FINDING OUR PLACE TO SERVE
By Caryn Burdine
Have you ever wondered what God’s purposes were for your life? Do you carry a burden to serve God, yet you’re not sure where or how? So many of us seem to be floundering in our walk of faith, trying to figure out what God’s will is for our lives. We’re confused, unfulfilled and lacking that peace that we know is available. So many of us want to serve, yet don’t know where to begin.
The Prophetic announcement of Jesus’ mission here on earth was given to us in Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Again, Jesus quotes this verse in Luke 4:18. However, this time He adds: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21).
Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:16 that we are all one body, a “whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, [which] grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” But what is our work? As we study the scriptures through our own experiences, God will transform our lives and desires for His purposes. If we are not happy or fulfilled, it means that we need to realign ourselves with His calling on our lives.
Our role as Christians is to do what Jesus did – to reach others with the good news. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ…and He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
Christ came to reconcile the world to God. We, too, are to reconcile the world to God by sharing with others the good news of Jesus and what He has done for us.
In Acts 13:47, the Lord commands us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” Matthew 28:19 also commands us to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Scripture is clear on what we are to do – we are to reach the lost, the hurting, and the struggling with the good news of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
But how?
We begin at the place we have been called (1 Cor. 7:17) -- the present job, the present house, the present marital status, and the present sins. It’s coming “as we are” and allowing Him the access into our lives to prepare us for His purposes. He will change us.
Once we are called, we learn to see the trials and struggles in our lives as God’s pruning process. We see our worldly character in contrast with His Holy character. The more we study His Word and persevere through our trials, the more we see our thoughts and desires changing to be like Him. He fills us with wisdom through our victories and develops in us certain gifts to use to for reaching our world.
As we move toward our victories, we carry with us burdens of those struggling in the same ways that we have. What we have learned in our journeys needs to be reinvested in the lives of those still hurting. “The God of comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor. 1:4). The comfort we received from God, as we were weary travelers, is the encouragement to help others still struggling and growing. This is how we “carry each other’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2).
God has taken me through the trials of marriage. Still lost at age 30, God called me when the walls of my self-made world came crumbling down. An unhappy husband, adultery, and eighteen months of marital separation caused me to grow in ways I was not seeking. God got my attention. The lessons I learned as I immersed myself in His Word and the comfort He offered as I crawled in His loving arms I now share with others. I have taken my experience and turned it into a ministry for those going through similar situations. The insights that I gained from His teachings and the promises that He fulfilled through my trial continue to be used as I reach and encourage others. I have seen first-hand the power of the Living God and how He is able to restore a family, and those still struggling need that encouragement and comfort.
How many times have we struggled alone? How often does there seem to be no hope and no one who understands? Our brothers and sisters still on that struggling road should not have to be traveling alone. How many will quit for lack of encouragement? We can go back and help them with their burdens. Just being there and understanding takes the majority of the load.
We can’t help everyone because our experiences are limited. But we’ve all gone through different routes to get our victories. If we each could take what little we have and help what few we can, imagine God’s Glory as it spreads -- each of us helping and encouraging another. And then that one going back and doing the same for yet another.
No matter what kind of trials we have gone through, we all have something encouraging to offer those who are struggling in that same area. We can’t forget the weary travelers as God brings victory to our life. As we use what God has done for us, we will find our place to serve – as well as His will for our life.
© 2000 Caryn Burdine
Email: VinJ98@aol.com