Since I was a little boy in Sunday School at Wesley UMC I’ve been told that God watches over my every move. From time to time I’ve also been told that He has a plan for my life. While I still believe the former I’ve come to doubt the latter. This has been at the front of mind for me for a bit of time now. Just after graduation last month I had a conversation with a young lady of my acquaintance. She had just broken up with a boy and was lamenting not having found her “soulmate.” I think I may have undermined her faith when I mentioned that I do not think the idea of a soulmate is Biblical. I know there are many Christian teachers on TV and radio saying that God has one special person out there for you but I’m hard pressed to find that in the Bible. I know the Gospel talks about “two becoming one” but I do not think that is a reference to a predetermined pairing by God. In one of his letters Paul talks of “becoming one flesh” with a prostitute as defilement. Also, in the Gospel According to Matthew Jesus, when asked about the resurrection, tells us that people will not be married in the afterlife so the thought of an eternal soulmate seems wrong. The first time I came across the term it was reading new-age gurus not the Bible. I did not want to rub in the point with my young friend but I have known people who have stayed in abusive relationships or left (and destroyed) their family because they had “found their soulmate.” Am I wrong on this idea? Otherwise I need to start looking.
The other thing that has me wondering about God’s plans for my life is wondering if I have a calling. I know some people who are truly called to their service but I do not know if God would like me to do something more than what He wants everyone to do (Love Him and our neighbors) Before I went to college, some six years ago, I was obsessed with this idea that God had a calling for me and I went through a long period of prayer, study and even fasting to try to find out what that was. I went back to school knowing that was not God’s will but figuring He would know where to find me if He wanted to reveal it to me. Now that I’ve completed college and I’m looking for something to do for the rest of my life I’m wondering again if I have a calling. Does everyone have a special calling from God?
I’ve always been fascinated with this idea of God’s Providence, this idea that even though we have free will God is in control of everything. I wonder if I have a choice in God’s plans for my life/
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