I’d never been to North Carolina until I attended the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference last week. I’d hoped to arrive in time for the newcomers’ orientation, but with a flight transfer and possible weather delays, there was a good possibility I wouldn’t make it.
As the plane took off from Houston, I settled back and determined not to worry and fret over the outcome but rather to trust God with the matter. I closed my eyes and thought about Abraham and Moses and others I’d read about who “did just as God said.” Even Jesus declared himself a servant who spoke only what the Father told him to say, doing only the things the Father told him to do.
What if God decided I didn’t need to be at that orientation? What if He had other plans for me?
I tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up every morning with no self-appointed tasks, no destinations chosen on my own. My only goal for each day was to carry out every plan and purpose directed by a master who loved me, a master whom I trusted completely.
That’s a pretty radical way of thinking for a modern day American. We’re taught to be independent, to think for ourselves, to do what’s best for us, sometimes even to the point of infringing on what’s best for those around us. We’re proud of our freedom, proud that we are no one’s slaves, no one’s servants.
But what if I choose to be a servant? What if I trust that no matter what happened, my master is still in charge and in control? What if I let go of worry and anxiety because I am concerned with carrying out my master’s will more than my own? What if I give up my own plans and desires, my will, in favor of the plans and desires God has for me?
That would be quite a different lifestyle indeed. But oh, the freedom!
Wait. Freedom?
How can one who is at the beck and call of someone else be free ?
How about freedom from worry and anxiety? Because we know that all things work together for good for those who are called by His name (Romans 8:28).
How about freedom from living up to the expectations of those around us? Because He made us who we are and wrote every day of our life in his book before we ever existed (Psalm 139).
We can be free from fear, because He promises to be with us every moment (Joshua 1:9), even when we’re walking through deep waters (Isaiah 43:2).
We can experience freedom from guilt, because He understands our weaknesses and is our advocate before the Father (Hebrew 4:15-16).
I didn’t make it to the orientation, but that’s all right. The Master had better things planned for me.
