The Beauty of Roles, Goals and Desires Meshing

Roles, goals and desires. We all have them.

We all have roles we fulfill in life. What you get, and need, and hopefully want, to do. In mine, primary are being a Christian (I love Jesus! I am saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for God's glory alone), husband (I love my wife of twenty years!), father (I love our five kids!), pastor (I love the people of Grace Church!), and so on, including son, brother, friend, citizen and others. There is a priority to those roles that needs to be in place so that things don't get too out of balance. Jesus Christ has, and must be given, preeminence over and in everything.

Then there are the goals we have in life, what we are working towards. What we are trusting God for as we live in light of our roles. Christ's disciples must be sure they hold biblical and Christ-exalting aims. If our goals are off-base we run the risk of disobeying God and harming ourselves and others. A goal achieved, even the most Jesus-focused, can become a cause of boasting in ourselves rather than the cross of Christ. Praising God over milestones achieved and remembering His faithfulness is sweet to the soul.

Also in the mix are our desires, what we really want. There are times that these can clash and collide, and times when they mesh and converge beautifully. It is a tough and delicate challenge that can only be won in the trenches and slugged out in the grind of daily, seemingly mundane, living. God is good. He gives grace to withstand the onslaught of sin and mercy to deal gently with the need to realign ourselves around biblical truth and away from self-serving ends. It is amazing how God will at times bless us with a measurably greater awareness of His presence and His working in our lives, especially when our roles, goals and desires blend.

Psalm 37:3-5 speaks of trusting in, delighting in, and committing ourselves to the Lord. I'll address it more in detail in another post but let me just say that when we trust in, and commit our ways to, the Lord, delighting in Him is a glad surrender that takes us to before unknown depths of the grace of God in Christ.