Jeremiah 29:11 – “For 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”.
This verse is so powerful. Believe it or not, we get reminded of this at different times in our lives. It can be something subtle or very obvious. I can say for certain in my life that God reminds me in the most obvious ways.
I have always had the urge to help people. Be it, physical fitness, mentorship, motivation, or anything of the like… Something inside me always looks to see better in people. As I get closer to retirement from the Military, I found myself just doing the day to day routine and not actively looking for opportunities to glorify God. Right now I am going through this course that is required for each person before they detach from the Military. This particular week they also have this portion called “Boots to Business”. This is basically the entrepreneurship portion. Mind you, this class is being done virtual due to COVID. Class yesterday involved Resume writing and we did this thing called a STAR message, which was one of the main things we covered. This is basically summing up a big thing that describes our value.
After class yesterday, the facilitators gave us a survey to complete for this portion. I immediately began the survey, forgetting that I was in the class still. One of the instructors called my name trying to ask if I needed anything and reached out to see if I wanted to share the statement that I had to correct from earlier in the day. I told them that I forgot I was still in the class as I was filling out the survey. The Facilitators were surprised someone actually was filling out the survey. So I paused and read my revised STAR statement. All of the facilitators were stunned. They loved the revised message.
One of the facilitators asked again about the me sharing that I was into physical fitness and me instructing people. I began explaining about my experience in this area. This branched off into my desire for entrepreneurship and what my mindset was. This conversation went on for 20 minutes after class was over. At this point, the instructors were amazed at my story (which was a short version of it)! One of the facilitators then gave me their email and asked if I would be willing to speak at one of their courses and share my story. I said absolutely.
Why am I telling you all this? God, in that moment, reminded me of the talents He gave me. As I was speaking to them, I felt a fire inside of me that I couldn’t explain. The desire to reach out and motivate everyone to achieve their goals was in full effect. Thoughts like “don’t let your situation define you, but define your situation” ran through my mind. I began moving toward wanting to motivate them, but I caught myself. I think I motivated the instructor that asked me about physical fitness. She began telling me all of her goals for running. I thought that was amazing! I was in a zone.
People say that God doesn’t just show you your purpose. I agree in part with this. Whilst God doesn’t appear physically in front of us, tap us on the shoulder and plainly say, “Your talents that I have blessed you with are….”, He does reveal to us our purpose as we are ready to receive this information. You will know your true purpose when you are in a zone with what you are doing…. Like really in a zone. Fire inside of you and all. While you are doing this, you will realize that you are serving the purpose God has for you. I know yesterday during all of this stated above, that I was serving God’s purpose. I went from student in this class needed for retirement from the Military, to being invited to be a guest speaker. It is amazing what our Father can do as He so sees fit! Glory to God!
The time leading up to this, I was beginning to wonder what God’s purpose for me was at this time of my life. He moved my family back out of state where I will be going after retirement from the Military. So I have been out here for a good while and wondering why my family has had to be away from me for so long. There are different reasons why God does what He does. Most often, it is unknown. God is, however, always teaching us. What I got from this particular scenario with the separation from my family, is that God is preparing me for my life after the military for what He needs for me to do to serve His kingdom. I know that when my family was here with me, I was so focused on them that at times, I didn’t put God’s desires above theirs. So from that perspective, I was not always acting within the will of God, which that in and of itself is a sin.
Friends, let’s always look to see what our Father’s will is for us. He has given us all a distinct set of talents and He wants us to grab ahold of them and evolve them into something spectacular! Ultimately to the glory of Him.
Until next time my brothers and sisters in Christ, God Bless!
Believe in God and you shall receive! 