An Invitation will come

Sometimes putting into words what Papa is speaking to my heart is difficult.  It's like I have certain pieces of the puzzle but find myself contemplating where they fit into my life.

I hear Papa speaking to me about living in purpose vs. living in the routines of life and it can so easily become a contemplative search into what my purpose is.  There are plenty of books out there that are telling us that we were created with a purpose.  And we were.  But subtlety, sometimes the message gets twisted a bit.  Before you know it I am on a search to discover what "my purpose" on this earth is.  Suddenly I am frustrated and stuck.  What is it I am gifted with?  What is my unique version of Papa?  If I can't answer the question I begin to spiral down.  After all surely by now I should know what I am gifted in.  I am 50 years old you know.

So with journal out, I begin to talk to Papa about it.  It's not that I don't know some of the ways He has gifted me, it's that I don't know how to move out in that.  I've been longing to be that oak of righteousness that displays His splendor. I want desperately to shadow His image to others.

How do I make that happen?  Where do I step out?

Sweetly He begins to remind me of Joseph, Moses, David, Mary, Gideon.  All were minding their own business, doing their thing when Papa's invitation came.  None of them were seeking to know their purpose in life.  Their purpose came to them.

I have found that when the questions about my destiny come up, I often find myself introspecting, turning life inward and making it about me.  It's never fruitful until He turns my thinking around and reminds me, my life is not about me figuring things out.  It's about Him in me, inviting me to live in the moment, His moment. 

Moses was a shepherd, minding his own business,  when Papa appeared to him in a burning bush and invited him into his destiny.  Peter was a fisherman when Jesus walked by and summoned him to follow.  Mary, was a young teenager when the angel appeared to her and told her of her future, Gideon was in a winepress sifting wheat and hiding when he was called to be the valiant warrior.  Not one of them was seeking to know their purpose in life or the destiny they were to fulfill.  In fact all of them were surprised, and caught off guard.  Each one was invited into their role by Papa Himself.

Moses and Gideon tried to decline the invitation.  They could not see themselves following.  All Moses could see was his speech impediment, and Gideon saw his weakness.  Both wanted to send in their "regrets" to Papa's invitation.

The reality is, Papa sends out an invitation and waits for an RSVP.  I hear Him saying to me, "There's too much emphasis on figuring out your life.  "The point is, your life has a purpose and a destiny."  "It's not yours to figure out, it's Mine to invite you into."  

One day, when all the preparations were complete,  Joseph woke up and the prison doors opened for him.  He was invited into his destiny. There was nothing that he did to make it happen.  He didn't figure it all out.  He just lived his life in the midst of Papa's embrace.  When the ripening moment came, Papa called him out.

I love that I don't have to figure out what I was created for.  I need only to live in the embrace of His love.  When the preparations are complete, His invitation will go forth calling me into my destiny.  Living in His embrace includes hearing the whispers of His voice when He calls.  

"Live in the moment" I hear Him telling me.  "I will call you out".  "Listen for my call, Jewel, and just RSVP when it comes." "There is a time for everything, a ripening moment."

His invitation will come for me.  It will come for you.  It's not about us, it's about Him.  He knows the ripening moment.  Peace resides in my soul as I watch and wait, enjoying His embrace today.

"There is an appointed time for everything.  And there is a time for every event under heaven."

       Ecclesiastes 3:1

Jewelz

©copyrighted 2008 by Julie L. Todd