After obedience—what? - Chambers, Oswald

And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side. . . . Mark 6:45.

We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey him, he will lead us to great success. We must never put our dreams of success as gods purpose for us; his purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have an idea that god is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; he is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, god calls the end. What is my dream of gods purpose? His pur- pose is that i depend on him and on his power now. If i can stay in the middle of the turmoil calm and unperplexed, that is the end of the purpose of god. God is not working towards a particular finish; his end is the processthat i see him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because i see him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end which is glorifying to god. Gods training is for now, not presently. His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future. We have nothing to do with the afterwards of obedience; we get wrong when we think of the afterwards. What men call training and preparation, god calls the end. Gods end is to enable me to see that he can walk on the chaos of my life just now. If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present; but if we realise that obedience is the end, then each moment as it comes is precious.