Meant to Be

Just a random thought...

I could not hope to count how many times i have heard thrown around the phrase, "If it's meant to be then it'll happen" or some related sentiment.

But I wonder...

Maybe, sometimes, when we are faced with a situation where some variation of this idea could come into play, instead of sitting around waiting for the pieces to magically fall into place and the object of our desires to be simply placed into our hands, maybe we are actually given a choice...

Maybe, just maybe, God could also be saying, that if we really do want it...

We have the choice to chase after it with reckless abandon and undying conviction until it is within our grasp to cherish, to have, to hold, to love.

Or the choice to just let it go.

But a choice nonetheless.

I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that those who have chosen to surrender their lives to the living Almighty God will be and have been given a guide for that whisper of influence on this world. But although He is incomprehensibly loving, our Father, He is our guide, our teacher; not our puppet master. He will lead us into situations and place opportunity in our paths to show us what His good and perfect will is. And though this inevitably leads into a myriad of other questions and debates, ultimately, sometimes we ourselves do have to make a choice with the very free will He gave us in the beginning.

A choice to fight?

Perhaps...

A choice nonetheless.

So maybe, if it is truly "meant to be" it will happen one way or another. And then maybe we also have been given a choice to decide what we want "to be". Or maybe it's more like, fighting is what will bring what is "meant to be" to be.

A choice to at least fight. A choice to let go.

A choice nonetheless.

We have to remember that different situations merit different responses. Often it very well may come down to a matter of having the wisdom to realize what that response should be, and utilizing an understanding and willingness to see that purpose through. Sometimes we need to let go. Sometimes we need to fight. And sometimes, maybe it is just "meant to be" and it will happen one way or another.

But we also have to take into extremely careful consideration what shape the term "fight" can take depending on the situation it is being applied to. Simple patient and prayerful waiting? Deliberate perseverance through another avenue? Full on and aggressive action in order to chase after it? It is most definitely not always the last one, and there are a myriad of other forms that "fighting" may need to assume. And so we are faced with the absolute imperative to take in to account the possibilities, to weigh and measure the responses we could make, and of course to constantly and continually pray. But we also have to be extremely cautious not to "hear" only that which we wish, that which falls in line with what we desire. And especially that we do not assume that what we want is automatically that which God has said He wants. This is extraordinarily easy to do. We must be aware that to fight more than likely means to face a long and difficult road, one most likely filled with opposition, with disappointment, and possibly even ending in failure. And we must prepare ourselves for such a route. And it is almost definitely not a road we have planned out, that we can see through every twist, turn, and switchback.

And again, maybe what is "meant to be" will just be. Or maybe we just need to let go. Maybe we do need to "fight", whatever that means.

Yeah. It's complicated.
Just a thought.

Originally Published 8/3/08