Flawed are my dreams, but perfect is His purpose.

I have always admired John Mayer.  Though I am not an advocate of many of his actions, the musician within me cannot help but look up to the diligence and talent required to be the musical performer that John Mayer is.  While watching one of his live performances a couple of days ago, I experienced the jealousy and guilt that I feel whenever I see someone so gifted.  I feel the same way whenever I watch a child prodigy play the piano, or hear of a friend who excels in academics more than I do.  I become convinced that there is no excuse for me to be any less skilled than these gifted individuals.  And suddenly, my priorities are completely askew, and being as good as or better than the person that I feel inferior to becomes number one on my list of what’s important.

God has not commanded me to feel that way.  He does not want me to strive to be like another sinful man; instead, He commands me to follow in His footsteps, and be like His Son Jesus Christ.

 

Matthew 4:18-22 tells this story: “One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ And they left their nets at once and followed him.  A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.  They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”

 

Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John all left their lives as fishermen behind to follow Jesus.  Fishing was a way of life for these boys, but they left their nets at once to follow Jesus and be a part of His work on earth.  These boys were most likely quite young, and I imagine that they had dreams and goals that they had spent years pursuing.  However, these young men realized that Jesus had just offered them something bigger and better than they had ever dreamed, and their worldly dreams dropped out of their hands along with the nets as they ran to catch up with the man who would show them how to change the world. 

That is what God is waiting to show all of us.  God has created a purpose for our lives that we could never compete with by using our own desires; and so, we have to drop our nets.  I must drop my dream of living up to the legend that a fellow musician is leaving behind him, and choose instead to follow the God who created the music.  My goal must be not to be great in music, but to greatly glorify God with the gifts He has given me in music.  To be Christ-like is far better than any five minutes of fame that I might have by playing the guitar as well as John Mayer.  God has the most beautiful plan for my life.  All I have to do is drop my nets, and follow Him.