God gave us the ability to take our grief forward and use it as an illustration of His faithfulness in our lives

I place myself in your care.

You will save me, Lord;

you are a faithful God. Psalm 31:5

When I was a young man I made a commitment to a men's discipleship group called Navigators 2:7.  Based on the verse from Colossians 2:7 it was design to prepare me as a young man to lead a successful Christian walk with God.  Reflecting on those experiences I remember the bible studies, going over our weekly lesson plans, reciting our bible verses and committing those to memory and wondering how this would play out in my future life as a believer? As I reflect back on our family's tragedy I once again thought of those days as a young man diligently working on those verses and being able to see God's method in my life.

My Colossians 2:7 leader, Dave, spoke one time on the importance of having on going goals in our lives. As people we are not meant to remain stagnant. As Christian believers there is no such thing as being out of work, unemployed, and retired from life and sitting on the shelve somewhere watching the world go by. Until we take our final breath God has plans for each of us! Dave shared with us his goal of going into full time missions work where he could use his Engineering skills to help people from other countries and bring the gospel to them. My goal involved going on a short term missions assignment which would still allow me to keep my career going. Both of us accomplished that goal. Dave and his wife went into full time missions work and I went on a short trip to Haiti with a group of other single adults from our church. In both cases God honored our willingness to serve him and in both cases he broaden our world view from a 'me' mentality to a 'others'  one

I learned as a young man that no matter what happens in this life God is always there for us. He is faithful and He will take care of us. I learned also that committing our lives to Christ becomes a game changer.  A person who grew up in a dysfunctional family can become a vibrant, dynamic life changing force in other peoples lives. An alcoholic, redeemed by Christ, can have an impact in the lives of other alcoholics. An abused woman, redeemed by Christ, can be a game changing influence in the lives of other woman caught in the throes of abuse.

This why goals are so important in our lives and it also explains why goals are important in the lives of Christian brothers and sisters. Even though we may  be grieving God gives us the ability to carry our grief forward as a game changing force in others lives.  Won't you take this time and ask God to give you a vision for what your life will look like in the future and how you can be used by God to help changes lives? Then establish some goals to help you become that game changer.