Metaphorical Shopping

So I was talking with the teacher this week, and he asked me what I plan on doing after the DTS. It's a simple enough question, and for a long time my plan has been to move back to Carpinteria, get another job, and resume all the things I was doing before my DTS.

However, my one on one leader challenged me to go to God with it. That's what I told the teacher I was doing (or planning on doing, since I hadn't done it yet). Then I started talking about all the destinations that I could go to, and all the things I could do. He stopped me and gave me a good reminder that God likes to give me from time to time.

Never look past where God has you. Yes there are destinations out there, and places God wants you to go, but never get so focused on those things that you lose sight of where you are and what God is doing today.

A picture formed in my mind of a shopper at a grocery store. This particular shopper was sent by God to go to the store to get a list of groceries, but he was so destination oriented that when he got to the store, he went directly to the check out. His cart was empty! When he left, he wasn't going to have any of the metaphorical foods that God put on his list to go get, which meant that he was going to be malnourished.

Sometimes, God has me wandering up and down the aisles. I'll get a glimpse of the check out, and want to run to it and just move on to the next thing. But God is faithful to remind me that I still need to put some eggs in my cart, or some milk. He's got a recipe in mind that He wants to cook up, and I need to get every thing that He's put on my list before I rush to the check out.

Before I get too hurried to finish my DTS and move on to the next thing, I need to take hold of every fruit that God gives me during my DTS. God does things with purpose. He created each day with a purpose in mind.

So often I go through life without that in mind. I'll let a week or month pass by unnoticed. What was God trying to tell me that month? I don't know. I didn't really pay attention. Who did God introduce me to that really needed some encouragement? I don't know.

It's going to be hard to live each day with a purpose. I know I'll probably fail at it more often than not.


Lord, remind me of your purposes. Remind me that when I get to the dairy aisle, that I need to pick up specific things. You don't bring people to the dairy aisle to get bread. You bring them there to get eggs, milk, cheese, etc. Open my eyes to Your purposes. Don't let my cart be empty when I get to the check out because I was in too much of a hurry to get to the destination. Amen.