I’ve been on the “down low” for a while now. I’ve been working on a larger-scale project as of late, so I’ve had to lay this blog aside in order to concentrate on the other project. However, tonight, I’m blogging again in order to sort out my own mind and emotions.
We’re just a couple of days into the new year. People are so hopeful when a new year arrives. Hundreds of times over the past few days, I’ve heard people say or I’ve seen posts written expressing hope that 2010 will be better than 2009. Now, a few days in, we’re in the same place, or, for many, a more difficult place than we were last week. It’s the very definition of insanity…doing the same thing the same way over and over again and but expecting a different result.
It’s not the changing of the year that can bring about real change in your life. It’s not hoping for change. It’s not even praying for change, though that is a great start. It’s believing God for the right change and for stepping out, acting on faith, for that which you wish to have change.
All too often, most especially with lazy Christians, we pray for things, but then we just sit around and wait for God to do it all. “Dear God, please make me skinny.” Nope. Still fat. How about you eat differently and exercise? Hey. There’s a novel idea. God is not a cosmic magic genie. He’s trying to help us grow in Him. He has invited us to call upon Him, but that’s not all we are to do. We must actively pursue the things we know He has called us to. We are to act as His agents of change for others.
Yes, we need to stay out of God’s way, however, that doesn’t mean that we are to sit idly by and watch the world go to hell while we quietly pray in the cocoon-like safety of our own homes. There is a world that is sick and dying out there and we are waiting. What are we waiting for? God needs us to be His hands and feet in this world. He does not need a bunch of lacadazical dreamers, wishing and hoping and wistfully shaking their heads at the sad state of affairs outside of our windows.
I’m actively engaged in so much drama right now, it is blowing my mind. Me. The one person who purposefully tries to keep herself from drama-oriented people and situations. The thing is, I’m not stirring trouble in these situations and these are not situations that are easily resolved. These are not situations akin to teenagers squabbling over the cutest boy in school. There are real, live, grown people who are hurting, who are angry, who are lost, who are lonely, who are confused, who are crying, who are beaten down, battered, and bruised. They need us to come in the name of the Lord and offer them help, give them comfort, encourage them, and even to dispense tough love when necessary. But to sit idly by and say, oh, I’ll pray for you, while we do nothing else…it just makes me crazy.
I know it is not what I do that makes the difference for people. I know that it is the God in me that helps the people around me. I know, without God, my efforts are futile and empty. I give God all the glory for the changes He is making in people’s lives. I am humbled and thankful that He has chosen me…that He trusts me…to be his servant, to deliver His love to the people who, maybe, just don’t know where to look for it yet. And even to those who do know Him, but just need a reminder that He has not forgotten them.
The pain inside of the people around me sets a fire within my soul. It ignites a passion in me. It makes me want to jump into action so that they will know that my God is not a God who just sits by and watches you struggle. No, He is a God of action. He will send real, live people to stand side by side with you and fight the battles that you face. He will send people who will petition Him on your behalf. He will send people who will stand faithfully with you until you are strong enough to call upon Him yourself. He will send warriors. He will send people who will hold you up when you are too weak to stand. He will send people who will snipe the enemy as they carry you through the battlefield to safety.
Please, I beg of you, if you’re a Christian, stop saying you’ll pray for someone and then forget to do it. Stop offering people your memory verse encouragement and give them your hands instead. Offer them your hearts. Offer them a lasting Hope. People are dying out there. They are dying for a lack of compassion. They are dying for a lack of human touch. They are dying for a lack of love. They are dying while we sit in our little easy chairs and soak up the richness of God’s provision. While we say our rote prayers, while we watch t.v., while we complain about the comforts we can no longer afford…people are dying. Physically and spiritually, people are dying.
Please wake up. Pray for a mission and change someone’s life. You have the ability to dispense love and compassion and hope. What are you doing with what you have? What are you doing with the natural gifts, talents, and resources that God has blessed you with? Whose life have you changed lately? Whose life have you spoken into? What seeds have you planted today? Yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year?
If you’re not changing people’s lives, you’re wasting your time here. God didn’t put us on this Earth to be self-serving and happy. He put us here for companionship, with Him first, and with each other second. Ask God what you can do for Him. Ask Him to send you a life to enrich. Ask Him to send you someone to mentor. Ask Him to send you someone to feed. Ask Him to send you someone to hug. Ask Him what it is He has for you to do. Chances are, He has already placed people into your life–they’re all around you–and you just don’t see them. You don’t recognize them as your mission, as your responsibility, as your calling. Chances are, they annoy the heck out of you. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the things that you do not see. Ask Him for opportunites to speak into people’s lives. Ask him for openings into situations. Ask Him what He wants you to do.
You are NOT here for your own selfish purposes. Let’s get busy doing the jobs that God has created for each of us to do. You may be a teacher. Then God will give you a student. You may be an encourager. God will give you someone who is devoid of hope. You may be a writer, and God will give you a story. You may be a quiet person who listens intently and lovingly, without words. You may be the arms that easily wrap around those who are hungry for the touch of another human being. You may be the one who can pay for some single parent’s groceries in line. You may be the one who smiles at the homeless while others turn away in fear or disgust. You may be the one, the only one, that can do what it is He’s calling you to do.
Get up, please, and do it. If it’s scary, if it sounds a little crazy, if it makes you nervous, it’s probably God. Just make a move. If it’s wrong, God will make it right. Do it for Him. Do it because of your love for Him. Do it because He asked you to. Do it with purpose and passion and then turn around and give God the glory when you get to witness the miracles that He will surely perform in the lives of the people you’re investing in. Be the catalyst for change in someone else’s life. The change you help to create for others will most likely turn into the very change you needed in your life and both, you and they, will be blessed for your obedience.
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