January 30, 2014

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful. - Joshua 1:8

Here in Joshua, the Lord is talking to Joshua just after Moses has died.  In the three verses (6-9) He tells Joshua to "be strong and courageous", to "not be afraid", to "not be discouraged" because He, the Lord, would be with him wherever he goes.  The Lord also instructs him twice to not turn away from the Law that Moses gave them and he would be prosperous.

Tony Dungy's devotional writing is about how our personal growth in our heart is what matters, not our professional worldly achievements.  He says, "Real success is about doing what God has called you to do as well as you can."  He goes on to say that we must be sure that we do not depend upon our professional achievements to be significant.  "We need to find our significance long before we step into any of those [professional] roles."

I find that these two sayings "Doing what God called you to do" and "find our significance" sound good on paper but the how-to escapes most Christians, including myself. 

In our Scripture reference, a very strong leader had just died.  In fact, he was the only leader the Hebrews had known for over 40 years.  A whole generation had passed while he led.  Now it was Joshua's turn and God the Father has His hands on Joshua's shoulders and He is encouraging him, instructing him, and reassuring him that he can be the leader in Moses' absence.  God has prepared him for this time and God is calling him to be the leader.

This is so very different than my life that I find very little to relate to in the story, so much so that it is really just a story to me.  I can read the text and take away the obvious instruction to stay inside the written Word of God, obey it, obey it, obey it, and (if I'm Joshua) I'll be prosperous.  How this relates to doing what God called me to do and finding my significance completely escapes me.

How do I know what God called me to do?  I have never felt any, not the slightest time, when I felt like God was holding my hand or shoulders and specifically telling me to become a ... anything.  In high school, I read a chapter of the New Testament every night. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, then start over.  We didn't go to church then, I just liked to read about Jesus.  But when I had to pick a career path, I chose electrical engineering because everyone said that engineering is where my academic strengths were and electrical had, at that time, the highest base starting salary (although that changed before I graduated, should've went into chemical).

And what about my significance?  My single significance was to make more money than my single parent school teacher Mom so that if I ever had kids one day they wouldn't have to buy 2nd hand shoes and shirts and walk around the school looking at all the other kids who had normal stuff and believe they weren't equal.  Exactly how is that God-led?  It isn't.  The only significance I've ever felt is reading God's Word over and over and over and over about how He values me, but even then it is very difficult to accept. 

Don't take this wrong, I'm not disputing God's Word or His promises to Joshua.  I'm simply saying this is one of those Bible lessons that doesn't line up with my experiences.  I would love to experience it, but I haven't.  I'd love for God to give me a new name and purpose and calling besides those that are mine because I have lived and chosen a family and career, but He hasn't.  He is here with me, through it all, and maybe that's what my calling is.