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Imagine that your life is a movie.
Somewhere along the way, something unexpected happens—you get stranded, and the only way home is to travel across the country. There are no flights, so you end up catching a ride with someone who turns out to be none other than Jesus Himself.
It’s a long trip. Several days on the road. All the cell phones are down—no calls, no emails, no distractions. Just you and Jesus. And as the miles roll by, He begins to talk with you about your life—the pace you’ve been keeping, the things that weigh you down, the expectations you carry, the way you’ve been serving, leading, or just trying to make it all work.
You begin to realize that, while you haven’t necessarily fallen into some great sin, you have drifted. You’re living a life that fits your plans—or maybe other people’s expectations—but somewhere along the way, you’ve lost touch with God’s purpose. You’re still on the road, but it’s not the road He called you to walk.
In that car ride, somewhere between here and there, you start to see yourself clearly. Not condemned, but invited. Jesus looks at you with love and says, “You’ve been busy chasing plans—but my purpose is what feeds the soul. My food is to do the will of the Father.”
And maybe, just maybe, in that moment, you remember what matters most.
That’s the heart of Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” And it’s the heartbeat of John 4:34: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
We can make all the plans we want—career plans, family plans, ministry plans—but if they don’t align with God’s purpose, they will eventually leave us hungry.
It’s why people, at the end of their lives, so often say the same five things—the Five Regrets of the Dying:
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I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
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I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
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I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
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I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish I had let myself be happier.
At first glance, some of these sound self-centered. But in truth, they reveal how easily we trade God’s purpose for busyness, fear, and false expectations. We trudge through life instead of walking in grace. We settle for plans instead of purpose.
This Sunday, we’ll explore what it means to find again—or maybe for the first time—that deep joy of living in step with the will of God. To let Jesus, in that quiet car ride of the soul, lead us back to the road that really matters.
Grace and Peace,
Tom
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