I don't know about you, but I'm in this "serving God" thing for the long haul. Peter had it right when he said, "Lord, only you have the keys to life. Where else would I go?" When you've truly experienced the genuine freedom that comes from doing things God's way, you don't want to go back to the bondage that is created by doing things your own way. Isaiah 55:9 reminds us that God's thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than ours, and like B.B. Hankins said, "The Holy Spirit is a genius. If you'll listen to Him, He'll make you look smart!"
My goal is to literally accomplish all that God has created me for, and that's my prayer for you too! Just think: we have the opportunity to know why God created us and the ability to accomplish everything that He's planned for us to do. In order to take part in this daily adventure with the Holy Spirit, we must keep our eyes and our hearts fixed on Him because if we don't, we will most certainly end up drifting from our call.
I really enjoy the opportunities to travel and minister with my husband, and I cherish the company of believers that we get to be a part of. A few weeks ago, Pastor Stan Pody shared an awesome insight with us about how easy it is to drift off course. If you've ever played in the water and waves at the beach, then you understand how you can get in the ocean at one place but end up in a totally different place once you get out. Unless you're alert, aware and fighting against the pull when you're busy jumping in the waves and sucking down saltwater, you'll end up drifting far away from where you should be. When you get out and look around for your stuff, you might think someone took it...it's nowhere in sight. In reality, the water pulled you away from where you were suppose to be because you weren't doing what needed to be done to fight off the drift.
The same is true for us as we're serving God. Unless we do our part to keep our eyes fixed on Him and unless we're deliberately fighting the good fight of faith (that we always win in Christ by the way), we'll end up somewhere that we never planned on being...out of the will of God.
The dictionary has a few good definitions for the word drift: to wander aimlessly, to deviate from a set course, and (my favorite) to be carried along by the force of circumstances. Unfortunately, that's exactly what will happen to us if we don't focus on God and if we don't fight off the drift...our circumstances will call the shots in our life. God never intended for us to live that way. He didn't send His Son to die so that we could be pushed around by sickness or lack or fear. He sent Jesus so we could become a part of His body and share in His authority. When we're in Christ, we're not fighting for the victory - we're fighting from a place of victory!
People who are drifting have no purpose because a person with purpose does things intentionally. We must intentionally seek God. We must intentionally open our Bible and dig into the Word. We must intentionally talk to God through prayer. We must intentionally take ourselves to church. We must intentionally seek out the call of God on our lives. We must intentionally be obedient. All of these things are necessary for us in order to do and be all that God's created us for, but they aren't going to happen unless we do them on purpose. God needs our cooperation.
If the tires on a car aren't aligned correctly, it can cause that car to drift to one side or the other. If the car isn't put back on course, it won't get where it needs to be. The Bible tells us not to look to the right or to the left but to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. If we don't align ourselves with God and His perfect way of doing things, we will eventually drift off course, and sadly we won't end up at our desired destination. However, if we will listen to the Holy Spirit, He will keep us on track!
I love the lyrics from the popular worship song that say:
I will seek you in the morning,
and I will learn to walk in your ways.
And step by step you'll lead me,
and I will follow you all of my days.
As long as our focus is on Him and we are obedient to Him, the drift factor cannot derail us from fulfilling all that God has created us for!
