His Purposes for G

Since writing about Psalm 57 earlier this morning, I've been thinking about how it applies to G.

One of the hard things when a "young" person dies, is that it seems like there was so much potential there. So much life left to be lived. And with someone like G who was so gifted in ministry and had such a profound impact on others, it also seems like he could've done much more for God's kingdom had he been allowed to live longer.

Yet, scripture tells me that:

"For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:14-16)

And from Psalm 57:

"I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me."

And from Acts 17:24-28:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’

From these passages, I understand that:

1. Every day of G's life was planned ahead of time by God. There was never supposed to be one more day. Nothing was left undone.

2. God did not and does not need G. G needed God. Yes, God gifted G with gifts and an impact in ministry (mostly due to the suffering he experienced, not despite it), but God is no less able to bring his Kingdom about without G.

3. The ultimate aim of G's life was to seek and know the God who was near him, in whom he lived and moved and had his being. God rescued G. This purpose was fulfilled.

4. Not a single purpose that God had for G was left undone. I may have had purposes for him as my husband and P's father that did not get fulfilled. I would've loved for him to be with me now, to walk with me through P's teen years, to watch P get married and meet his grandchildren (if those are all things that the Lord has in store for P), but those were not the purposes that the One who made him had. Those purposes are complete.

My conclusion? It's a hard one to admit. But God's purposes for my life continue on. They did not end when G's life ended. There are purposes that do not include G. They may be influenced by G - the man he was, the role he had in my life, and the way that he impacted me - but they cannot be determined by him. I am an individual, who was married and part of a one-flesh union with another, who is now an individual again. And when God created me in my mother's womb, he wrote out my days. Many which included G. Many which did not. I cannot let my loyalty to G trump my following of the Lord.

Reading back over this, I sound so pragmatic. I am anything but! My emotions are all over the place on this. And at the same time I know these words are true.

Lord, help me to walk in the truth!!