Where Are We Heading?
by Ron Scurfield
What do we want in life? Are we striving to earn a living just to make ends meet? Do we have a motivation for living over and above the basic essentials? - Perhaps a driving ambition to get somewhere and make something worthwhile of our life? - To satisfy our ego? - To be rich and famous? We may want to be successful at work to provide for our family or to be comfortable in retirement? What motivates us? What’s the driving force in our lives? Where are we heading?
Why are we striving towards this goal? What happens when we get there? Will there be satisfaction, comfort, fulfilment? What then? Do we stay and rest in our achievements, or do we move on to something else?
We seem to be driven mainly by our feelings, a need for self satisfaction, to feel good. If my body is comfortable and my mind is not stressed, am I not content? We strive to be accepted, or even loved. It makes us feel safe. It gives us value and security. It makes life worthwhile, for a time, as long as it lasts.
Love? If we can love someone, and that love perhaps can be returned, we feel secure. There’s something about love that binds people together; an invisible bond of caring and sharing, of trust and understanding. Is this the key? Is life about love?
What about God? Where does He fit in? The Bible tells us we’re loved by God, but does that change our feelings and ambitions? We may be carrying guilt or hurt from the past. We may be harbouring bitterness and anger from injustices. God loves us, but our experience of this love might just seem to be beyond our grasp.
‘He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…’ (Isaiah 53:3-4). Jesus took our rejection, our pain and suffering to the cross and died with them. He now offers hope, a new life and a new direction. ‘I have come that they may have life... to the full’ (John 10:10).
Where are we going? Jesus said, ‘I am the way’ (John 14:6). Perhaps we don’t understand. - ‘I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh’ (Galatians 5:16). ‘The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace’ (Romans 8:6). The greatest love ever known binds us together with Him. ‘God so loved the world that He gave...’ (John 3:16).
And our destiny? - ‘“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”’ (Jeremiah 29:11). ‘This is the way, walk in it’ (Isaiah 30:21).
Prayer: Father, often I stumble in the dark trying to find a way. I reach out for something that isn’t there, or look in the wrong places for fulfilment. Lord, forgive me. I put my trust in You and ask You to lead me safely along the pathway of life, into eternity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ron Scurfield with his wife Jill, are part of the Associate Ministry Team at Ellel Grange and occasionally Ellel Scotland. Ron enjoys walking and writing and meeting interesting people, but his greatest joy is seeing God transform lives, setting people free to live the abundant life that Jesus intended.
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