In our life's journey, we often ask ourselves the question, "What's next?" instead of the question we should be asking ourselves, which is, "Where next?" Unless we go and spend time with the Lord, in His presence and immersed in His Word and an attitude of worship, we'll never know what to do next, for it is very likely that we'll be following our own desire instead of the Lord's voice. If we follow ourselves, we'll never really know where we're going and we'll always wonder why we don't feel the Lord is leading us. Furthermore, it is likely that we'll never really be in the primary place the Lord desires for us because it simply wouldn't work if He was to lead us to that place. After all, if the Lord wanted to use us specifically to be His hands and feet for a particular task, and yet we don't, as the Word puts it 'cleanse ourselves' to be a vessel of honour, instead of dishonour, then we would simply bear bad fruit for others and for His purpose if we were in this state and involved in that task because we would be following the flesh instead of the Spirit (knowing that only death comes from the flesh). Similarly, if we aren't close the Lord, it's likely our heart isn't really full of love for Him or the things of Christ, and so if Jesus was to lead us in our lives to certain things He loves, we wouldn't want to be there anyway, which would suck the life out of whatever the Lord was meaning to give us through those things. The disciples weren't forced to follow Christ, and neither are we. At any stage we may start to wander off, though the Lord's Spirit will search us out and find us to draw us back to the fullness of Christ. However, we may foolishly waste time in the meantime, and frustrate ourselves with the fruit of emptiness and hopelessness; the very fruit we thought would bring us life (just as Adam and Eve believed and were thus deceived). Jesus is wanting us to ask ourselves 'Where next?' instead of 'What's next?' because of the danger of 'What's next?' is that we will likely be the ones to try and take control of our lives, instead of letting Christ drive and lead us. But when we ask ourselves 'Where next?' we'll go to Christ, and so our hearts will stirred and lit on fire for a love for Jesus, and that will mean that wherever we are led next, we will fulfil what the Lord intended for us to do from that place, and thus also be fed and satisfied in the way that Christ intended. To know Him as our life, is to know the life He intended for us, which is the only true life.
The reason that God will always point us back to the question of 'Where next?' is because He is always wanting us to feel contented and fulfilled in Him, not in anything else, including just His gifts. He is the way, the truth and the life, and so in order for us to know the 'way' for any moment in our lives, we must know the truth of the fact that knowing Him is our life: 'When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.' -Col 3v4. 'I want to know Christ...' -Phil 3v10. When we content ourselves with experiencing Jesus Christ, then we, just like the Apostle Paul, will find that we will have life in any situation. Then, in this contentedness and experiencing of Christ, Jesus will place us and lead us wherever His Spirit is wanting us to go. This will include times of family and friendship, of ministry or journeying, mountain top experiences, valley experiences, and times of feeding and conversely, hunger, and also activity and non-activity, but in everything Christ will be there right with us, continuing to be our life. Our confidence therefore won't be in where we'll be next, what we'll be next and what we'll be given next or encounter next, but it will be in our unchanging Lord, who we know walks on water as well as He walks on land. With Christ as our Lord, He has shown us that He has enabled us to do the same thing in this life, and so it shall be as we continue to stick close to Him. Christ is our life, and will lead us on the paths of life. And if Christ is truly our life, we'll love wherever He takes us next.
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