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<\/p>\nHow well I remember asking that question when I was young: \u201cGod, what am I supposed to do with my life?\u201d What am I supposed to be? What kind of career should I have? What is my calling? Where should I live?<\/p>\n
Johnnie Moore is barely into his thirties but he addresses the question in his new book with a maturity beyond his years, and whether he realizes it or not, his thinking and advice is good for people well beyond their twenties. Because the truth is, people of all ages ask themselves, \u201cWhat am I supposed to do now, Lord?\u201d In fact, it\u2019s a question you shouldn\u2019t stop asking.<\/p>\n
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Johnnie worked for a dozen years at a large university, and as he says, five days a week, he was dealing with minutiae and the existential demands of leadership but then on Sundays, he was a preacher, leading worship.<\/p>\n
It is that very combination of practicality and spirituality that makes Johnnie a dependable guide. For instance, he is visibly impatient with people who simply wait for the Lord to tell them what to do. \u201cIf God told us everything, we wouldn\u2019t need God. So he doesn\u2019t, for our own good,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod gives us the ability to make choices and the information we need to make good ones. When we relinquish that ability and push the choice back to God, we are virtually giving up that freedom, telling him that we do not appreciate the gift he has given us. This is neither honoring to God nor beneficial to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course Johnnie believes in praying for help and discernment, but it\u2019s prayer on the go. He uses Paul as a model, pointing out that the peripatetic apostle didn\u2019t wait until God showed him exactly where to go and when; Paul just went until God stopped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod\u2019s will is more about going till he stops you than waiting until he starts you,\u201d says Johnnie.<\/p>\n
He sees our own inner discontent as a gift. \u201cIt\u2019s discontentedness that reminds us to dream again, to go after God\u2019s will again, to dig down deep and stay committed for the long haul. It\u2019s discontentedness that promotes the possibility of change, and it\u2019s discontentedness that rouses us from the ease of the everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnnie criticizes his own generation for their unwillingness to commit. \u201cWe have a hard time just staying in one place, doing any one thing, for any period of time. And what are the results? Shallow faith, weak relationships, short attention spans, more stress, lack of stability in family life, poor physical health, and bad work ethic, among others.\u201d No pulling punches there.<\/p>\n
He would say that his own success comes from sticking in one place for a dozen years. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing what you can accomplish if you pick one place and one goal and just stick to it for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently he left the groves of academe for the challenges of Hollywood, taking on the chief of staff role at Mark Burnett and Roma Downey\u2019s production company.<\/p>\n
(Note to Johnnie: I have worked at the same place for 30 years now, and every day I learn something new and find new challenges. No wonder I think your advice is good!)<\/p>\n
The book has a subtitle, God\u2019s Will Demystified,<\/em> which is why I think it\u2019s for more than just the vocation-searching twenty-something. As Johnnie points out, growing in faith means developing a series of habits that strengthen us.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more decisions you make,” he writes, “the more you\u2019re prepared to make bigger ones and the more you\u2019ll understand the process that leads you to making a decision when you come to another crossroads.\u201d<\/p>\n At some point, at any age, we all need to step out in faith. And that means taking action. \u201cFaith grows through taking steps of faith,\u201d Johnnie writes, “and faith chooses an attitude of optimism when everything seems to discourage it.<\/p>\n \u201cFaith is required in nearly every moment of significant change in life, and God requires more faith when you\u2019re ready for it. Faith challenges you to flex your spiritual muscles beyond what you think you can bear, but God knows what you\u2019re capable of bearing\u2026Our challenge is taking the leap; it\u2019s God who steps in to catch us and carry us back down to solid ground.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019d take that leap with Johnnie Moore any day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How well I remember asking that question when I was young: \u201cGod, what am I supposed to do with my life?\u201d What am I supposed to be? What kind of career should I have? What is my calling? Where should I live? Johnnie Moore is barely into his thirties but he addresses the question in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":28018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[344],"tags":[16,58,72],"ppma_author":[476],"class_list":["post-18679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-god","tag-guideposts","tag-stories-of-faith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n