If I am honest, the times I get most frustrated with life is when God puts me in situations to be changed, instead putting me in situations where I am busy being “useful”.  I think much of that comes from a narrow perspective of how much I need to grow!  That just because God doesn’t use me in my life the way I imagined, doesn’t mean it isn’t full of purpose and meaning…

It’s easy to fall into that mentality because I think it is healthy to think in terms of being useful.  But generally my idea of being useful is defined by what I want to do. Instead of faithfully allowing God to use my circumstances to change me to be more like Jesus.

Our “former ignorance” that the passage describes, is to be led by passions that take us away from true life in Christ, and satisfying our own desires instead.  The term “holiness” is to be pure, or without mixture.  So the Lord desires for us to not mix our own selfish desires with following Him.  That we are to lay aside our selfish desires, so we can be holy and focused on His purpose and glory…

I truly believe that this is why God puts us in situations we don’t like or don’t feel excited about, to “prune” us from being conditional in our obedience and love towards Him.  So if God doesn’t conform things to the way we want them, we won’t settle for our own ways.  But it is a revelation of a perfectly loving Father wanting us to grow up in Christ.  Using our life to change us, rather than give us the life we always wanted.

In His Love, Ld