God Wants Me Where?!

12/30/06

Having passion for life is so important. I have recently found myself seeking out God and what His passion is for my life more fervently than ever before. I love kids and I love ministry. I find myself longing so much to be in ministry full-time. Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy being a teacher, but I wonder if there is more for my life.

I just finished the book Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper (I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to dig into a deeper relationship with Jesus). There was one particular paragraph that spoke straight to my heart and I want to share it with you:

“Many of you are simply not satisfied with what you are doing. As J. Campbell White said, the out put of your lives is not satisfying your deepest spiritual ambitions. We must be careful here. Every job has its discouragements and its seasons of darkness. We must not interpret such experiences automatically as a call to leave our post. But if the discontent with your present situation is deep, recurrent, and lasting, and if that discontent grows in Bible-saturated soil, God may be calling you to a new work. If, in your discontent, you long to be holy, to walk pleasing to the Lord, and to magnify Christ with your one, brief life, then God may indeed be loosening your roots in order to transplant you to a place and a ministry where the deep spiritual ambitions of your soul can be satisfied. It is true that God can be known and enjoyed in every legitimate vocation; but when he deploys you from one place to the next, he offers fresh and deeper drinking at the fountain of his fellowship. God seldom calls us to an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of his sustaining grace.”

I don’t doubt for a minute that God has me right where He wants me to be. But at the same time I wonder where this longing for ministry is coming from. I will be the last person to say that I am “gifted” in teaching kids. Yes, I feel it is something I do well, but gifted is not what comes to mind.

So, what am I saying . . . I guess I want to encourage those of you who feel pulled in a different direction than you thought you would be headed - it is scary, but you are not in control of your life (and it‘s a good thing). I can honestly say that when I gave my life to Christ 9 years ago, I never dreamed that God would put a calling on my heart to be in ministry. I can also tell you that when I laid my plans aside and dove into ministry, God impacted me in ways that I could have never imagined.

Where is God pulling you? Maybe you have heard HIS call, answered it, and are right where God has planned for you to be. Maybe you have heard a call and haven’t answered it. Maybe you are hearing something right now . . . will you let God be God and take you where He wants you? I’ll be praying for you.

“Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2