I'm Done With Clarity

Every story about Mother Teresa is epic. Her life was one of those rare examples of someone who is so much like Jesus, it becomes synonymous with the gospel. I suggest you not only read about her life (the Wikipedia entry is enough to convert the hardest heart), but you also read the words she has written.

There goes this story in which an American man was feeling called to the area which Mother Teresa was ministering to. However, he was not sure where exactly and therefore was hesitant to begin work anywhere. The man had the opportunity to speak with Mother Teresa about his conundrum.

“I know God is calling me to serve him and to give my whole life, but I’m so clueless as to where he wants me to go,” he told her.

The man humbly and honestly asked Mother Teresa if she could pray for him, that God would grant him clarity in this situation.

“I admire your closeness to God and the clarity he has given you for this ministry you have. I would love to have what you have. Please pray for me,” he begged.

But Mother Teresa’s response astonished the young Westerner: “I have never once had clarity, laddie, I have only had courage.”

After I heard this, I realized I need to start praying differently. So often I pray that God would change my circumstances and make it clearer as to where I need to go. But my Bible reads differently (The Lord's Prayer has no petition for clarity). Instead of praying for God to change things around me, we should pray that God change us.

We have it backwards. We should not be asking for our circumstances to change in order for clarity, rather we should be asking for God to change us so that our circumstances and world around us then changes because we are new people.

Scripture is full of this. When Samuel anoints Saul with oil and prays a blessing over Saul, he commissions Saul to journey out toward Gilbeath-elohim (the hill of God). He tells him to look for certain people along the way, to prophesy and preach God to people as he goes, and, “...the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with those there and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you” (1 Samuel 10:6-7).

Samuel simply tells him, “let God change you as his Spirit fills you, and do whatever you think is right.” You see, we do God’s will (or what God wants us to do) when we live in and through Him and by His Word. That is His will. It is not a certain job, a certain place to live, or a certain school.

You don’t do God’s will because you’re in a certain place, you do God’s will because you’re a certain person. You stop living by your standards, and you begin to live by His.

You’re Spirit filled. You are loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22). You’ll be generous (2 Cor. 9), unstained from the world (James 1:27, 2 Timothy 2:22-23), passionate about the least of these (Matt. 25, James 1:27), and pretty much everything else Jesus was because you’ll begin being conformed to his image, not yours (2 Cor. 3:16-18).

Stop asking God to change your circumstances, and begin asking him to change you so that you can change your own circumstances.

Think about it: your circumstances are different and will always change; the only thing consistent in them is you. So, the only way to change those things that are thrown at you and around you is if you change.