Big Things for God

Hello, friends!

(I need a different way to address you all besides, well, "you all.." Any ideas?)

M. here to apologize for not posting recently. I have not had time to post lately because a) I have lots of school, b) I am now contributing to another blog, but it's all serious and deep theological stuff, (just kidding!) and c) I have had a really bad case of writer's block.... well, it's a good excuse anyway! (Reminds me of when you throw a Frisbee very poorly and blame it on the wind!)

So, I have actually had this story written for a while but sort of lost it in my computer and just rediscovered it this weekend! Hope you enjoy!

************************************

Big things for God

Romans 8:26-28 -- “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Once, there was a girl, not unlike you or me. She lived with her family, went to church every Sunday, she had lots of great friends and did well in school. Her life seemed picturesque.  All of her life though, this girl had dreamed of doing something besides the norm for a good Christian girl. Something big for Jesus. At first, she wasn't sure what that something was. So she prayed about it every night. “God, give me a dream,” she would ask.

The picture of that dream began to get clearer as the girl got older. After her 15^th birthday, she decided that God was calling her to be a leader in her church. So she continued to pray for God to prepare her for a position like that. She got a little older, and was ready and willing to act out God’s plan for her life.

The pastor of her church asked her one Sunday if she would help clean the floor up in the sanctuary after the service. She accepted, thinking that it was a test by the pastor, to see if she was a hard worker. She did such a great job that the pastor smiled, and asked if she would be willing to clean every week. She reluctantly agreed, knowing God surely hadn't forgotten His plans for her, right? She cheerfully helped out by vacuuming the church floors after service every Sunday for a year. Then she started to wonder.

                A year turned into two. Two years turned into ten, and ten into thirty. This girl, the girl with big dreams and big plans, was still just cleaning the floors after church service.  She thought back to when she had had that great dream. Why was she still cleaning these floors? Why was she not an important leader yet? What happened to all of those prayers? What happened to doing something big for God’s glory?

                Do you do things that seem unimportant or “small” in your life? Whether it’s cleaning, schoolwork, going to the mall with friends, or watching a movie, God isn't involved in those areas of your life, right? Do you want to do things that are more spiritual or “big?” Maybe it’s leading worship at church, teaching a Bible study, or becoming a missionary.

                Trick question! NONE of those things are “big” or “small.” We tend to put things into a box and say, “God isn't working here,” or, “This is for God.” Those boxes need to be destroyed, because an all-knowing and all-powerful God HAS to be involved in everything in our lives.

                The verses above talk about not knowing what to pray for. God is so good, that when we pray for something, He knows what we want. But instead of satisfying our whims and fancies, He intercedes for us and gives us what we need, which is His will. Sometimes, our desires are so far away from God’s will that he has to take what we say and flip it upside down. This might make us confused, like this girl was in the story when she was thinking big things and ended up vacuuming floors.

                The point is that the girl could have embraced that she was doing a big thing, and she was investing in kingdom work the whole time! She might not have realized that she was a witness to many people who saw her diligently working every week, or that she was being a blessing to the pastor by volunteering her time. All she needed was a little perspective – that the circumstances she was in were part of God’s plan from the beginning! Cleaning the floors wasn't a “secular” job or a small thing. They were God’s perfect will for her!

                We are all truly a lot like that girl. The circumstances we are in are there for a reason. God has placed in the situation we are in right now, whether we’re writing a paper for school, walking a dog, witnessing in the mall, leading a bible study, or cleaning the floors after church service!

                What circumstances are you in right now? How can you be glorifying God today?

************************************

Thanks for reading! Did I ever tell you how much I love getting comments from my readers? It makes my day. :)

M.