Due to the pandemic most people have experienced meeting online to address school, work, or community-related topics. For me, virtual meetings or asynchronous communication can not compare to meeting in person. There is a powerful dynamic in sharing the same space with someone, laughing together, making eye contact face-to-face, and picking up on their energy, mannerisms, and non-verbal cues. Relationships can be strengthened and much can be accomplished when people come together.
The same is true of the connection point between joy and need. There is tremendous power and potential at that rendezvous point. American author and preacher, Frederick Buechner, put it eloquently, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” This lies at the heart of who you are meant to be and what you are meant to do. Both your being and your doing find their fulfillment only in Jesus.
The Rendezvous of Jesus
In fact, Jesus is the epitome of Buechner’s insight. Jesus is God the Son who stepped down from heaven, became a man Iike us, lived among us to show us who God is, innocently died to save us from our terminal waywardness, and rose again to enable us to live rightly with God and for God. He joyfully did this of his own accord because of his love for God the Father and his love for all people (John 10:18; Hebrews 12:1-2). His glorious rendezvous point was at the cross. He joyfully made the greatest sacrifice in bearing God’s wrath for the sin of the world to satisfy our greatest need which is to be saved from the deadly results of our selfish waywardness. That was his calling and he gladly fulfilled it.
Rendezvous with Jesus and Others
If you trust and obey Jesus to save you, you receive new, abundant life in God now and forever (John 3:16-21). He then wants you to pass on what you experience with him to others. As his follower and representative in this world, Jesus is calling you to joyfully use the time, talents, treasure, and tasks he has entrusted you in order to meet people’s greatest need. You are his ambassador of reconciliation sharing his light, love, and truth, so people can come to know God and be saved (Matthew 25:14-30, 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
Find your greatest pleasure in pleasing God. In the Bible David wrote, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Some people view this as a formula to gain what they want from God. But it’s not. That perspective centers on you and what God can do for you. Yet the wisdom of that scripture centers on God. When you find your joy, peace, and completeness in God, he rewards you with more of himself—a deep, intimate relationship that satisfies your every need and surpasses anything this world offers. Look at where God is at work reaching the lost, the last, the least, and the lonely. Then gladly join him there and let him work through you to make a difference.
Conclusion
Are you at a crossroad wondering what to do or which way to go regarding work, school, relationships, or life? Have you shown up expecting someone to meet you or hoping your arrival will cause a desired effect? Life’s journey has many crossroads and meetings, but only one eternally matters. It’s the one that gives purpose, joy, and meaning to all the other decisions, endeavors, moments, and relationships in your life. That crossroad, meeting, or rendezvous is at the cross of Jesus. At the cross the divine joy of Jesus met the deepest need of humankind. In his innocent death he humbly bore the wrath for every person’s sin. In his victorious resurrection he makes it possible for all who trust him to be forgiven of their wrongdoing and to live rightly with God.
Make the cross your rendezvous point. Discover true joy by letting God meet your every need in Jesus. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Surrender your life and receive Jesus’ better life by trusting and obeying him. Then as you follow Jesus learn from him through the Spirit he gives you. Be faithful, available, and teachable and he’ll work through you to draw others to rendezvous with him at the cross also. Rendezvous with Jesus each day. Pray for him to help you see godly kingdom moments where he opens up a divine opportunity, then act in his love and power to help people in need.