HEART MATTERS

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10

I believe it takes some time for a new believer to accept that God has a call on their lives. It takes a while for us to embrace the idea that God has an incredible purpose that He’s specifically designed for us to accomplish.  We enter into our relationship with Christ and we are instantly changed but the environment around us remains the same.  We continue to wake up and go to work; come home and cook dinner; spend time with the kids; unwind, watch some t.v.; and prepare to begin the process all over again the next day.  We continue to do life accepting the repetitive and sometimes mundane activities that afford us the ability to live comfortably. We have enough on our plates to keep us busy and as such we are easily distracted from things of eternal value.   As believers, deep down we know we should be serving the Lord in some way, we just don’t know how to “make it happen” and/or find the time to do so.  As such we find ourselves feeling spiritually stuck.  We attend church and perhaps we find time for our daily devotions, but overall we feel like spiritual failures.  In a sense we’re actually grateful for all the busyness of our daily activities because they distract us from how defeated we really feel.

Thankfully The Lord is above all!  He’s above our foolishness, our naivete, our carnality, our self-centeredness, and our sinfulness. He’s above our lackadaisical/lazy attitudes. He is above our shortsightedness and all of our weaknesses. Thankfully God’s doesn’t allow anything to go to waste! So what does He do about our insensitivity towards our real purpose and our willingness to ignore our opportunities to serve HIM?  HE meets us right where we are! As we go about our daily routines of life, He uses us right there in the midst of them!He gives us opportunities to share our faith at work.  He puts it on our hearts to invite a neighbor to church.  He sends people to us who ask us to pray for them.  He gives us the privilege of raising sons and daughters for Him.  He challenges us to show unconditional love to our spouses.  Yes if we are in Christ, Christ is right there with us-every second in every circumstance.  And so the Lord patiently uses our everyday lives to develop and prepare us for the next step of service.

The Lord is in the journey.  He knows it may take a while for us to recognize our spiritual gifts and, to get serious about using them to serve Him.  However He doesn’t wait for that to happen in order to begin our sanctification process.  He’s above all things and nothing is too hard for Him-not our ignorance or our indifference; not even our resignation or our rebellion.  As we journey through this life He’s given us, He uses us right where we are. Hopefully, eventually, little by little we begin to desire to serve Him more and more.  The path of preparation is established.  As we step onto the path, The Lord presents us with assignments here and there, all of which serve to develop us our character, equip us for our calling, and teach us to learn complete and total dependency on Him.

When I first came to faith in Christ I couldn’t wait to share my faith with everyone I knew and loved!  But eventually the newness wore off as I grew weary of being shunned and of seeing so many unapologetically reject Christ.  As I dove into the busyness of life as a young wife and mother, attending college full-time while working part-time, I didn’t leave much time for the things of God.  And yet He would still use me.  Every time He used me I was in awe because I knew I didn’t deserve it.  I realized that it obviously didn’t have anything to do with my obedience or my faithfulness to the Lord.  The God who has called us is Faithful!  As a young working mom I saw the Lord using me on the job.  I had opportunities to share my faith, encourage others in the faith and faithfully lift others up to the Lord.  All the while I felt too exhausted and too over extended to seriously consider officially serving the Lord in any capacity.

Eventually the goodness of the Lord won my heart and changed my desire.  I began to push myself to make more time for the Lord.  Although I always maintained regular church attendance, I knew I needed more to help me to grow in my intimacy with Him.  Although I was extremely inconsistent for many years I started to have a personal quiet time in which I read the Word and spent time in prayer.  I began attending a weekday evening ladies Bible study.  (Actually it was there that I received my first glimpse of what the Lord would later call me to do for Him.  It was there that I couldn’t help but notice all the positive comments the other ladies gave me regarding my spiritual insight.  I knew it had something to do with my call, but I didn’t have a clue back then that the Lord would call me to teach).

I started to look for ways to serve God in church.  I didn’t even pray about it.  But that was okay too because God knew where I was.  I just looked for something I thought I’d like and I thought I could do and dove in-and God met me there!  I started serving in the television call-in ministry.  It was scary!  But God always gave me the right words to say and to pray for the callers.  Later when we moved to a much smaller church I served in the area where the need was the greatest-the nursery!  In all honesty I really didn’t enjoy serving there. I loved the kids but I could do without having to change diapers, wiping snotty noses and catching viruses.  But I served faithfully in that ministry for many years.  After dealing with me and breaking me of a serious strong-hold, the Lord began calling me into Leadership. He also led me to serve in areas that had more to do with my call to teach.  Each time as I stepped out on faith to serve Him, He faithfully met me and equipped me to serve!  What’s more I learned that the place of service is the place I often get to experience His power and presence!

As I look back and reflect on my journey with the Lord thus far, I can see how He used me when I was off track and how He patiently guided me on track and used me even more! The exciting news is that the journey isn’t over!  I know now that God never gives up on seeing His children fulfill His purpose for their lives.  As such I never want to get off the path He’s established for me.  Although I know if I do get off track, He’ll stay on the sidelines with me, I intend to stay on track until He takes me home!

Have you considered where and how the Lord is currently using you in your everyday life? Have you begun to actively pursue serving Him?  Will you examine the willingness of your heart to fulfill your purpose in Christ?  Are you ready to walk the path He’s prepared for you?  “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,..” Colossians 2:6

HEART TO HEART:  BEING IN THE CENTER OF GOD’S WILL-WILL NEVER DISAPPOINT!