and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:10 NIV
I’m trying to get my life to the blank piece of paper stage. Please pray with me as I endeavor to present the Lord with a blank piece of paper.
In visiting with a friend of mine recently, he gave me a simple illustration that I have begun implementing in my life. This friend has been a mentor of mine for several years. He has walked through many of the places I am walking now. He is just a few years older.
He’s been married a few years longer. His children are a few years older. He was in business a few years before me. He’s been a Christian a few years longer. All this works to my advantage whenever I am seeking direction in my life.
I was explaining to my friend that I’m at one of those “trying to discover God’s will” points in my life right now. His advice was something like, “maybe you need to start with a blank piece of paper, and give God ample space to plan out the rest of your life. Make yourself completely available to Him.” That made a lot of sense. I left our meeting, however, with a very probing question for myself. Do I have a blank piece of paper?
It wasn’t that I didn’t have any paper in the house. With two boys in school, we have plenty of paper. I think my friend was talking in a spiritual sense. Have I given God a “blank page” with which to plan out my life? Or, am I helping God write the plans? Am I writing plans for God and then asking Him to bless them, or am I truly allowing Him to shape every major direction I take in my life?
Wow! After self-examination, I had to be honest. I don’t know that I have offered God a blank piece of paper. I certainly want to follow His lead, but I think my page is loaded with some of my own agenda items. Here’s what I’m committed to do. I’m taking a couple of days just to get away. I’m going to be all alone. I’m going to spend time fasting and praying. When I’m through, I want my page to be completely blank, then I plan to offer it back to God.
Can I ask you something? Have you given God a blank piece of paper for your life?
