Necessary Changes

In life we go through seasons that seem so wasteful and unnecessary. When it is all said and done, we’re left with this tiresome feeling that questions the “Why” of life. Not understanding why we go through what we go through, is a heart wrenching experience. Sometimes the frustration of life is so burdensome that we’re tempted to curse the day we were ever born. Job, an Old Testament patriarch, understood such feelings. Amidst his personal turmoil he said to God, “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, there is a man child conceived” (Job 3:3). The search for understanding life’s ups and downs is endless, and in many cases, even futile. Like the dry, dusty throat of a thirsty man, lost in a desert, we reach for so many solutions and philosophies that we suppose will quench this thirst. To our dismay, we find ourselves drinking the dust of disillusionment. Empty and discouraged, we throw our hands up in defeat and resort to merely existing in this life. Herein lies the inevitable birthing of the attitude, “Que Sera Sera,” “Whatever will be, will be.” In theological circles this attitude/philosophy is described as fatalism. Fatalism does not encourage “understanding” nor does it enforce the pursuit of purpose. Fatalism implies that we are all subject to life without the benefit of personal choice—life without our cooperation and the intentional pursuit of purpose. Purpose is best known as one’s destiny. To understand destiny is to embrace the fact that your life has been predetermined or predestined. When you embrace this fact, you must also embrace the fact that NOTHING occurs in life without reason or purpose. Without proper direction we live our lives never knowing the purpose or reason for our experiences, whether good or bad. Knowing and understanding the reason for these experiences will ease the pressures of life and place all events, good or bad, into their proper perspective. Proper perspective may be defined as the view in which an idea or experience fits which brings completeness, ease, and understanding. Perspective therefore, must be ascribed to a legitimate nurturing source of understanding before it can be considered proper. Not every perspective is proper, especially in our search for the “Why” of life. The most common mistake made by the seekers of truth and meaning, is to look for the answers to the questions in life from life itself. It has been said that, “the key to understanding life is not in life itself, but in the source of life.” So our search should begin with understanding the Source of life, for in this search we will understand the origin and purpose of life. Everything that exists has a beginning, and since it has a beginning, then it is safe to assume that there was an intended purpose. Purpose began as an idea in the mind of God, the Source. A plan for the idea was laid and then initiated. But before the idea, plan, and the purpose, there existed something much more important, the void. The void can be described as the emptiness or the need. One writer expressed it in a profound statement. He said, “Necessity is the mother of invention (creation).” Everything that is, is because of something or someone that exists but is incomplete (necessity). If we apply these statements to life, it will be clear that life can be understood only through the Source of life and that if life was given, there was first a need or a void to be filled. After this the idea (you) came into the scheme of eternal planning as the means to which the need will be filled. This need, in turn, created the purpose for your existence. The plan represents the course upon which all events will take place. In essence, it is the road that you must travel that will prepare, shape, and define you for your purpose. Let me briefly pause to express my belief as it relates to the pursuit of purpose, which is a vital element. I embrace the concept that this road to fulfilling our purpose is a continuum. There are many other purposes that we are fulfilling along the way. Clearly stated, I believe that while we are being prepared, shaped, and defined on this predetermined road through life’s experiences such as love and relationships; we are also fulfilling intermediate purposes that lead us to our ultimate purpose in life. Simply put, our ultimate purpose is the sum total of all that we are to accomplish in life, but they are achieved at different times in life based on our level of maturity. This level of maturity is determined by how well we learn from the events we encounter in life. Events are experiences we live out in life. They are divinely prearranged to fit within seasons. It is when one understands the concept of events within the realm of seasons, one begins the journey of understanding the “Why” of life. This understanding will bring ease to the frustration, uncertainty, and mystery of life. Then comes the acceptance that everything we encounter in life is simply a part of the perfecting process of life itself. This process is preparation for maximum living, and our effective functioning in this world. I do not intend to emphasize prosperity in this manuscript, as it relates to the already over-emphasized message of wealth and financial gain in the arena of personal empowerment and spiritual development. However, it is important that I establish at the initial stage that I believe in the principle of prosperity. To me, prosperity is the residual effect of the perfecting process experienced in the seasonal changes in life. I further contend that prosperity is much more than the acquisition of assets, liquid or tangible. It is a much deeper valuation of self. For this reason, assets should not be the consuming focus in your life, nor should it be an issue of constant concern; it should just be as a result of your earnest pursuit of knowing and fulfilling your purpose.