9th-15th September 2024
MEDITATION
At the start of the summer, I listened to a podcast Bible teaching where the preacher asked the congregation to finish this sentence: “All we want for our kids is for them to be...?” The automatic response from almost everyone (including me) was “HAPPY!”
And yet, when we focus on doing everything to make ourselves and those we love ‘happy’, we inevitability set ourselves and them up for failure. Happiness is only one of many emotions that we were created to experience in the world we live in. It is right and necessary for us to feel unhappy at the sin we see, commit and endure in our broken world; it is normal for us to feel disappointed when our plans fail; it is appropriate to for us to joyfully celebrate too when life brings happy occasions. But if we focus solely on a worldly pursuit of happiness, we will inevitably feel short changed, because life in this world is not one perpetually unbroken conga line of celebration. When we feel anything other than happiness, we can think something is drastically wrong, that something in our lives must change.
The very fact of experiencing other, very natural and healthy emotions, causes its own kind of distress. The pursuit of happiness, in the end, does not bring any kind of lasting happiness, instead it brings frustration and disappointment. Even when we experience temporary happiness, momentarily achieving or attaining the thing we think will make us happy, it doesn’t last very long and it doesn’t satisfy the way we would have hoped. Why would we strive for this?
When I think back to studying for and completing school exams, I remember always thinking “If I can only get to the end of June, I will experience such happiness when my exams are over. I will have made it!” The actual feeling never quite lived up to my expectations. Countless celebrities have ‘made it’ in terms of career and financial success but are left stranded at the peak of their success, isolated in unhappiness and alone in their depression. The pursuit of happiness never quite delivers.
The scriptures say:
There are many plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that will prevail. Proverbs 19:21
For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
What does God say about this? God doesn’t promise us a perpetually happy life, defined in worldly terms, but he does promise us that he plans to prosper us. God is a God of purpose. And not just general purposes but specific ones. He is the supreme, long-term strategic planner of the universe. He does nothing in a random or haphazard manner. And his purposes extend from here far into eternity. He has purpose in the world to come and also for us in this present world.
God is in the process of making his children fit for eternity: he has a transformation work to do in all of us. With this in mind, “Purposeful, not happy” has been my mantra this summer. More than anything, God wants our lives to be purposeful and I am slowly (sometimes even reluctantly) learning what it means to put more and more of my trust and my hope in God’s truth to achieve his purposes for my life.
Chasing his purpose instead of our happiness often brings a joy like no other, but it does not always bring ease. For me the summer has been a mix of sleep deprivation and exhaustion with a toddler who doesn’t like to sleep and happiness as I watch my older children learn about and serve God through involvement in missions and camps. I am also walking alongside friends and family that are struggling with failing health and many other difficulties that life brings.
I am slowly learning to focus more on God’s love for me and realise over and over again that it’s the only way I can be transformed to love the people around me with his patience and gentleness. Slowly, I am gaining for myself a little more of his heart and perspective in the daily tasks and situations I find myself in: sometimes there is happiness, sometimes there is disappointment, sometimes there is pain; but by the grace of God it is eternally purposeful. And that brings its own settled peace and a joy that only God can give.
Through this week’s Prayer Diary, I hope and pray that together we can understand and cling to some of the revelation of God’s purposes through his promises and no matter what circumstances may bring – good, bad, ugly – may we have confidence that his purposes are being fulfilled in and through us.
Guest Contributor - Judith Yohanis
MONDAY
Truly truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers… I am the gate, if anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:7,10
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-21
Mighty and loving God, thank you for sending your Son to provide a way for us to be brought into relationship with you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for providing a way for me to call you both Father and friend. Help us gain a fresh appreciation for Jesus and what you achieved for us through the cross.
Your greatest purpose for me is to know you in all your glory. To know we can have a full and purposeful life of love because of what you have given us in Christ and how this changes us to be people of purpose. As we vulnerably submit ourselves to you, teach us more of the greatness of your love for us. Grow in us a passion for others to know the gift of your salvation and the fullness of life that only you can give.
Thank you for the care and security we can know in you. Lord, grow our faith to bring to you all of the highs and lows of our current circumstances, especially our greatest longings and our unfulfilled desires. Thank you that we can lay these before you and ask you to do your will with them as we continue to respond to your grace. Lord, help us bring joy to you as we seek you today. Amen.
