Our Relationships Don’t Belong to Us!

I read this statement in a devotional recently and was challenged with the thought. Paul David Tripp writes that:

Fellowship is God caring enough to put people in your life to encourage, rebuke and comfort you.

New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp (Aug. 19)

I’ve been in relationship with some people for many years now, which begs the question: “Why are these people (or this person) in my life?”

Tripp explains it this way:

“We cannot allow ourselves to have an owner’s view of our relationships, as if they exist for the sole purpose of our happiness. Our relationships don’t belong to us – They belong to God for his use, for his purpose.”

This changes our perspective – if we don’t own these relationships and they are not “about us” solely, there must be a reason, a deeper purpose. The unseen part of relationship is how they came to be and also why they came to exist.

If we take the “owner’s view” it means either we or the person we are in relationship with took the initiative to establish contact. This easily excludes God’s part in this relationship and means we can miss seeing his purpose.

My wife and I met while we were attending the same college. We take for granted our chance meeting at an airport in late April 1985 and then meeting again the following weekend in her hometown. This was the only weekend she was home because she was between semesters while attending university. That chance weekend meeting clinched my decision to attend the same university that summer where our relationship began to develop. The rest, as they say, is history.

Was this simply a series of coincidences, where each of us initiated our relationship to spend time together? Or was God more involved than we often give Him credit for?

I choose to believe that my relationships are an example of God caring enough to infuse people into my life for His use and His divine purpose.

One of the other life-changing experiences for me was joining the community of Christian financial professionals, known as Kingdom Advisors. It was a game-changer when it became clear that I didn’t have to separate my faith from my work as a financial advisor.

Here’s the advice from Kingdom Advisors:

“Don’t spend another day feeling divided between your faith and your career. Get certified by Kingdom Advisors and fully integrate your faith into your financial practice.”

I’m looking forward to connecting with advisors in a cohort this fall (meeting weekly starting Sept. 4th) to walk with advisors through 20 Modules of Core Training. This journey together will be a key to fully integrate your faith into your financial practice and continue to build God-ordained relationships.