In addition to his musical and artistic abilities, the late John Lennon of Beatles fame was also known for his pithy observations - one of the more notable being that "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."
While in no way endorsing Lennon's New Age proclivities, it is not difficult to find a certain application here to Christian faith and endeavor. Do we not at times miss the greater intent of divine purpose in consequence of having pursued our own self-determined ends and agenda - "religious" though such may have been?
At the same time, the issue of misdirected endeavor is not always one of a mistaken sense of calling. Moses provides a notable example in this regard. In his defense centuries later before the Sanhedrin, the early deacon and ultimately first Christian martyr Steven commented on Israel's rejection of Moses' initial endeavor to deliver them from Egyptian bondage.
"Moses thought that his own people would recognize that God was using him to rescue them," he noted, "but they did not" (Acts 7:25). The problem was not Moses' lack of calling in relation to Israel's emancipation, nor did it lie in his failure to discern the reality of such - a fact he mistakenly "thought his own people would recognize." Difficulty at this point lay rather in his having failed to perceive: 1) God's timing; 2) the means whereby Israel's liberation would be effected under his "ministry." As many in present day endeavor can attest, the ultimate failure of spiritual self-determination represents a far from unknown reality.
Which, of course, brings us to Abraham, "the father of faith" who, incidentally, did not write a revival oriented book entitled, "How to Help Things Along When God Doesn't Move Fast Enough." In the subsequent birth and life of Ishmael he did, however, learn something of the failures and shortcomings frequently attendant our subsequent self directed endeavors.
Burl Ratzsch
