Where Are You Headed?

I’m not a fan of job interviews. Thankfully, I haven’t had to endure one in fourteen years. Even so, I still get nervous thinking about them. What questions will they ask? How should I answer? I can’t prepare for every possibility because I’m not a fortune teller, and I’d want to give perfect answers—which is impossible. My mind swirls with possibilities, but there’s one common interview question I’ve always expected and never actually been asked: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

It’s a good question for Christians to ask themselves, but perhaps with a slight adjustment. Where do you see yourself in five minutes? Five hours? Five days? A righteous five minutes will lead to a faithful five hours and an obedient five days…wash, rinse, and repeat every week and watch what God does in five years as you faithfully walk with Him.

Lately, I’ve been working hard around the house—planting flowerbeds, hauling mulch and pavers, installing solar lights—all part of a five-year plan to restore our fixer-upper. The work is exhausting at times, but I keep going because I have a vision of what it will become. I see it becoming something special.

The other evening, my wife came outside with a cold drink while I was mowing. She’s such a wonderful helper. As we stood there, I pointed to a patch of grass and described a future deck, bird baths and feeders, flowerbeds, and a paver patio for our grill. She looked at the empty space, trying to picture everything I was describing. It was difficult for her to see because the vision was in my mind.

In many ways, that’s how God works in our lives. We often can’t see what He is building, but He can. Our responsibility is not to know every detail of the future. It is simply to walk faithfully with Him today. If your next five minutes, hours, and days are spent following God in obedience, He will faithfully lead you exactly where He wants you to be.