Lines and Points

I heard a sermon recently by Chip Ingram where he was talking about the life of Paul the Apostle. His opening line was ‘the shortest distance between point A and point B is a zigzag.’ This is seems to be a rather unique way of looking at the calculus theory, a way that makes life rather complicated for people like me who love straight and uncomplicated lines.

His message was on the life of Paul, who after being given a directive from Christ himself on how he was to live his life; went on to live a very eventful and often dangerous life. Paul may have expected his life to be filled with mission trips to the Gentile lands, sermon writing, planning and carrying out evangelism drives, meeting with new believers over a fellowship picnic, and plenty of other ‘normal’ things that a missionary would expect. However, this beautiful straight line he may have envisioned turned out to resemble a scribbled line connecting to points between his salvation and his death.

Many times we envision such things for ourselves. I personally have always known I would be a psychologist and a writer. I was introduced into the world of psychology when I was 13 years old and I have always known that writing is something that came with the package (me). Yet when I left high school with very poor grades, I convinced myself I would never go to college and I would not take any academia seriously. Of course that was a particularly dark time in my life and it’s no wonder I had no ambition. Yet, I was taken into many experiences that have shaped who I am in my profession today. I travelled, I worked in many different fields, I spent years doing all sorts of things that I felt were not related to my purpose as a human being. Eventually, years later when I decided I was going to study psychology after all; it would take me on a 9-year journey through what I also thought was not what I was meant to be doing. Yet after all that meandering and wondering the wilderness, here I am doing exactly what I knew I would be doing as a nerdy 13-year-old.

You might argue that Paul did spend his days doing the usual missionary duties like the travelling to foreign lands and evangelizing and indeed fellowshipping with believers overs meals. However, Paul also spent a considerable number of years in and out of prison. Imagine him sitting in jail year after year, wondering to himself how he ended up there instead of living out his ‘real’ purpose. Yet that was the very place, in jail, where he wrote the most of his letters. Those were the times, while he was low on joy for example, that he wrote letters encouraging others to be of good cheer and to pray without ceasing. His life did not follow a straight line, yet his life served the very purpose for which it was intended. Praise God!

We will have times when we look at our daily lives and wonder how we got there, if we actually want to be doing this, or whether we even know what it is we are meant to be doing. My experience, and my belief is that a life fully surrendered to the will and purpose of God can never go astray. If you have dreams and goals, surrender them to God. If you have no dreams nor goals, still surrender your life to God. There is no life that He cannot put to good use. I cannot say that I have ‘made it’ in life; but rather that I have finally arrived at the starting point. I have come to understand Paul’s sentiment that said,

‘my dear friends, stand firm and don’t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for Him is worthwhile.’ 1 Corinthians 15 vs 58 (CEV)

Our created purpose if ultimately to glorify God. So whether you path seems to resemble a scribbled line that goes into every direction; or it is a perfectly straight line that goes exactly where you anticipate it to go; the whole point is to glorify your Creator. I guess you know then what is required of you in that journey right? The right attitude. A joyful, humble, and Spirit-led attitude will keep you on your path.

Choose to be joyful, choose to be at peace with yourself and with others, choose to die to the flesh, choose to walk in purity, choose to suffer a little by saying no to the calling of this world, if it means you must go without friends, money, or romance for the sake of obedience-choose that! In whatever you do, do it with a surrendered life and a humble trust in your God. Where-ever you go will be directed by His Hand.

In conclusion, I do believe that the issue is not really about the line between point A and B being long or short. It’s rather about who is drawing it.

Julie T. Soko
5th June, 2019