"walking on the sea"

I feel like a fake and a poser by putting the thoughts of someone else on my blog (I know I did it with my friend's song) but my little sister sent this to me this morning and she said it made her think of me, and truly, I loved it.  It ministered to me with the thought that Africa is not a "goal" nor is the ministry becoming something a goal, but daily living life with Christ and seeing Him in my days, moment by moment is good, holy and pleasing to Him.

Anyway, I hope you have the patience to read it all through because if I had the eloquence I would have written this myself as something that I have been walking through and that the Lord is teaching me.

Thanks and God Bless.....

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see "Him walking on the sea" with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see "Him walking on the sea" ( Mark 6:49 ). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

- Oswald Chambers: "My Utmost for His Highest"