The Path of Purpose - Part 5 - The Journey

If this is your first time to this blog can I suggest that before you read this you read what has gone before?

You know I am not telling this story to massage my own ego...it simply occurs to me that many people are like me in that they are looking for the something in their life that maybe they just can't put a finger on. The reality is that I spent many years of my young life pursuing something and I barely knew what it was. I was on the periphery of it but was never invited into the very core of the story. That statement may sound a little strange but if you continue with me in this journey I am hoping it will become more clear to you...and to me.
Last post I drew the analogy of the prison.
April 2000 was the day I really came out of my cell and I must tell you that as I exited the cell door I found Jesus Christ waiting for me. Now I had met Jesus Christ before but not this one! As I have already explained the Jesus I knew was one who thoroughly disapproved of me because I was unable to meet the standard He set. To my surprise as I poked my head out I found a God, Jesus Christ, who loved me even before I was a twinkle in my father's eye and that love extended to even setting a plan for a life of purpose for me...me!
All I had to do was step into His love and we would go on together.
Now at the time that evidenced itself to me only in the fact that God spoke to me. You see when He spoke I was probably pretty much at the lowest point in my life. If it wasn't the absolute lowest then I wasn't very far away from it. I guess the absolute lowest point was when I contemplated taking my own life and my life had improved somewaht since then but I was still within earshot of those voices that called me to my demise. God spoke and in His words He showed me He cared and it didn't appear to matter to Him what state I was in. I just couldn't have contemplated this in my younger years. So the journey from my cell door in the 'condemned' wing of the prison to the gates began.
This experience brought a conclusion and a question...1. God loved me enough to care and 2. Was there any more?
The second question was answered promptly as I sat in the back of a ute in rural Cambodia and heard God declare His purpose for me...but was that all? Was there more revelation of love? A purpose, was that all? The Prodigal Son had a restored relationship and a party, and joy, and peace, and comfort, prosperity, the cover of his father's house...maybe there was more of God available?
Maybe I could put these bags down?
Bags? I had many bags. I was like the proverbial bag man! I was staggering down the street of life pushing a shopping trolley laden full with bags. I had them hanging off my shoulders and around my neck. The ones I 'valued' the most I kept close to me.
Quite early I was introduced to a passage in the Bible. I think it was my wife who drew my attention to it as she was well down the path ahead of me and was powering on God's fast track and here I was lumbering along behind burdened by my shopping trolley and bags!
The passage goes like this...Jesus speaking, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favourable year of the Lord." Luke 4: 18-19.
Now this sounded very good and my wife was certainly very enthusiastic about it...I was encouraged but in hindsight I have to admit I mis-read it.
Now you may not see the distinction in what I am about to say but hopefully I can explain it. You see as I read these words my interpretation went like this...'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...He has sent Me to proclaim release for the captives, and recovery of sight for the blind, freedom for  the downtrodden...and if you can get through all that successfully then you can arrive at the favourable year of the Lord, but that won't be until you reach heaven.'
Okay, the interpretation of that for me was...He proclaimed recovery, sight, freedom for me, I missed that His ministry was to me and everything in me (that is my baggage) strenuously suggested to me that I had to work hard to achieve it! Oh and by the way it is highly unlikely that you will ever get to a place where you experience the 'favour' so...are you really sure you want to bother? You know God leads us on...He told Adam if he ate the tree he would die and he didn't so are you sure you want to trust Him now? These were the words that I heard.
Now the voices that spoke from so many areas of my 'life' were loud and persistent but pressing through them all there was a quiet voice of love and resolve which said, and continued to say, 'I will restore the years the locusts have eaten' and 'I have given you this country as your mission field'.
I probably should say this here...the first statement was my exit from my condemned cell, door number one of the prison...God loves me enough to talk to me!
The second statement was door number two...there is a purpose in my up-til-now purposeless life!
I was thankful and I began my pursuit for the 'more'.
Sound okay to you? Yep, sounds okay but hear it again, I was thankful and I wanted more and so I began my pursuit...therein lies my first mistake...'I began my pursuit'.
I worked so hard.
I took my family on a holiday to Noosa and while they enjoyed the garden of God I sat on a rock and 'pursued' God. I returned to my home town alone and tried to find an answer but only really found more questions. I pursued a way for me to find God. I found out there was a Holy Spirit and I pursued Him. Jesus said He had brought recovery, sight and freedom to me and so I tried hard to apply myself to their appropriation.
Does this sound okay to you? I was pursuing God! That's a good thing isn't it? Most Christians would tell you that this is essential, we must be God chasers. There is a verse in the Bible that counsels us to "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners..." (James 4: 8) and I put all my effort into 'drawing near' to God when He had already drawn near to me. My 'drawing near' was standing in the way of my 'drawing near'. Make sense to you? The fact is I pursued the hand cleansing effort and missed that Jesus had already done it and had said the the job was 'finished'!
So in all my striving God was close and occasionally He would get through 'me' and He would make some progress. Despite me Jesus took me through a few doors on my journey to the prison gate and FREEDOM.
You know there is a verse in the Bible that says this "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery." Galatians 5: 1
Freedom sounded good to me but I didn't 'see' the rest of the verse, well I did, I saw 'stand firm' and so I tried to 'stand firm' when in truth what God wanted me to see was this... 'Christ set us free'.

Next time...Door no 3...