Fellowship At The Ranch

Perhaps it seems a continuing theme with the last few articles I’ve written regarding change. Yet “change” seems the perfect topic to me as we enter once again into the earliest days of 2016. Life itself is a conundrum, shifting one direction then another through the daily challenges that mount into months and years shaping our very existence. No one reading these words would look at where you are today and believed someone if they told you five years ago where you would be now. If they could have shared this knowledge about what you are presently feeling, or how your world is better or worse, because of where you’ve been and the experiences that brought you here, would you have believed them then? None of us probably would.

And there it is. The future is unseen and unknowable, but what we do know is that everything changes. Both our reality and our perception of reality has changed since five years ago, and that alone should be proof enough that life is tenuous at best. There are no guarantees. There are no absolutes of only rainbows and peace, for neither exist without the storms and battles of life. Life is where change occurs. Whether in a heartbeat or over extended months and years, change happens gradually or instantly, nevertheless it happens. Denial gains you nothing. Rationalization may yield a glossy coat of paint on an otherwise disturbing blemish of pain, but again, gains you nothing.

God’s plan for our existence as humans has not changed since the dawn of time. God created us to know Him. He sees every aspect of our existence from the perfect. We simply do not have this advantage. However, by knowing God had us in mind in Creation, and by knowing God personally and well enough to know His sovereignty, we no longer have to succumb to those things our enemies would cast upon us or before us to destroy our lives. The apostle Paul said it so clearly didn’t he? “We walk by faith, not by sight.” [2 Corinthians 5:7]

The New Year challenge I present to myself and to you here is simple. This year will bear its own possibilities or challenges marching steadily into your existence and mine. Our choice is to deny, rationalize, or embrace them for what they are. These are the very tools which God the Creator will use to shape you into His person. A possibility here, a challenge there, and suddenly you become aware that the Creator really does care about you, the more you yield to His plan for your life. This is the essence of living by faith. We don’t have the privilege of knowing our future, what we have is the privilege of knowing Who holds it. Choose today, choose on purpose, chose to allow the Creator to shape you and your path in 2016 to bring Himself great glory.

Dr. Jim Wilkins is the Pastor of Fellowship at the Ranch. We meet each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the Clubhouse.