Original: 10/18/2010
“May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your (purpose) counsel (NASB).”
Psalms 20:4
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed (NIV).”
Psalms 20:4
In 1997 I decided to take up the quiet sport of fly fishing. With the help of my dad I even learned to tie flies. On our annual youth ministry retreat to Mineral Springs I experienced the euphoric felling of catching a Brook Trout on a fly I tied after hiking into Eagle Lake. Barley over six inches that little “Brookie” was a tremendous trophy!
Life has temporarily taken me away from the “quiet sport” but I love the science of matching the hatch, locating fish, and reading currents. There is a true science to fly fishing and I look forward to the day the noise of life softens, taking up my six-weight Sage, and going fly fishing with Shanna, who spent childhood summers fly fishing the Boise River in Idaho.
There is something lurking under the waters of every man’s life. It flows like a silent current rushing towards the King, “as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city (Revelation 22:1-2).” That current is the meandering of every man’s God given purpose. Men need meaning. Men need purpose. Men need something of great risk to bring life into focus. Like polarized glasses, Christ helps a man see his natural current as it pours into the River of Life.
Synergy comes when the currents of a man’s heart pours into Christ.
The current that carries us to the Kingdom of God is the pursuit of our hearts desire as we synergize with Christ. It is the running after that “thing” that God had created us to accomplish. I fully believe that a man’s greatest moment in life, second only to salvation, is when he discovers the purpose behind why he was created. Without meaning a man wanders aimlessly. The man without purpose is a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions.
God, you remember, does not need us. Instead He uses the quest for purpose and meaning to draw us closer to Him. This may be the greatest lesson I have ever learned. God does not need me. He is God.
Who am I?
Really.
But He wants me. He chooses me!
In His deep love God chooses to include us in His plans (plans that He does not need us for). He gives us meaning and purpose. That purpose gives a man a reason to hit each day running. An outward purpose inspires a man’s upward focus. The psalmist wrote, “As the deer pants for the water brakes, so my soul pants for Thee my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the loving God. When shall I come and appear before God. (Psalm 42:1-2)
A man’s passion for living is directly proportioned to his clarity of purpose. Men need purpose. In his heart a man knows he is defined, in part, by his purpose. It is how we are viewed by others. It is how we see or selves. What is the first question men ask each other?
“What do you do?”
Men have difficulty separating who they are from what they do. I believe this is from the Lord. Can someone else do it if I choose not to? Of course, but God’s purpose for a man has nothing to do with what the Kingdom needs from him and everything to do with what God has for him.
Blessed is the man who discovers his current.
