Not Our Own

"I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps.
 Correct me, LORD, but only with justice—
not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing."
Jeremiah 10: 23-24 NIV

I think this may be one of the hardest verses of the Bible to put into practice. Humans are selfish and self-centered people by nature. Americans probably carry these characteristics to a higher degree than some other nationalities would. We spend a lot of time thinking about what we deserve, what we choose, and how we can obtain it.

To realize that a man's life is not his own, certainly changes the perspective of our thinking. Still, realizing it and actually being willing to hand your life over are two very different things. I think so many times we sing songs like, "If you can use anything, God, you can use me," and then when He wants to use us, we don't rise to the call. We don't do so because it generally involves an inconvenience or restructuring of our current lifestyle.

Other times, we are willing to work for God, but we have difficulty when the task set before us doesn't look like we thought it would. In fact, I think that is what happens most to willing hearts. Our hearts are willing to serve, but things get really confusing when God ends up asking us to walk out a plan that we didn't sign up for. I will share that, more often than not, what I thought I was going to do looked a lot different than what God actually had me to do in the end.

Unfortunately, working for God isn't the same as applying for a job in the secular world. In the world, you can choose what you want to obtain a degree in. You can work and study to obtain that degree, and then you have several options to choose from as to what company you might apply with, what hours you would like to work, and what salary you would like to make. Well, in today's times, in this small town the options are smaller. However, you get my point.

With God, you simply state you are willing to serve. You have the option to state what area you think you would like to serve in. Yet, in the end, God gives you the assignment that is best for His Kingdom agenda, and it isn't always the one that is most convenient or most fun for you.

When that occurs, I like to remember that what I am doing isn't just for today---it's for eternity. If I speak words that God gives to me, and it only falls on a few ears, those words will not simply disappear. They have been released into the Earth with a Kingdom agenda, and their purpose may lie in a setting that occurs years after I am gone. However, I fulfilled my duty to God by releasing them when asked.

The same concept applies to serving Him out in the mission field or in the church. Sometimes, you may feel as if you aren't reaching many people with what God has asked you to do. Or, maybe you think it simply takes up too much time. After all, sometimes we simply don't see the return on our investment in our lifetimes. Every action in God's Kingdom is an investment, but you don't make investments without first pulling resources from somewhere else. All of these thoughts can be disheartening, but we only feel this way when we are focused on what we want and what we deserve. If we could actually understand that our life is not our own, then we would be more willing to follow the steps laid before us without always having to see the reason or the results right away.

As I said, this is a difficult verse to put into action. It is not easy to lay down your life and, in essence, the lives of your family that follows you and say to God that you are truly willing for Him to use it according to His purposes. So today, I ask that God would correct us for any ambitions we have that are not His. I pray that we would be directed towards His path for us and not the one we think looks most appealing. However, as in the verse above, I ask that He correct us with justice and not anger because we couldn't stand the anger.