Unity. The state of being one with something or someone… the absence of diversity… being of one accord and in likeness of mind.
I can remember the day like it was yesterday. I knew it was coming. Bryan was going to ask me to be his bride. To MARRY him! To become one flesh with his! Was this really happening? All the prayers, all the heartbreaks. All the lying down and surrendering of a desire deeply planted in my heart. It was finally here, and I could already see us walking down the aisle as husband and wife and being sent off on our glorious honeymoon to “unify” our souls!
I woke up at 6am on January 12th, 2013 to begin pampering myself to get ready for the perfect day I had perfectly planned. However, instead of heading to the church to get pampered, I had to go to Walgreens to get tampons because Aunt Flow decided to come...ON MY WEDDING DAY. I spent the morning crying because our “unity” time was not going to be perfect and definitely not at all how I planned. How was I going to break the news to my brand new husband? My crying turned my eyes into puffy, red holes in my face, which lead to more crying and more puffiness. (A little Preparation H helped before picture time and who doesn’t love butt cream on your face for your wedding?)
After finally getting to the church, I learned that the lady responsible for my hair and makeup had contracted the flu and couldn’t come. Cue more crying. Luckily, one of my friends flying in from Florida was a cosmetologist and she brought her makeup kit with her. So, on the fly, she did my hair and makeup as best as she could with an hour notice on the day of. With all the commotion, I had also forgotten to write Bryan the letter. The one we had planned to write to each other and give as a gift before the ceremony. Hence, even more crying because I felt I had failed as a bride once again. (Side note- he wrote me the most precious letter ever...that got left in the church never to be seen again).
I was on the verge of a breakdown. A big one. The kind that lasts until you can ugly-cry it all out and pitch a temper tantrum as dramatic as all the things that had gone terribly wrong. I had put the entirety of my focus on the wedding, the hair, the honeymoon, and none of it was going like I so carefully had planned. Yet, the Holy Spirit gently reminded me through my precious mother what the day was all about. I had lost sight of the true purpose of our wedding day. Did it matter how perfect our wedding night was going to be? Or that my hair turned out exactly like the trial run? Or that I wrote him an award-winning letter the day of our wedding? No, it actually didn’t. The entire day was supposed to be about celebrating Bryan and me becoming one and giving our lives to Christ’s service as husband and wife.
This often happens in our relationship with God. We get distracted from His ultimate purpose for our lives, and this causes us to question, doubt, become angry and lose faith. He wants you to be unified with Him. This unity happens when we understand exactly what it is that God wants for our lives. Did you know that He has an agenda for you? He has a plan, a purpose, and a way to accomplish it! It’s so easy to misinterpret the situations, circumstances and trials He allows to come into our lives when we are not unified with Him and His purpose.
So, what is God’s purpose for your life? Seems like a loaded question, right? Let’s look at Romans 15:5-6.
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Catch these words: “so that… you may glorify the God…”. Why does God give endurance and encouragement? So that we may glorify Him. Why does He want us to have the same attitude of mind toward each other? So that we may glorify Him. Our lives have one purpose and only one -- to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So many times I have become angry, confused, faithless and prideful because I thought God’s “good plans” were supposed to be about my happiness, my fulfillment, or my satisfaction. However, as I lived through many disappointments, heartaches and failures, one thing has become overwhelmingly clear. God has only one agenda in mind for my life. To bring Himself glory. In every circumstance. In every trial. In every heartbreak. He desires me to be unified with His purpose for my life-which is to bring His beautiful, majestic, powerful name GLORY!
If we can truly understand this, it has the power to transform us. Beyond that, living for His glory is what we were created to do. When we are doing what we were made to do, it naturally produces a joy that cannot be effected by our circumstance. It is when we lose sight of this purpose that we begin to question what God is doing in our lives. However, when we view each and every circumstance through the eternal lens of bringing God glory, our souls become unified with Him and His purpose. Don’t lose sight of His agenda for you. Keep your eyes on the prize, and use this truth to permeate every area and every relationship in your life!
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