Purpose – Process – Pain – Promise
“Blessed and highly favored!” “Too blessed to be stressed!” “Great!” And the infamous, “Good!” These have been my responses lately when people have asked me the question, “How are you doing?” A simple question, I know, and one I could have chosen to answer with the truth, I knew no one really wanted to hear. The truth that “I am stressed, even though I know I am blessed.” And that I don’t feel “Great” or even “Good” for that matter. And if I told the real truth, I would have to say, “I’ve been feeling a bit down.” “School is consuming and sometimes overwhelming.” And that “I miss my sister terribly!”
But God!
One day as I was listening to John the fourth chapter, the story of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, I heard these words from the 29th verse, as I never had before, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did!" An “Aha” moment for me as I reminded myself that Jesus knows everything! Not only does He know everything I have ever done, but He also knows everything I feel and experience. At that moment, I got down on my knees and said, “Lord, you created me, You know everything about me, You know my emotions, please help me! In Jesus name. Amen.” I stood back up, already feeling better, but it was on the ride to work that He began ministering to me, just like He ministered to the Samaritan woman. He spoke in my spirit, four words...purpose...process...pain...promise. And then the revelation began to come, here is what the Spirit shared...
Purpose – Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God reminded me that He’s had a plan for me from the foundations of the world, and because I am His, it will be fulfilled.
Process – Philippians 2:12b-13 says, “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” God is at work in me. He is my guide, He knows the way and I don’t. I have to trust Him as He leads me through the steps that He has ordered for me and understand that in doing so, He is working in me, giving me the desire to do what pleases Him, which is to fulfill my purpose in the earth. It’s a process, and since I’ve been “born again” and He has been working on me, there are things that I used to do, that I don’t do anymore, but there are still some things He’s working on...
Pain – In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” I want to be a disciple of Christ, and denying my flesh is the most painful experience, I will have. I was born selfish; to want what I want when I want it. But, because I am “born again” so now I am born to want what God wants, when He wants it. And sometimes, well most times, it means that I don’t get my way...and that is painful. But Paul reminds me that “our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Cor. 4:17). So I can endure the pain, for it is only temporary...This too shall pass!
Promise - At the beginning of the year, the Lord gave me the scripture found in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for his glory.” God has said “Yes” to me and my purpose! My purpose will be fulfilled because God promised me and I have said “Amen”! Being in full agreement with all that He has planned for me so that He alone gets the glory!
He summed it up, with this phrase that has become my daily meditation since that day:
I was created on purpose, in purpose and for a purpose. However, I must go through the process with patience, enduring the pain of this temporary journey called life. But in the end, I will obtain every promise God has spoken to me in this life and the next!
Be Blessed,
Shileste
