Dear God,
In Psalm 127 it says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” I don’t want to build a life that’s only going to crumble. I want to build something that lasts into eternity. I don’t know how to make choices that do that. I don’t know what choices will lead to that path. I pray for wisdom to build my life on a bed of rock. Teach me what it means to build a purpose-driven life.
Thank You.
Love,
Grace
Legos of Life
Do you remember the pain of accidentally stepping on a lego piece? I think that’s one of my core memories. I also remember I didn’t have real Legos because they were pretty expensive, soI had off-brand Legos that were fat and chunky but I played real Legos at my friends’ houses.
Now, I’m a little more constrained on time to build (and I lack the 3D spatial skills too), but I’ve been thinking of my life. I’m going to finally hit my mid 20s next year which is exciting and almost daunting. I was talking with one of my friends about accomplishments and measuring up. I think everyone takes in these metrics of success based on the culture to see if they’re doing well.
Married? House? 401k? Dream job?
I’m no different. I judge myself on these criteria, and I’m so close in some and so far in others.
I’m trying to build my life with all these lego pieces, and I don’t know what the picture is even supposed to look like. I’m missing pieces I thought I would need to get where I wanted to go. I have too many of this piece and not enough of another. My life is not looking anything like the box I thought it came in.
God has a funny way of assuring that our plans look nothing like ours, and that in trusting Him with giving us the legos we need that it’ll be part of His own majestic piece of artwork.
If I keep trying to build my own kingdom and make my own picture up, I’ll always end up unsatisfied and lacking. God only gives me the pieces I need to build His kingdom, and that means right now not having certain pieces.
Sometimes, I look at another person with their beautiful Lego set up, and the truth is that God’s gonna let that go to waste because it’s not a part of His eternal design. We follow the instructions, not our hearts.
What Do I Do?
I’m a big girl now, and that means big girl decisions.
I’ve written numerous blogs on decision making because it’s so hard to not only make a choice but figuring out the right choice. If I listen to movies and the current culture, I should follow my heart. What do I want? What feels best for me? What would make me happy?
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
If I follow Asian culture, my parents and what others expect of me will steer my decisions. How will this look? What will they think? Won’t I bring shame to my family?
What does it look like to follow God? What would God say? What would Jesus do in this situation? What has He already done? What’s worse is sometimes I know what to do, I know what God would want me to do or not do, and I still make the wrong choice. I willfully disobey. Whether that’s living in worry and anxiety, doing what’s best for me and me alone, or being self-righteous. I make the wrong choice all the time with the full knowledge of what I should do.
My worst fears have already been realized, but I find this glimmer of hope in me through Jesus.
I’ve been thinking about this blog I started back in the pandemic, and why I started it. I love writing. It really brings me a sense of fulfillment, joy, and excitement. I love sharing my life with people. I love giving my thoughts. I love that people can relate and feel understood. I hope that my blogs bring people a touch closer to knowing Jesus because that’s one of the many reasons God still has me here. I made this choice to keep writing and it’s brought me great friendships, moments of reflection, an opportunity to share the Gospel, and it aligns in the Venn Diagram of “Things that makes God happy” and “Things that make Grace happy”.
What do I do when I’m faced with a tough decision? I come back to the reasons I made choices that brought me joy before. Does this choice honor who God is? Does this choice honor who I am? Does this choice help me express hope, joy, or love? Those are questions that if I answer honestly can be a great starting block.
It Will Come Together
Recently, I rewatched this sermon from Elevation Church called “It Will Come Together”. It’s not about trusting God for a new car or a handsome/beautiful spouse. It’s not about believing so that you can get God to give you what you want. God is so much better and greater than the vehicle to achieve our own dreams and goals, He should be our dream and our goal.
When I really think about it, I fail at this all the time. Even now, I’m failing. I can barely lift myself off the ground let alone run the race God has called me to, but by God’s unfailing, unending, and unrelenting love I’m still here. I’m still here somehow, and the broken pieces of my life are still being used as part of the Lego set God is building.
It’s not about building my life to fit a picture, and sometimes God lets me build it so I can see how fragile it is when I build using my own materials. My strength. My goodness. My righteousness. It’s all blown away when the breeze passes by. It’s actually about the foundation we build our lives on. A strong foundation rooted in forever: faith, hope, and love. Love above all else.
1 Cor 13: 13 “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
When I base my choices off those 3 attributes, I will be building my life to what matters most. It’s so much more and better than what I could’ve built my life towards. So many times, I think about the potential of my life: what could be and what greatness I could achieve. It’s nice to not have that be the driving factor of our lives anymore. It still can matter, but it’s an elusive creature and a terrible god. I’m willing to let my potential be wasted because it’s better to live in purpose.
In life, we will always have the option to choose something else or someone else over God. God gives us that option from love. He doesn’t do that so He can shame you for making the wrong decision. He does it because He wants to be chosen out of love too. When we make choices, we can choose out of love. When I make my choices, I hope and pray that I make choices to build my life from that love.
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