Why God Is Not Responsible For Your Fulfillment

I meet a lot of Christians who are more concerned with their religion and afterlife than living a fulfilled life here and now. Dallas Willard says "it's like buying the car insurance without driving a car"--I agree.  I often wonder if these Christians are simply avoiding their personal inner experience. Their logic may go like this: If I can live by a fixed set of narrow rules with the hope of something greater after I die, then I don't have to work change my perspective or actions to change my life now (or current situation). Or another mindset might be: God is responsible for my fulfillment, not me. Either way, the result is the same: an unfulfilled Christian. This sign hangs in my kitchen to remind myself and my kids that our perspective is often skewed.

Fulfillment is not the lack or absence of problems, or having the perfect set of circumstances. God has already granted us all we need to be fulfilled and is not directly responsible for our present level of fulfillment. How we respond to our circumstances, good or bad, is what brings us fulfillment. God has given us the choice to be fulfilled or not to be fulfilled. The cross of Jesus is the ultimate example of this, why should we be so joyous over a murder?

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.--Genesis 1:29-30

It is my belief that God has set everything in place for us to be fulfilled. It is my observation that people become fulfilled through using their God given talent and calling. Divine talent and calling are always aligned and used for the benefit of others. We are called to serve. Unfortunately, at some point, as we move through life, we most certainly will find ourselves unfulfilled. Often this is because we are working towards another person's dream, and not our own. In this scenario we rarely are using our own talents. This brings us back to the unfulfilled religious Christian who needs to repent of "unfulfilledness". Typically this person is serving another's calling--a boss, spouse, parent, child, church or employer--and has not realized her own personal calling God has given. If you see yourself in this dilemma, I encourage you to take the initiative to change and quit waiting to die in hopes of experiencing a better afterlife in heaven. To find your personal calling, you must figure out what has been put in your heart to serve God and likely others. You have also been given some talent in this area as well! Going through life trying not to break those fixed set of rules will help keep you safe but will never guide you to grow. God is not responsible for your fulfillment however, God will help you make the necessary changes in your perspective and actions to become fulfilled...it's up to you to choose to pursue your call!