Have you ever heard the statement: "The beginning of the end..."? It brings about connotations of doom and despair, and only a matter of time until ultimate destruction comes your way. It is not a phrase of hope. What it means is that there is a definite time when the cogs set in motion a process that cannot be stopped until the "end." It is a moment when there is no turning back, and there is nothing more that can be done.
My question... "Can you know when this moment happens?" Does the moment take a millisecond, a minute, or longer; or is it a process of happenings that take you to that point of no return? Anyway, hindsight tells us that there was a moment when it all started going downhill, and that is the beginning of the end. If something different had been done, another action taken place, perhaps the end could be avoided; but it wasn't, and the end is inevitable.
My question is now... "Is there an end of the beginning?" This might sound a little silly, but bear with me. If life is made to be lived to the full, when does that "full" life start? If life is meant to mean something, is all of the meaningless and humdrum motions of life really living? Is part of your life a setup just to begin you on the process of purpose?
I believe that there is a point when God says, "OK, now GO!" It doesn't mean that He wasn't watching over you before or didn't care about your direction, but that everything you have experienced up to that point was just to get you ready to go. Life, to that moment, was a setup. It was training. Now, the race can begin. I know what you are thinking... "What?!?"
An example: (Note: this is not a comment regarding a pro-life or pro-choice stance, but just an example)
Conception occurs and a baby is forming in it's mother's womb. It eats, grows and develops until the day of it's official birth takes place. There are screams from the mother, a breath is taken in, and then screams from the babe itself. A birthday occurs, and a new life comes into the world. Wow, a new beginning.
You see, the period in the womb was setting the baby up for it's purpose. It was training. Now... the race can begin. The moment before the first breath marked the end of the beginning. The idea is that the beginning of this new life did not take place in this one moment, but it (the life) was being prepared for 40 weeks prior.
Perhaps all that we have been going through is simply developing us for the moment to begin. I believe that this might be the case. However, now the question becomes two-fold: Begin when? and Begin what? I don't have the answer to those questions for you, but I do know your whole life has been set up to fulfill the purpose of the answers. The answers will be found when your heart "clicks," when it skips a beat as you realize that you are doing the thing you love. In the times when you are just going through the motions and feel meaningless learn to look for the lessons that you need to learn. Use that as the time to develop. Soon, I believe, the end of your training will come and your life will begin. Your heart will flutter. It will feel... right.
The training for the race is not fun, but the race cannot be accomplished without the training.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Excellent analogy, particularly in light of your previous post.
I wonder if we can choose to deny the end of our beginning because we're not ready to accept it--and if so, do we then delay full life or miss it entirely?
It's one of those free will things, I think. God won't force His perfect will on us, even though He will set it all up for us. I believe that if we truly want to fall into His perfect plan and enjoy full life, then He will make sure we don't miss it. I have to trust this, because I have the best of intentions yet I tend to screw things up sometimes. However, because of fear, insecurity, or whatever I can also choose to walk away from fulness.
It's kind of my choice to walk into something out of my control but which is perfect for me. Who wouldn't be scared about that???
Think Samson, the judge/strongman. Tons of potential with a destiny and purpose laid out for him. He did some cool (although sometimes stupid) stuff, yet overall, I think he missed it.
Post a Comment