I’ve been intentional in having more intellectual conversations with friends and family. I had a pretty good revelation during one such conversation, and it was a true eye-opener.
We as Christians tend to cling to the plans and promises that we believe God has given us, like the famously overquoted (and sometimes misappropriated) scripture in Jeremiah 29. Most times these dreams are influenced not by God, but by the world or our own desires.
Yet, I think that God will sometimes give us dreams and goals to entice us into the place we need to be in order for Him to change us for the better. A lot of times this place will look nothing like what we would choose for ourselves, or even what we thought God told us, but it is exactly where we need to be.
We see and hear in part, and I believe it’s for our own good. I would have been SUPER upset if God showed me back in 2008 where I’d be at the end of 2014. Yet, I wouldn’t change the last 6 years for the world. At that time, I thought it was my destiny to be the next big A&R executive.
I’m wise enough now to know that if I would have pursued that path, I would have either: (1) quit out of frustration for the lack of good music being produced, or (2) been fired for my inability and/or refusal to sign the fame-chasing, talentless “recording artists” that a lot of labels are actively pursuing these days.
It reminds me of something I heard Quincy Jones say about a record producer whose name I won’t mention: “[He] wouldn’t know a B flat if it hit him.”
Moral of the Story
Life isn’t a linear journey or something out of a movie or folklore; it is truly a journey of ups and downs, trials and triumphs. It won’t always look the way we want it to look, but if we stick to the pursuit of our true calling, we will come out on the other side victorious. But in order to get there, we first have to walk through the door.
You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail
– Proverbs 19:21
