How to Find Your Way in His World

Sometimes I think women fall for the myth that we must "find ourselves".  Even precious Christian sisters fall into the trap of thinking that if we could just discover who we really are, life would fall magically into place and we would know the blueprint for our lives. We get so busy as wives and moms that when we have moments to ourselves, when our children move on, if we aren't involved with other activities and hobbies, we don't have an identity.

The tagline of my blog is a quote by George Bernard Shaw, "Life is not about finding yourself.  It's about creating yourself."  The quote hit home for me, as one by one, my children grew up and left the nest.  "Oh no", I thought!  "What am I going to do with my time?  Who am I when I'm not busy being a mom?  I better find out who I am without a diaper bag!  How do I keep from flailing around aimlessly, trying to figure out what is next for me?"

Create myself...what does that look like?  How do I do that and where do I go to do it?  I was a member of a Bible study with a group of women studying Henry Blackaby's book, Experiencing God:  Knowing and Doing the Will of God.  In his book, Blackaby stresses over and over, how simple it is to know the will of God for your life.  We have the tendency to make it so much more difficult.  It's not a great mystery that you will only uncover if you spend hours in prayer, begging Him to reveal His plan for you.  God is always at work around you, inviting you to be a part of His work with Him.

I've discovered that one of my passions is photography!  This passion has led me to meet many new people and see God at work in many groups in my city of Tulsa.  The Lord has used my photography for His plans and purposes because I just got busy with it.  

As I reflected on where He might be at work around me, I realized the Lord is at work in my own home, in my neighborhood, at the gym, in volunteer work, in my city...literally every where I turn, God is busy doing a work there.  And as I step into His work, here and there, I begin to create myself.  I make connections with people, I find organizations that I didn't know existed, I find groups with the same passions as mine.  And then I get busy. I accept His invitation to join Him in His work.

In looking at God's will for my life in this manner, it actually takes a great pressure off of me.  Because you see, dear heart, when we join Him in His work, the pressure is on Him! It's not us trying to find the way to make something happen, but instead, coming along side Him and helping to carry out His plans.  While we are busy doing His work and His plans, we will come to find that we have created ourselves, defined our passions, and walked an amazing path that we would not have found if we hadn't just dug in and gotten busy with God where He was working.

There are so many places to join God in His work in my city!

Are you struggling to know His plan for your life?  Do you want to understand His will for you.  Look around you for areas where He is at work, roll up your sleeves and join Him in what He is doing.  What have you discovered that you're passionate about?  Share with us here how you see Him at work around you and how you have joined Him there!

See how God is revealing Himself to others at A Pause on the Path.

From His lap,