{"id":175,"date":"2019-10-08T12:28:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T16:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/?p=175"},"modified":"2020-01-18T11:52:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T16:52:30","slug":"what-if-i-dont-like-the-destination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/what-if-i-dont-like-the-destination\/","title":{"rendered":"What if I Don\u2019t like the Destination?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Isaiah 43:19<\/strong> “Look, I am about to do something\nnew; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the\nwilderness, rivers in the desert.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love the outdoors. I hike as often as I can, which is normally a couple times a week. So, I love the visual of Isaiah. \u201cI\u2019m about to do something new\u201d \u2026. \u201cEven now it is coming\u201d \u2026. \u201cDo you see it?\u201d \u2026 \u201cIndeed, I will make a way in the wilderness\u201d \u2026. It seems colossal, grand, breathtaking.   It is like hearing the rush of a great waterfall just up the trail. The winding path and the canopy of the trees hiding it from view, but the ever increasing crescendo of the falling water unmistakable.   My steps quicken with anticipation. I can\u2019t wait to get a glimpse of one of God\u2019s creations. That is how I should feel about the fulfillment of God\u2019s plan for me. Breathless anticipation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second only to the fear of what God may ask me to do, is the\nfear of where He might ask me to go.  Ezekiel\n1:12<\/strong> says \u201cAnd each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to\ngo, they would go, without turning as they went.\u201d This is a direct imperative\nto move forward without questioning. To go\u2026straight… without turning. That\u2019s\nintimidating. And it brings about a couple concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if I don\u2019t like the destination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord says in Psalm 32:8<\/strong> \u201cI will guide you along\nthe best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.\u201d There is\nthis element of trust that we must overcome if we are to ever have a fulfilling\nlife through Christ.  God doesn\u2019t say He\nwill guide us along a path, but along the best path. And furthermore, once we\nstart down that path, He will watch over us. This all begins with trusting that\nHe is telling us the truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A weird story about destinations. I would guess for most of\nmy adult Christian life people fretted about God sending them to Africa. This\nwas kind of the epitome of going where you didn\u2019t want to go. It was as if\nAfrica was the place that God sends hard core, give your life to Christ,\nmissionaries. Surrender everything, live in a grass hut and dine with the\nnatives, kind of evangelism. Not for the weak at heart, or spirit. None of my\nupper middle-class folks wanted to go there. Fast forward to this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not my plan to go to Africa. Even when I agreed to\nstart working with IMED (International Micro-Enterprise Development) I really\ndidn\u2019t think about the destination. But guess what\u2026. This year alone I have\ngone to Africa three times and I already have a plane ticket for a fourth. But\nit was never about the destination. It was always about using my God given\ntalents to serve His kingdom. I just ended up in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would suggest that we should spend more time on what He\nwants and let the where take care of itself. If we have passion for the what,\nwe won\u2019t care about the where. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worse, what if I\u2019m not sure of the destination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Psalms 73<\/strong> David says \u201cYou guide me with your counsel,\nleading me to a glorious destiny\u201d. Yes, a glorious destiny. Not some\noff-the-beaten-track swamp land destination, but a glorious one. As the saying\ngoes \u201cif you don\u2019t know where you are going, any path will take you there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I come to grips with the idea that what God wants for me is better than anything I could want for myself, I am left with finding out what He really wants of me. That can be hard. I gravitate to what I want for me because I understand that. We live in a land of opportunity. Virtually every day I hear of a new opportunity to serve God in a special way.  The needs are overwhelming. Add to that the sheer joy experienced by the people serving and everything seems attractive. Everything seems critical and needed. How do I figure out which is best for me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, I have to say there is no single answer to figuring\nthat out. There were several years between when I first heard of IMED and when\nI actually looked into it. Roswell Day of Hope (RDH) was much the\nopposite.  We were looking for some\nactivity to put our effort behind and RDH just came together. It was a\nstruggle, but pieces kept falling in place. It seemed predestine to happen. The\nprison ministry was a road I would not have traveled except to help a friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I keep going back to this because I think it is critical to\nunderstand \u201cEach current season using the last season to build toward the next\nseason.\u201d. God does not waste time or effort. Everything we experience, if we\nare willing, God will use to move us closer to His ultimate purpose for us here\non earth. The destination you see in front of you might just be the next mile\nmaker on your journey to our ultimate destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For my money I would concentrate on the what and not the\nwhere. If I am in the sweet spot of my passion, where I serve doesn\u2019t matter\nthat much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 48:14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor That Is What God Is Like. He Is Our God Forever And\nEver, And He Will Guide Us Until We Die.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[12,13],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivation","category-purpose","tag-christian","tag-motivational"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat if I Don\u2019t like the Destination? - Tomme Stevenson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/what-if-i-dont-like-the-destination\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What if I Don\u2019t like the Destination? - Tomme Stevenson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. 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