as part of what we were created to do...
She says... what we want to do... is what we were meant to do...
Could it be possible that the thing you most long for, the thing you notice and think about and wish you could do, is the thing you were actually made and are being equipped to do?
Could it also be possible that somewhere along the way you got the message that to follow desire would be selfish, when really, it would be the opposite?
---Emily P Freeman, A Million Little Ways
This thought... it challenges... and yes... I wrestle with desire... wondering if what I want to do... is really what I am supposed to do... is it what He wants me to do... not just what I want to do...?
And I've wrestled with choices... even though I know...
...it is God who works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:13
Other translations actually use the word desire... in place of will...
So... perhaps... He does work within our will... desires... because He put them there in the first place... knit them into our being...
And I've wrestled with a verse... working to make it say something different than it does...
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
"This is the way; walk in it."
Isaiah 30:21 NIV
I want the voice to say... Turn right here... no... left there... but it says... This is the way... whether I turn right... or left...?
The understanding I believe He is beginning to reveal... as I learn about this journey... is that my choice... of right or left... the direction I choose... the desire I pursue... isn't what matters most... it's the way... I walk in it...
There is a freedom here... in this journeying... that I've never really felt before... the freedom to pursue... my desire...
Could it be true...?
Our desires... they have a tendency to be perverted... by sin... our hearts called deceitful above all things... how can we trust our desires...?
I believe... we are called to trust Him... and once we have surrendered our lives... taken His crucifixion as our own... He gives us a new heart... and as long as we focus on Him... abide in His Word... and His Way... our desires... will be in line with His...
So the lesson I hear... take hold of...
No matter whether you...
write or illustrate...
bake or bank...
teach or sell...
dance or march...
doctor or firefight...
build or demolish...
whatever you desire... do it His Way... the One Way...
Either way we turn... right or left... there is only One Way to follow... the Way of Holiness... and His voice will guide us... saying... This is the way... walk in it...
And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk in that Way.
Isaiah 35:8 NIV
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