TUESDAY
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in your faith, established and firm and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. Colossians 1:21-23
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
God, thank you this day for the truth of the gospel. To think that I stand before you holy, clean and free from accusation because Jesus chose to lay down his life for me. Lord, help us hold fast to this hope we have in you. Thank you for not just wanting to make us happy in this life but choosing to make us holy. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts to the reality of who we are in you so that we can stand our ground in faith against the schemes of Satan. Help us come to you as sons and daughters, to be reminded both of the hope of eternity and of our new identity in Christ.
Lord, what a blessing that we can trust what you say is true of us and not how we necessarily feel. Our standing is secure because of you and not because of anything we do or don’t do. Help us walk with you willingly and humbly as you bring us opportunities to depend on the Holy Spirit; teach us to pause and talk with you throughout the highs and lows of today. Help us choose purpose in how we love you and others today. Amen.
WEDNESDAY
For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness...your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ. Colossians 2: 9, 11
Lord God, I can think of so many things that I look to in order to replace your love in my life. You tell me that in Christ I can be brought to fullness and yet I often search for anything other than the truth of your word or the power of your love. But that other thing never satisfies. Lord, when we catch the smallest snippet of your love for us, our minds are blown. The richness and depth of your love are never ending and your mercies are new every morning. Lord, lead us further into the depths of your love so we will never need to question your purpose for our lives or search elsewhere for happiness. Help us depend on your Spirit and your unfailing, never changing love for us as we navigate the many emotions that loving others can bring. Amen.
THURSDAY
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:2
So I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:16ff
Lord, you’ve given us your Son as a true example of pure and self-sacrificial love. Lord, we stand able to lay down our lives to love others only because of how you have shown us mercy and goodness and continue to love us perfectly. As dearly loved and cherished children. Thank you for this assurance; we don’t last long without it. Help us trust your love more than our feelings and more than our circumstances. Help us desire to throw off selfishness and choose to focus our energy on knowing your word, talking with you and growing with each other. Help us love with increasing wisdom and insight as we keep in step with the Spirit in our homes, in our workplaces, with our neighbours and in the church. Let the fruit of the Spirit in us be a witness to your power and glory. Let this purpose for our lives bring us inexplicable joy as we honour you. Amen.
FRIDAY
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle: be patient, bearing with one another in love…. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:1, 32
God, I’m prone to respond to this calling like it’s an optional extra for the Christian life. Lord, thank you that you see us as worthy of this calling through your love. Lord, help us not take this calling for granted, help us not play around with it or diminish its importance. Grow our gratitude, change our character, give us your wisdom and insight as we look up to you and go out into a world in need of your love. Give us the desire and the endurance to serve you and know your joy and peace as we step out in faith with the opportunities you bring our way. Lord, by your Spirit give us the strength to exercise patience and grace with each other as we work together as the church to live lives worthy of our calling. Help us see each other with this in mind. We are flawed and broken people who desperately need the forgiveness, compassion and humility only you can bring to our lives. Lord, let our love for one another be a witness to your grace, goodness and almighty power. Amen.
SATURDAY
So, do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Lord, thank you that you’ve promised us that we are never alone. Life can be pretty scary at times. Trials and suffering can bring worry and fear and uncertainty that has the potential to take us out. Lord, help us know your protection and presence with us as we face challenges today. Remind those of us who are struggling today to know you will never leave us and we can take refuge and find rest in you. Help us to ask you for help and for strength to endure the day. Thank you that you give us your word to teach us, your Spirit to empower us and the body of Christ to encourage us. Help us partner with each other as we learn what it is to lay down our lives and walk humbly before you regardless of our circumstances. Protect us from Satan’s desire to distract and divert our attention from these means of growth. Help us replace Satan’s lies with these promises in scripture. Amen.
SUNDAY
For God works ALL things for the good of those who love him, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
We started this week reflecting on pursuing a life of purpose in relationship with Jesus and not pursuing worldly happiness. In this fallen world the pursuit of happiness alone will not result in true happiness. After all, why would we need Jesus and his achievements on the cross if the world could offer us fullness and happiness and life?
Across my life, the truth of this verse has brought more comfort and peace than anything else could. It grounds and founds my life to know that you – a holy, loving, and merciful God – will work ALL things, for his glory and for our good. This refreshes and gives me hope; it spurs me on and breeds perseverance. In the hands of God nothing is wasted and, though my life at times may appear in tatters, God is sewing it together as a glorious patchwork testimony to the power and love of God.