This is #5 in the mini-series:
Uh, I don’t think so.
Highlighting misunderstandings I’ve had that robbed me of contentment.
READ THIS
We love the hero, the leader, the rise-to-the-top story. Movies that capture our collective imagination are seldom about individuals doing small things faithfully -but someone rising to the top. Leading a movement, a revolution, a rebellion. A leader, a president, a general. We have lists of the richest people in the world, fastest-growing companies, and the most expensive things.
This lust for big, bold, public acclimation has leaked into the church. There are actually lists of fastest-growing churches, pastors who live like celebrities, and ministry organizations doing huge things.
This seeped into my sense of what God was/is calling me to do. Surely it must be big! It must involve lots of impact. More is better.
I’ve come to believe that He asks us to be faithful, more than impactful.
To be doing something out of obedience rather than to be doing something big.
I don’t recall ever hearing of a movie about Mother Teresa – and I think that’s because the story doesn’t jive well with what we like to celebrate.
Lives of quiet, obedience tend to go unnoticed….at least by the masses.
I’m no longer sure God wants us (or at least me) to do BIG things, but rather whatever he is has for us to do.
Faithfulness to whatever we are called – no matter what that is.
DO THIS
When you think about what God has called you to….what comes to mind?
Is it some grander, larger, version of what you’re doing? Is it a drastic shift to something that seems more important? Is it something more public, or more strategic, or more …something?
I challenge you to wrestle with the possibility that he’s calling us all to lives of obedience. Perhaps small acts of kindness. Lives of quiet faithfulness.
Maybe.
PRAY THIS
God of Moses who lead a nation through the Red Sea,
who gave Samson super-human strength,
and Solomon wisdom, wealth, and influence.
You are also the God of the widow, the orphan,
the stay-at-home mom who leads by example,
the grandparent teaching about saints of old
the God of the student quietly standing for you.
Give us faith to do what you have called us to,
no matter how big or small it may seem in this life.
Amen
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