The World Needs You
One of the ways God gives me joy is to help others live intentionally. I want people to know that God has a specific purpose for every circumstance and that you are all a huge part of His plan.
This unfortunately wasn’t a lesson I learned in 10 minutes. I was a slow learner. God had to spend a little more time with me here. Actually, it was a year long lesson. With some spurring and encouragement, it won’t be like that for you. I’m not going to lie, it takes a little investment and sometimes a total mind shift. But I can assure you, this way of living is much more fulfilling.
The Lesson
2020 was a year…. Am I Right? Personally, it was a year of searching for me. I was searching for fulfillment in all the wrong places. God made me to be an extremely goal-oriented person with a competitive spirit. Up until 2020, I always had a goal to shoot for, a competition to be won, an event to prepare for, a baby on the way (3 years in a row to be exact) etc. All my life I had been preparing for the next big thing….. and then in 2020 everything came to a halt. All the plans, goals, and vision for the future vanished.
And so the searching began…
I also had this overwhelming sense that God was calling me, but I had no idea what it was. The searching produced a deep sense of restlessness. That’s a tough thing to do with a goal-oriented, competitive spirit. God knew that…..
Have you ever desperately searched for something you can’t find? Maybe you don’t even know you are searching, but just feel an overwhelming sense of discontentment and have nothing to be discontent about.
Here are some questions to ponder as you assess your own search: Have you ever reached a goal and then realized it wasn’t fulfilling? Do you struggle to find contentment where God has placed you? Do you feel a tug that you were meant for more, but don’t know what? Are you busy doing the things you thought would make you happy only to find out, it doesn’t?
I had all of these questions and more. God allowed me to search… and it was all for you. Take it from someone who became an expect searcher 🤣. So here we go…. If you have ever had a twinkling of restlessness in your soul and don’t know what to do with it, I got you! Here are 3 things you must do:
Know God.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
If you are here, odds are you know who God is. But I want you to really know Him. I want you to love His word, meditate on His promises, spend time with Him, and learn about His unfailing love for you. Knowing God is not about knowing facts. It’s about knowing how deep and wide and vast His love is for you. I want to help you do that because others did it for me. What you are searching for cannot be filled with anything worldly. The search would have been long over if that were the case. Knowing God and His love for us fills any void you may have in your heart.
2. Be the Encourager
We live in a world full of hurt and pain. This world needs your testimony to speak life into others. It needs your prayers. It needs your words of encouragement. It needs your light. It needs you to check on a lonely friend. The world needs you. If I were sitting with you right now, I would look at you face to face and say it again.… The world needs you.
If you are the one hurting, I am so sorry. I want to be a source of encouragement for you. When I am down, I try to seek out someone to encourage. It gives me new life 100% of the time. I’ll admit, sometimes I do have a good, ole fashion pity party. But I’ve learned when I lift my gaze off of myself and onto others, I receive the gift of encouragement and fulfillment. Go ahead… try it. It’s good for your soul and the world needs it.
3. Live intentionally
This is the natural progression after the first two points. Being intentional in your faith involves knowing God and encouraging others. Another layer to this is being in tune with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we easily complicate The Spirit. It’s not complicated. I promise. It’s the pull in your soul to take the high road instead of the road of sin. It’s the name that popped in your head for no apparent reason (you are supposed to reach out). It’s sometimes conviction and the urge to repent. And sometimes it is a clear message that you need to do something that makes no sense (I can’t wait to tell you that story). To live intentionally means to be spirit-filled.
Living intentionally also means that you embrace where God has placed you at this very moment in time. In 2020, I think we were all begging to get out of the circumstances that resulted from COVID. God showed me that we should embrace those times in our life. The very people that are around you are the very people that need you and need the Jesus in you. That doesn’t make life easier, but it does make it more fulfilling. God has a purpose for every season and when you find yourself asking God for a way out, it probably means that you are there for someone not something. We should take every day and the people that surround us as an opportunity to pour God’s love into situations. I believe it’s the everyday intentionality that moves mountains. Living intentional is about the small things. It’s about investing in the seemingly mundane things around us that prove to be the very ways God works through us.
Ok, so I know that I have given you a lot to think on. God has poured in a new and exciting vision for this ministry. I can hardly contain my joy here. The vision involves these 3 things and it involves you. Stay with me over the next few weeks as we seek to live intentional lives together. The world needs you, and I want to help you believe this and live up to your full potential as a Christian.
