You Are Where You Are [Devotional 006]

You know the feeling. The hollow, hounding ache deep down. The ache of the uncertainty of your future.

You’ve been told there’s a plan. So your brain frantically races to fill the 5W1H equation:

Who does it involve?
What is it?
When do I get there?
Why is this happening?
Where does it lead?
How do I get there?

And the million-dollar question: how do I do all of this while simultaneously living out the will of God?

As humans we are creatures of expectation. We live for what is coming, what is around the corner and future promises. And we do all this while operating under a belief that, whatever it may be, it will be better than our current circumstance.

I often find in my own heart that in the act of longing to be where I want God to place me I forget where He currently has me. Sometimes it feels like I am running on a treadmill… I’m moving, but I’m not going anywhere.

So, the question stands: is a longing for what is to come really all that God has for you?

Allow me to share something extremely profound with you… Are you ready?

You are where you are.

Woah…Profound isn’t it? Not so much. But I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve lost the ability to be active where we are. Instead, we merely exist in our circumstance.

Is it possible that your current situation plays a starring role in the future you are longing for? If so, how often are you legitimately focusing on growth in the season that God has you?

Psalm 37:3 serves us well: “Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” (NASB)

Read that one more time.

The word cultivate means to acquire or develop. That is a word of action. The Psalmist is saying, be where you are, and while you are there, develop faithfulness.

Are you a student? Develop faithfulness. A stay-at-home mom? Develop faithfulness. A CEO? Develop faithfulness. Unemployed? Develop faithfulness. Whatever circumstance you find yourself in, the answer remains.

How are you being faithful where God has you right now? This looks different for everyone. But by being faithful in your season to Christ and his commands, he turns His desires for your life into the desires of your heart. In ALL that you do… be faithful to Him.

Colossians 3:17 tells us: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Do you see it? The word whatever. Is there a more ambiguous word in our language? I tread carefully on this topic, but I believe that this idea we have developed of a checklist that assures us we are living in the ideal circumstances for God’s will to be done is shackling us. God doesn’t need the ideal to move in your life.

Matt Chandler puts it this way, “God is awesome. He doesn’t need you to be awesome; He needs you to be obedient.”

Whatever you do… be obedient to God. Whatever season you are in… devote it to Christ. Cultivate faithfulness.

Do you know that God holds the future? Absolutely. Is it your burden to try and figure out the future he holds? Absolutely not.

Wherever you are and whatever you hope to do, offer it to God, and do your part in being faithful and obedient. Be honest with where you are at in your faithfulness with Him, because the best way to get to where you want to be is to be faithful where you currently are. Be where you are and cultivate faithfulness.

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