Everyone is tempted to dance to the tune of a drum beat – the quest for fulfillment.We frantically seek a prince charming, dream job, that bubbling career, fame, pleasure – everything that we think can meet those deepest longings.
And what do we find?
You remember the day you searched for something, something you didn’t keep. A key, for example. How you ransacked the whole house – ferociously searching. Suddenly, you stumbled on a key. “Aww! I’ve found the key I’ve been looking for.” I’m off with the car.”
You flew down the stairs, straight to the car. Caressing the key, you dug it into the keyhole. “What’s happening?” Your shoulders fall, and the bubbling excitement flies away. It just dawned on you that, you’ve got the wrong keys.
That’s how futile it is when we search for fulfillment and freedom with our limited knowledge.
The Path to Fulfillment
To fulfill means, to succeed in achieving something. Discovering that “something” to be achieved is a crucial step. Like we know, God has a plan for creating each one of us. As humans, He wants us to have dominion, be fruitful, multiply… (Genesis 1:28). And we fulfill that in the unique life experiences and assignment we all have. You a doctor, I a lawyer, she an engineer… Yet, we all, having dominion.
So, how do I find that my unique assignment; my purpose?
We’re often told to, “find you” – who you want to be. And the way to discover that, the world tells us, is to ask yourself some questions, and provide the best answers for yourself. What do I love doing? What gets me excited? What will make me happy and fulfilled? Simply embrace and do it, we are told. What anyone thinks doesn’t matter. It’s your life! Me. Me. Me.
Good suggestions! But those tools are not enough to dig up gold; they could simply scratch up some random precious stones from the earth surface. You need gold? Then you need God. He alone knows where your gold is buried, and how to dig it up, and refine it. Yes! If you didn’t create or deposit something, how do you intend discovering it’s real essence on your own.
So, how do you find that life in Christ?
The Bible gives an answer to that: Matt 10:39 – He that findeth his life shall lose it: he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Jesus is saying, “you’re never really going to find who you are by finding who you are.
“I want you to die to your old approach to identity, and get a new sense of individual self.”Some things happen only as a byproduct, and identity is one of them.
When we lay everything at the feet of Jesus and find our deepest fulfillment, rest, peace, strength, and joy in His presence alone – not dulling our spiritual lives with worldly counterfeits – we are ushered into the supernatural, superhuman existence God designed us to live. That is when the presence of God draws near. That is when our prayers are heard and answered. And that is when the life we read about in Scripture actually becomes our reality. (Tim Keller)
As you get lost in God, totally submitted to His will, always saying “yes Lord” just like Mary, (Luke 1), what He has appointed you to do gets clearer, and the grace to do it abounds.
Read these posts to gain more insight:
A lesson from Eve
A successful career, multinational business, political power, influence, lovely marriage, wealth and fame may be dangled in our eyes as evidence of fulfillment. This is mostly true with the woman-fold. We are being told to look for whatever makes you feel good and do it.
Yes, women need fulfillment, and freedom, and fun. But, let’s be sure we are not seeking them outside our divine assignment. Eve was faced with a similar situation of discovering a “new” life: just get that apple and eat, and you will be like God. But, what if Eve was “proud” of who God made her to be, and saw no need to become something and someone else. Maybe, she wouldn’t have eaten that apple, that dragged the world into sin.
Be a fulfilled young woman. Live a fulfilled life. But, pursuing those things outside Christ means losing the very thing you set out to find – Fulfillment and freedom. In seeking to find freedom and fulfillment everywhere, you find it nowhere.
Remember Eve!
Wow! This ministered to me, especially.