Ministry friends, Steve and Debbie, recently shared with me a picture of being in God’s will. It might not be a point on a map (as we normally think) but a four-sided paddock. I’m further thinking of God’s will as having some fluid qualities. Not sure I yet have a picture of that in my mind or spirit. The paddock reminds me of a pristine home I sold for a client on the Tolt Pipeline in Woodinville. I still wish I had gotten a better offer for him. I had never seen a man who could perfectly clean a home. He was about perfection – the kind of guy who is passionate about doing his best and makes others nervous. His paddock was on a slope and there had not been horses there for many years. He used the space for storage – another reasonable use of a paddock. I think the paddock idea is to say that God has many plans for me that will serve Him, grow my faith, and might even give me peace and joy. My life is not a pressured search for one exact outcome and so goes ministry. This is another reality of imperfection. There is no perfect ministry or mission. There is no perfect pastor or missionary. Perfection is just not doable while we are in time and space in a broken world. Again, if this mission were perfect, perfectly done in God’s perfect will, it would no longer be perfect when I enter the paddock. I think God sees us rushing around in our paddock trying to do good. He smiles and thinks we are so cute. I’m also suggesting that this thought could overlap into the idea that there is no perfect person for you? He knows that His perfect will is accomplished whether or not we are in the lower 40 or the upper 40. Being in His paddock is being saved. The rest is me/you being grateful and thinking we can/should do stuff. I’m going to rest in this today.
