Trajectory. The word reverberated so loudly through my mind that it seemed almost audible. I knew what trajectory meant, but I was left with a feeling that there was so much more to this than I understood.
I immediately began searching for definitions, articles — anything I could find on trajectory. Anything that could help me understand how this calling God had given me and “trajectory” fit together. It wasn’t until I looked up the difference between path and trajectory that the bigger picture began to emerge.
The word “path” is typically used to describe the idea of getting from one point to another. It’s a simple concept that I think we all understand.
Trajectory is a word that has gained popularity in the past few years outside the realm of physics and engineering. It seems as though I hear it used to describe the path of just about anything now, from a career to a football.
Although these words are used interchangeably by most, trajectory includes something that sets it apart from a simple path — timing. An object’s trajectory tells us how quickly it should be moving and what time it should be at what point along its projected path. When it comes to God’s plan and purpose for our lives, this difference in terminology is anything but insignificant!
We know God's timing is important because it's a theme that's woven throughout the pages of scripture. God put our earthly concept of time in motion and we know one day it will come to an end, but Acts 1:7 tells us that it’s not for us to know the times or dates God has set by his own authority.
It is my hope that you know you are alive at this moment in history for a reason, that God has a purpose designed specifically for your life — even if you find yourself confused about what that is at the moment.
Not knowing or understanding God's timing or plan does not lessen the importance of either one in our individual lives. God knows exactly what His plan for each of us entails and the earthly timing involved in every detail. Our responsibility in the equation is to walk by faith. To believe and obey.
We are to simply trust that He will use our faith and obedience to accomplish His purpose, according to His timing — whether it makes sense to us at the moment or not. We walk by faith in obedience to what He asks us to do whether we understand or are able to see an impact made.
Unfortunately, Satan has been hard at work weaving a very destructive web of deception in this world that has crept its way into the church and into our individual lives as Christ followers. We recognize this lie in the lives of those who are lost when they say, "It's my life and my choices don't affect anyone but me.”
There are countless Christians who live the same way, because so many have bought the same lie, that my choices don’t hurt anyone but myself — that my choice to live in disobedience to God doesn't hurt anyone but myself.
What we fail to see or recognize is that when we believe this lie, not only are we hindering what God desires to do in our lives personally, we are hindering what God desires to do through our lives publicly.
Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, every choice we make, whether to it is to believe and obey or not, steers the proverbial ship one direction or the other. One choice made to believe and obey God can change the trajectory of our life (and the lives of others) as profoundly as one choice made in unbelief and disobedience.
I know for a fact that whether or not I am in God's Word and seeking to grow in my relationship with Him affects everything and everyone in my life, because I've witnessed the impact my walk with Jesus Christ — or lack of — has on those around me. All you have to do is ask my husband if it affects him and the atmosphere in our home. I can assure you that He will undeniably answer with a resounding, “YES!” And I would say the same of him.
When I am living in disobedience and walking in my flesh, I will be the first to admit that I can be a hindrance to others, especially those closest to me — and there is absolutely no doubt that I miss opportunities to impact the lives of others for Jesus Christ.
And far too many of us use God's sovereignty and the fact that He can accomplish His will with or without us, as an excuse to stay comfortable and complacent in the lie that our choices don’t affect anyone but ourself — as an excuse to stay comfortable and complacent in our disobedience to God.
Yes, God will certainly accomplish His plan and purpose for this world with or without us —
and yes, His grace abounds and His mercies are never ending —
but He has made it abundantly clear that it is His desire to accomplish His will here on earth with and through us.
It is God’s desire for each of us to know and love Jesus enough to live for Him, walking in His Spirit, so that we are sensitive to what He desires to do in and through our lives every day. It matters if our hearts are enamored and distracted with the things of this world and far from Him. It matters if we are choosing to believe and obey Him. It has ALWAYS mattered.
God’s timing is perfect, because it is His. He created it and it belongs to Him. He has already set the trajectory of your life in motion. He knew the moment you would take your first breath, He knows the moment you will draw your last, along with every moment in between. As believers in Jesus Christ, His Word tells us that we have been set apart to do the work he has already prepared for us.
It's time to repent and turn away from the things of this world which are hindering what God desires to do in and through our lives as Christ followers — to stop believing Satan’s lie that our choices don’t affect anyone but ourself and start making choices that count for eternity.
If we will choose to believe and obey, to walk by faith, we will be amazed at what He is able do in and through our lives, unhindered.
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord Jeremiah 29:11
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith Hebrews 12:1-2
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness Matthew 6:33
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