I am beginning to believe that the visions God gives, particularly those related to personal destiny, are primarily preferred futures that God favors in correlation with our own responses to life.
It is a rare thing indeed to watch God do 90% of the work to fulfill a thing, while we, astonished, look on.
God speaks, we hear, and we act in Christlike character in accord with that invitation. A vision given is a welcoming to move forward toward a promise, not a promise that God is somehow obligated to fulfill without yours or my concerted participation.
Our creative and obedient response to God’s invitations – this is the artful life.
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The vision God places within our hearts, is first of all a gift. It’s not so much what we can do when we hitch our cart to his and suddenly everything is possible, rather, it is what we allow him to do through us, shaping and forming us, shaping and forming the vision within.
It is a response and an action towards a deep calling we may feel we are obligated to fulfill – our destiny so to speak, …. and what a wonderful purpose that serves in keeping us on track, committed and fervent. While understanding that God ultimately “moves the pieces” and is able to do beyond what we think or dream, it still is, like you mentioned in your blog, our response that matters. Our attitude towards life, toward others, how we think, speak, act, … determines in the long run what and how we reap.
And responding to your earlier blog “Learning to Listen Well”, I found this quote by Parker Palmer in “Let Your Life Speak” to be interesting:
“Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about–quite apart from what I would like it to be about–or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions.”
and this also is beautiful….
“Today I understand vocation quite differently–not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice “out there” calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice “in here” calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.”
(You can tell that I love this book!)
This small sentence is huge too…. “there is as much guidance in what does not and cannot happen in my life as there is in what can and does–maybe more.”
The artful life…. ah,.. it looks so different for each one of us – and as Tolstoy wrote – it’s loving life in all it’s manifestations – (or as I would translate…. in all its messes thrown at you…)
Thoughts for the day by Robyn English
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