We often lose sight of God. It is so tempting to get caught up in the doing that we miss out on the seeing & hearing.
For years, I just did what everyone else was doing. If I had a friend working in the nursery, then I would follow there. If everyone was helping out in Sunday school, then I wanted to be a part of that too. If there was an event going on at my church, I didn’t want to miss it. I looked forward to socializing more so than a possible encounter with God.
I lived this way for a long time.
Living in the pack.
Not seeking direction from God on what He would have me do. Not really grasping that God wanted to have a personal relationship with me. Why, I had no clue that God would even consider me worthy of His calling. I lived with my eyes looking horizontally, rather than upwardly. But look what God’s Word says,
2 Thessalonians 1:11, “And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith.”
Maybe today you need a fresh reminder:
You have purpose. You have value. You are worthy of the call.
If you are a believer, God has gifted you with a spiritual gift. It is the same God at work–but we all have been wired differently. I get excited thinking about the work God has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). It makes me jump up and down knowing our steps are ordained by the Lord (Psalm 37:23). There is a monumental mind shift when we wake up each morning with purpose, knowing full-well God has something in store for us TODAY. There is no happenstance in the people we will run into. There is no such thing as circumstance. Mind-boggling to think a divine God would be so involved in our minute details, huh?
We are susceptible to burnout when our focus is no longer on Him.
When we become focused on what we are doing, what we are accomplishing…we quickly lose sight of Him.
However, there is absolutely, positively no greater joy than being a part of God’s work. There is nothing like it! Understanding you have been given a God-ordained calling is a huge step. You will not feel completely satisfied until you step up and do what God is calling you to do. You may have the same calling as someone around you…but they cannot be you. They cannot know the same exact people you know, they cannot do it in the exact same manner as you and nor can their steps exactly match yours.
And in closing, a word from John Piper to keep in mind when discerning your spiritual gift:
“We shouldn’t get too lathered up about whether we can label our gifts or not. Spiritual gifts are not a limited and defined group of activities spelled out in the New Testament. Rather, spiritual gifts are any ability the Spirit gives you to express your faith in order to strengthen another person”
Ultimately, our gifts are to be used to serve without the focus on ourselves. But interestingly enough, when we pour ourselves out and serve for God’s glory, not seeking anything in return, we will experience God-sized joy. Now there’s something to chew on for your day.