In Pursuit of Purpose
Before I begin my short story, let me give you a little background for added context. About a month ago God led me to make some major changes in my business and personal life. I say major in that they required swift obedience, solid faith, a total surrender to Him, and some serious humility. That may not sound like much to you, but when God gives you a great vision and then leads you from what you perceive to be cloud 9 down a path that looks nothing like the right way to vision fulfilled, well… lets just say adjusting your plans and expectations can be a bit challenging along the way. The following events are all slightly unrelated but stay with me and I’ll bring it all together in the end.
Two weeks after implementing said changes, my cousin was killed. On top of everything else going on in the world and my life, this was pretty traumatic and difficult to process. Fast forward to last Sunday when I was involved in a three car accident. By the grace of God, I walked away from it with only a headache and minimal back and neck pain. After resting for a couple of days, I felt like I needed to get moving to avoid getting stiff from sitting too long. Additionally, I wanted to continue making strides towards my ultimate goal of being healthier and more physically fit, which brings me to my short story.
The Tuesday after the accident, I took a walk along a trail with one of my friends. As we were walking, laughing, and talking all of a sudden a deer dashed across our path. In total shock, we froze for second or five and then decided to keep going… that is until we saw a few of his friends still on the other side of the path. In my mind all I could see was the news headline: “American Tobacco Trail: Where the deer and pedestrians fight!” and a subheading that read: “Locals suffer major injuries fighting deer along popular trail.” Dramatic, yes, I know. But you get my point. We were completely shook! After a few seconds of stillness, we slowly made our way past the other deer and then took off running. Upon getting a safe distance away, we stopped and let out a nervous laugh at what had just happened. Lets fast forward to when we were about a mile from our stopping point. I received a text from my mother with a word of instruction. The word was so timely and confirming that I had to respond immediately. As I am responding to the text from my mother, my friend calmly says to me: “Is that a braid? Oh, no that’s a snake.” Then she says: “You just stepped on a snake!” At this point, as you can imagine we took off running. We continued until we realized we were literally running for no reason. Nothing was chasing us, so we stopped and continued walking along the trail. The end.
Now for the revelation… and boy was there a lot of it.
Upon giving God a whole yes and surrendering your will to Him you should almost expect the unexpected. The enemy won’t like it and while he has no more control over your life than what you give him, he surely knows how to serve up a hefty plate of distractions and distorted perspectives.
The Accident: Many times, after you suffer an injury of any sort, you are advised to rest and give your body time to recover from the impact of said injury. That is wisdom. But what happens when you sit too long? You get comfortable and become stiff, often times without even realizing it. That’s a whole word in and of itself. There is such a thing as resting too long. That is the point at which your resting is no longer productive. When you suffer an injury, be it physical or emotional, take time to rest, grieve, and/or recover. However, a part of your full recovery will require movement and at times even pressure. Lack of movement leads to stagnation. I don’t know who this is for… but you’ve been stagnant too long and it’s time to GET UP!!!
The Deer: While walking in purpose, there will be times when situations catch you completely off guard. In some seasons, it may be one thing after another. No matter the case, stay alert and stay focused. Even if the shock factor of life’s happenings causes you to slow your pace a bit, don’t stop moving. One of the greatest threats to your destiny can be found in your inappropriate response to distractions. Keep pursuing purpose no matter what.
The Snake: The interesting thing about this snake situation is that I didn’t see or feel the snake under my foot. Let me say that again. I did not SEE or FEEL the snake under my foot. I wouldn’t have even known it existed had my friend not told me what happened. Isn’t it amazing how God shields us so, that we neither feel nor are we traumatized by the threat of an attack that never happens? The other thing is this… as soon as I stepped on it, instead of attacking me, it slithered off into the woods. Although I heard her words of warning, the impact of her words did not immediately register as I was completely engrossed in my response to the timely instruction. Now anyone that knows me well will tell you that I don’t do snakes… ever. For years, my natural reaction to fear had been to freeze up. Had I actually seen that snake I am convinced that my reaction would have been the same.
My Conclusion: In hindsight, our fear induced response made no sense as the snake was long gone before we even took off running. The perceived threat from which we were running was truly in our knowledge of what could have happened. When walking out the plan God has for you, He may very well call you to take an unfamiliar path to reach your intended destination (purpose). As He gives direction, you must be so unwavering in your focus that things that would normally throw you off kilter have no effect on your pace. A totally submitted heart and an ear to the mouth of God paired with a relentless pursuit of purpose is what allows us to tap into the imparted authority to trample upon and overcome every power the enemy possesses. It is what assures us that nothing will be able to harm us as we walk in this imparted authority (John 10:3; Luke 10:19). Needless to say, the events that took place last week definitely slowed me down a bit but after gathering myself from the shock of it all, my focus remains unwavering, my ear in tune with the voice of God, and my pursuit of purpose.
