Right Where He Wants Us To Be

I am content to believe that God knows what He’s doing.

I am also getting to the place of contentment that there is a degree of mystery in understanding where He wants us to be at any given juncture.

For one thing, I am sure that I have not always been where I needed to be. I have sometimes made a conscious effort not to be where I know God wants me to be. However, there are times where I’m not sure where God wants me to be. In those moments my brothers and sisters in Christ will always get me to the place of just enjoying the present and the opportunity to be in His presence whilst I am there.

Does it matter, you might ask? Well what I find fascinating about the journeys of people of faith is how in the journey there can be a sense of displacement. As far as the story of Israel is concerned that displacement was usually down to Israel wandering away from the path God had set for them. Yet even in those displacements – whether that lead to defeat in conflict or to the eventual exile – there were men and women of faith strategically located to make a difference in strange lands. That way they would enact their priestly/prophetic responsibility by standing for righteousness even in a foreign and hostile environment. Even when it didn’t appear that they were right where they should have been, they actually were right where God wanted them that would set up others to return to be right where God called them to be.

God has been really gracious in placing some wonderful people in my life. Truly beautiful, gifted and considerate people. Events happen – job loss, discomfort in current job, financial setbacks, relational dysfunction, inner turmoil, outer aggravation – those things happen and we can see it as a hint to be stronger in staying where we are. Or we can see it as a sign that we should move on. There is, however, a state of flux – an interim period of uncertainty where you don’t even know where God wants you to be. The weird thing about even that is that this place of uncertainty, mystery and ambiguity can still be exactly where you need to be. Some kind of certainty can blind you to that which needs to shift so you can uncover something of far greater importance and clarity.

A good friend of mine reminded me – sometimes we want to know what’s next, we want the certainty of knowing what the next step should be. God is in no way obliged to always give that degree of clarity. He is still asking us, though, to trust Him in the uncertainty. He is still inviting us to see being with Him as of greater importance than gaining information of what is to come. That is challenging if you prefer to know and you like the comfort of knowing. That is challenging if being in control is something you prefer was with you, than with Him.

If there’s something that is still reassuring about the journeys of the people of faith in scripture it’s that even when they are faithless, the one who called them remains faithful. Even when they stray from the path of righteousness, He doesn’t give up on them.

Even as we wander or wonder, sometimes we can be right where He wants us to be.

(Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden