BE-CAUSE

Why do you do what you do?

This was the question asked to my husband & I the other day by a pastor friend of ours. At first I looked at him like why would you ask such a question, when the answer should be obvious. I truly had to fight the temptation not to say that to him. So I stood there processing for a minute because there were many different religious answers forming in my mind.

 I didn't want to seem clueless so I answered, "Be-CAUSE” Jesus has set me free. I want others to experience this same freedom.”  I thought to myself, "Yeah that sounds good to me." That sounds like the right answer to give when a pastor asks you a question about the motives of your pursuits. The pastor nodded his head in agreement and began expounding on the reason for his question. I kept myself engaged in conversation with him, but my thoughts kept taking me back to his question.

WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?

Although the pastor seemed satisfied with my answer (at least he made it appear that way) for me the answer just seemed to float on the inside of me. It was as if it had no weight to it.  It wasn’t that my answer was untruthful. That wasn't it at all. The thing that troubled me about my answer was that it was a surface answer. It was the typical answer. It was the answer a good Christian gives to be safe or to avoid further questioning. Besides, what other purpose is there than helping people know Jesus?

The truth be told, I did not have a specific answer to the pastor's question and that bothered me. It was something that had been frustrating me for a while. It was the -WHAT IS YOUR BE-CAUSE? What cause needed to be in my life? What is the BE-CAUSE if I don't do it people will die? What is the thing that God wants to use me to show Himself mighty through? I have been doing a lot, but not finding satisfaction. I took his question as, “What is the beautiful scenery of the big picture that all these little puzzle pieces are going to make?”

Ugh, God has not shown me the big picture yet, and you would think by now He would have. Right, now all I have is a bunch of fragmented moments.

These questions were starting to plague my mind; they were becoming a trap. It isn't that these are forbidden questions. It is simply that they were being used as distractions. If the enemy could get me so focused on what I didn’t know about my future instead of what I did, then he knew I would get discouraged, irritated and outright confused.

The realization is, I do not know all of why I do what I do. And you too, like me, may not know the depth of all you do. God may not have pin pointed a certain BE-CAUSE in your life, but just because He hasn’t doesn’t mean He won’t. Be assured that it will happen in His time. It is not wrong to want to know what your be-cause is and it’s not wrong to not know it.  Don’t be hard on yourself. Remember not to let impatience or frustration cause you to discount everything else that has and is happening in your life. There are things we do that may not seem to have a significant meaning as it stands. However, we must not discard them so quickly. It may very well be the piece that completes the puzzle.

Sometimes our be-cause will come in a bright light on the road to Damascus like Paul (Acts 26:13-18) or -be kinda surface like mine was and other times it may be -I'm not sure yet. Our ultimate because is unfolding everyday and the more we obediently trust Him; the closer we come to the revealing of what He has ordained for us. All things are working together for our good. Don't lose heart. You are on the verge of an answered BE-CAUSE!