Your Life Isn't Just About You

“I’ve had my adventure, I don’t need something new. I’m afraid of what I’m risking if I follow you…”

If that phrase seems familiar to you, it’s probably for one of two reasons (or both):

1) You’ve said similar things to God when He asks something new of you.

2) You’ve seen the movie Frozen 2.

It’s rare when a Disney movie embodies well a theme of the Christian life, especially in today’s secularized entertainment culture. But in Frozen 2’s song, Into the Unknown, Elsa resembles a devout soul wrestling with God’s plans for her life, particularly in hearing the call of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, in the movie, the “call” is not really from God, but from a mysterious ‘siren’ sounding out from a far-off glacier. So maybe the parallels end there. But the lesson Elsa learned is one we can learn too…

The Christian life is never settled. God will call you on more adventures.

So often we find ourselves analyzing our lives according to our own standards. We feel that once we achieve certain goals—a college degree, a dating relationship, a spouse, a child—then we’re ‘settled’ in life. Our lives get held up against some sort of litmus test that we’ve created in our minds. If we’ve hit the mark, we’re set. If we’re far from the mark, we’re a failure.

In our friend Elsa’s case, she equates her purpose in life to her fulfillment from others: “Everyone I’ve ever loved is here within these walls. I’m sorry secret siren, but I’m blocking out your calls.” Upon hearing the call of the ‘siren,’ her first instinct is to shut out the possibility of anything else being asked of her. She is content. She believes she already discovered her purpose in life, and she doesn’t need what else providence has in store for her.

More strikingly, she resists the idea of giving more of herself in love.

As Christians, we should know better. We should have the ability to recognize that in our walk with Christ, our lives are never ‘settled’ on this side of Heaven. And that success in our eyes is hardly ever congruent with success in the eyes of God.

But yet, we still do it to ourselves. And worse, we do it to God.

Once, my husband and I had a discussion on how ‘settled’ we felt in our family. Three kids under the age of 6 felt like a solid mess of chaos and grace. We felt firm in our resolve to keep our family size the way it was for a while, or maybe even forever. But, two months later, when that little pink stick revealed a positive pregnancy test, we were once again reminded that our ways are not God’s ways.

“What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later”(John 13:7).

God cannot be put in a box, and neither can His plans for your life. The call of the Holy Spirit always beckons. We have a choice to respond with faith, or to turn our own way.

Elsa also has a choice. As much as she resists at first, part of her feels curiosity and excitement at the prospect of something new. “[I] know deep down I’m not where I’m meant to be.” There’s something greater for her out there.

God’s plans for us, too, are greater than we ever construe for ourselves. And deep down, we know it.

It's time to realize that your life isn’t just about you.

It’s okay to make plans and pursue dreams for your life. It’s okay to know your limits and build standards around those. God will never give you more than you can handle, or send you somewhere fruitless.

But don’t ever let yourself feel ‘settled.’

Your life is a gift—not just for yourself, but for others. Your role in this world is unrepeatable. God always beckons you to give more, to love more.

Maybe these single years spent waiting for a spouse are exactly the time to delve deeper into the role of service and self-gift.

Maybe your unexpected divorce propels you into a mission of ministering to others in failed marriages.

And maybe the baby you didn’t think you ‘needed’ is the perfect child to round out your chaotic life and to teach you a greater lesson of love.

For Elsa, the courage to answer the call from beyond leads to a new purpose and mission in her life. One that indeed is different from what she imagined, yet more fulfilling and life-giving than ever.

So friends, don’t be afraid to say ‘yes’ to God's call in your own life. It is the surest path to holiness and to heaven.

“Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure.” –St. John Paul II