Promotional or Purposeful
Our generation’s use of social media can put you in a whirlwind of anxiety. Every post has you ready to compete, because comparison has killed your innocence of being who and what God has intended for you to be and do. I don’t want to speak for all millennials but I guarantee I can speak for many when I say this, “our generation seems to be an anxious mess” and there’s a lot of factors that contribute to our stress (work, financial debt, relationships, parenting, etc.).
We expect to have our dream job by the time we’re 25 and get anxious if we haven’t found it yet. We look around at work and think that we should be further along in our careers, we should be leading people, making more money, or creating a bigger impact. We scroll through our social media feeds and wonder why our lives aren’t anything like the awesome experiences our friends are having or the perfect relationships they seem to be in; and then, wonder what’s wrong with us. We can easily slip into the role of judging ourselves by how we think we appear to others and neglecting the secret place of the heart where all good fruit comes from.
How can we ensure that our goals revolve around God?
How do we make sure that God’s will for our lives is put ahead of our own ambition and agenda?
As millennials, we choose specific places to live and work, thinking about the benefits to ourselves. We think about things that we can do to portray ourselves as being “in our bag” but how many people choose places to live and things to do based on how productive they can be in serving God? Because we have gotten in our heads that everything should be figured out by a certain age, if we’re not starting our own business, making our own channels, or putting on a huge event then “you’re not doing enough.” We begin to search for satisfaction by doing things outside of Gods will just to ease the anxiousness that has been pressed upon us. We have gotten so twisted into doing things just to appear as though we are “making moves” that we start to question God when our doing doesn’t match with our satisfaction and fulfillment. I’ve gotten so ill and extremely tired doing or saying one thing just to prove that I’ve accomplished something. These pressured proclamations only create a fleeting moment, when God intended for my actions to be a ceaseless movement. Purposeful things take time. You will need moments with God to establish a Kingdom Movement. When you live in a space of committing your work to God, it has no choice but to prevail. When you position yourself to go through a process to produce fruit, you have no choice but to see the goodness of the Lord. Don't skip parts of the process trying to obtain self-satisfaction, when it is intended to draw men and give God GLORY. Skipping parts of your process will only show the potential impact – the process produces GREATNESS.
Because of our lack of trust and commitment to God, we make a cycle out of a process that’s intended to give us a plan for our purpose. If we trust God to do things His way, then we won't be in an emotional upheaval trying to decide what we should do in various situations. We turn what was intended to be a movement into a moment lacking fruit and guidance from God.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
God says trust Him wholeheartedly and lean not to our own human understanding. When we trust God and lean on Him for understanding, it breaks the human limitations that we have on ourselves and God. Not only will it acknowledge our own human limitations, but it will eliminate the cycle of ‘figuring it out,’ decreasing anxiety, worry, and fear.
It’s never been about God’s people ‘putting on’ to show what they’ve done, only to display work that didn’t fully represent His intentions. Instead, it should be all about us allowing the all-knowing God to guide us wherever He sees fit in His perfect will for our lives. We can strongly rely on the fact that an all-knowing God will never lead His beloved children to failure. In that case, the best way to pursue our goals is to let God determine what should be done and when it should be done. The good news is that, when we consult Him before we start working on any plans, He’ll make His will plain to us. That’s exactly what it means to have our plans established by Him. I’ve gotten to that point and I pray that I have more who are willing and desire for God to establish His Kingdom in our hearts FIRST, then commit to that plan - because the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations. (Psalm 33:11)
My prayer is that we are set free from anxiety, comparison, and working under an impure heart that doesn’t represent God. Our generation no longer lives to promote but to fulfill a purpose here on Earth. I pray that we are delivered from belittling our progress and truly surrender the deep places that has hindered our life plans because of generational pressure.
God, we acknowledge the fact that we only partially know and understand while You know and understand everything perfectly. Often, we ignore that facts because of pressure, curiosity, worry, impatience, etc. We pray that You give us what it takes, so that we can strive to make sure that we find ourselves at the center of Your will. Whatever goals and visions that we have, it’s guaranteed that they will all come to pass if they are consistent with Your perfect will. Empower us to live a life marked by complete reliance on You. Deliver and set us free from the unconscious and conscious cycles, for You have plans for our lives. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.