Today is a great day. God is with us, He is working. If no other things were true that would make it a great day.
Today, God is seeking a new and exciting relationship with us. Once that is accomplished He will use us in new, powerful and exciting ways. Today, He will be glorified, He will be worshiped, and He will be in charge of the world, even if we do not glorify Him, worship Him, or acknowledge Him as Lord. His glory is. His glory and power do not depend on us to be manifested or to exist.
It is great news that He wants to start a new, or to renew, relationships with people TODAY. Today some will come to God, others will return to Him, and in the process the world will be changed. He has places for His people to work every day, and in every place on earth. Many people will serve God in places today that they never have never served Him in before. The great thing about that is that God is involved in making their duties, jobs, activities, and lives fruitful. Simply, God fields are full, and His harvest is bountiful. The incredible thing is that God wants us to share in His harvest and bounty. To accomplish this, He is ready to show us His fields.
Today, may or may not be the time to harvest the fields in your life. Even if it is not harvest time, God has a plan for each of us today, as there is more to serving Him then just harvesting His fields. If it is not harvest time, He will show us which fields He has for us to plant for later harvest, be it by us or by others.
Personally, I learned along time ago God has called me to plant more then has He called me to harvest. For some that is a problem as they are called to harvest more then they plant. That however, more harvesting then planting, is / was not God’s call for me.
My call is to look for overlooked, missed, and undeserved places, people and situations that I find during my day and throughout my life. When I find them, I simply try to show them love of Jesus with a smile, a kind word, some advice, some help, or whatever is needed. Along the way, I sometimes get to teach a few others the bit of wisdom I have been given by God. I rarely have gotten to see the real impact I have made on the lives of the people I have ministered too though.
I am not saying this to invoke pity or sorrow. The people I meet daily and leave daily (waitresses, clerks, attendants, etc) will never let me know how or if I impacted them as my relationship with them is transient. I will never know if, and how I changed their world. That is fine as my call was to serve them where I meet them and hopefully someone else can or will be able to harvest the seeds I plant or water in that persons life. God can and does work through all things that are done in His name, we should not have to see the results to justify our work.
In addition to these varied people I meet throughout the day, there are the people I get spend more time with, and thus pour a little bit of my life into. The pattern there is that they usually move on just about the time I think I am really impacting them. That is fine as well though, as that is how God has chosen to use me. I know I have impacted the world, I just do not know how and where and how much. When I get to heaven God will let me know and that is really all that matter.
I think it is obvious that my call, ministry pattern, is not the call of most, but it is the call of some. In no way is it a lesser call, nor is it a inferior ministry. Truthfully, it is the exact ministry and call that God has created me for. I have nothing to be ashamed of. God does not judge me based on the call / calls He has for others, He judges me by the call He as for ME, MY LIFE, and MY WORLD.
Today, my walk with God is very different then it was just a few years ago. Now, God encourages me with some web site visits, some blog comments, and an occasional email. In addition to that, I occasionally get to hear a word of encouragement or impact from a current or previous student. Today, I do not have a large Sunday School student count or a list of recent converts like He did in the past, but I do have a student list and I am impacting all that God sends my way. Simply, God has created some to soar, glide and foresee and others to flap, swoop and dive. I am the later, both are vital.
That is the great thing, God really does use each of us uniquely. Our gifts and our lives are specific to our call. Our ministries do not, and should not, flow from a universal template or pattern. The only thing that is universally consistent across God’s call for His people is Him. In the end we are all a beautiful patchwork of God's needle of creation. Oh how special I must be that the creator of the world personally pieced me together to be used specifically how He calls me. I am truly unique, special and blessed.
So, today instead of worrying about knowing how, when or where you or I am having impact the Kingdom of God, I think it is better for you and me to just focus on making a positive impact in the lives all that I meet. Part of that means trusting God to be the God that He has always been and trust Him to use our labor for HIS glory instead of ours.
Remember that before the B-52's (heavy bombers) and F16's (attack / protection fighters) arrive to finish the battle the A10's (tank killers and ground force clearing) have to clear the way. Low, slow and impacting has to come before quick, deadly and final. No type of war plane is able to exist without the others. All types of warplanes are vital for overall success, and none of them are able to survive or succeed for long with the others. Maybe within the body of Christ you are a B 52 (pastor, evangelist, outreach leader would be a FEW examples), maybe you are F16 (prayer warrior, musician, ministry aid would be a FEW examples), or maybe you a A10 (teacher, group leader, organizer, ministry supporter would be a FEW examples). The important thing is to know your role, and roll how you know.
There will be times you are called to perform duties within the body that are outside your normal role, and when those times come you need to be ready, but the majority of your work within the body will be within the main role or area that God has made you for. Do not complain about your role, or look down on or cherish the roles of others, as God has a plan and purpose for YOU!!! Trust Him and live out the role He has for you in world.
Fight the good fight, and serve the God of creation today wherever He has you, for victory is HIS!!
