The intentional life
The days turn into weeks, the weeks turn into months and the months turn into years. Here I am, as if stuck in a time warp, but all along time is passing me by. I look in the mirror and see subtle changes as time goes by, sometimes not really looking at that stranger in the mirror, sometimes looking too closely, searching for imperfections which appear as though they have always been there . . . . . but when I wonder, did they arrive?? Why wasn’t I aware they existed before??
The people I love feel like they have always been there. . . . a relaxed and predictable part of my life. When did my daughter get so tall?? When did she learn to talk and reason the way she does? I fee like I’m losing my mind. Why does life happen all around me and I don’t even see it? What is it about my life that it is always growing and changing and I can’t keep up?
These are the feelings and questions that I have carried in my heart for years, most of the time completely unaware that they were even there. Once in a while something would come to the surface, as if searching for oxygen after being deprived for a great length of time, and I would question once more “What is going on with my life?? When did all this stuff happen??” Almost as quickly as these questions came to the surface, they would disappear. It was like my mind was not connected to my life as days turned into weeks, and months into years.
One day the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. His words stopped my racing mind in it’s tracks as He gently stated “You need to live an intentional life.” Suddenly, it all became clear to me. I was not living my life, I was surviving it. I was not making decisions and choices about who I wanted to be or what I wanted to do with my time on this earth, I was just coasting along hoping things would get better, and instead life was just passing me by.
The more I thought about His Wisdom to my spirit, the more I saw the mindless haze my life had become. The choices I make everyday had been put on autopilot, and I was drowning in bad food, big debt and indifference in my relationships. I was overweight, depressed and lonely. How did this happen to me?? I wasn’t living an intentional life.
As I look around me at the people in my life, I see that I am not alone. I am surrounded by a world of people who also are not living an intentional life. What can we do to bring a sense of change to our reality?? How can we become the vibrant and charismatic people that we once were, or have never been but are destined to become?? I found my start in His words. In reminding myself everyday when I catch myself in a mindless haze. . . . that I need to live an intentional life. If I cannot be faithful in the little things of life (see Luke 16:10) than what makes me think that my awesome Father will trust me with more?
So now the question remains. Have you been living an intentional life?? Or have you been caught up in the same mindless haze that I found myself? How can you live a more intentional life? What changes can you make in your mindless routine to bring you into a more vibrant and alive place in your existence? You can start by asking Him to lead you every step of the way. Take time to seek His council every day in all of your decisions and responsibilities, seek His grace in crisis and His friendship in the ordinary moments. Let Him have all the broken parts of your life so that He can begin to heal your wounds, and you will discover soon that you have begun to regain of a life you were formerly just surviving. It’s an adventure I promise you will be a glorious ride.
