This past weekend, I performed my very first wedding ceremony. This was no average wedding. This particular wedding joined my wife’s beloved sister and her husband in holy matrimony. After weeks of fearful agonizing, the wedding is over and I think I did fairly well. Again, I discovered that when I divert my self-centered thinking, remove my control, and allow God’s authority to reign, everything works out for the best. I can’t the times I’ve had to learn this lesson and I am certain I will have to learn it again quite a few times before my life is over.
The desire to see specific results in life can be the root of all kinds of evil and negativity. I heard someone summarize anger recently as the result of something that doesn’t take place as one intended. This might seem like an excessively simple definition of anger, but it’s a great one to meditate on (especially in times when anger starts to show its ugly face). Lately, when I find myself getting frustrated, worried, angered, etc., I start to think about my motivation for producing these various emotions. Just like a performer needs to find her character’s motivation to properly convey the character’s emotions, one must determine her own motivation to put one’s thoughts in the proper perspective.
We need to live a purpose and with motivation that comes from God. I wasn’t performing a wedding ceremony to score points with my wife’s family or get to impress the pants off some random strangers. I was fulfilling part of God’s plan for the lives of Sara’s sister and her new spouse. I was being used as an instrument. In 1 Tim, Paul makes Christian behavior personal, relating it to the nature of the church. The next time you find yourself getting upset about a situation you find yourself in or about the outcome of a situation, try to look at your position from God’s perspective.
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