A year ago on a Sunday morning, I was challenged by a story I heard about a little girl, named Elizabeth. She told her daddy after a Sunday morning service that she had written her name on a card and the word "yes" indicating to God that she would do whatever He wanted her to do, whenever the time was right and had left it on the altar. She didn't know when or where God was going to use her, but when He found it to be the right time, she wanted Him to send her. The gentleman that shared the story in his sermon yesterday, challenged church members to do the same.
It's no surprise to me that God put that message in that gentleman's heart or inclined him to tell that story. I'm sure there were many purposes God had for that message, but I know what the purpose was for me. I almost missed it. For the last couple of months I have been praying that God would reveal to me His plan for my life. While I have a daily walk with the Lord, I have realized that I have lost sight of what it is He has in mind for me.
I began serving the Lord at an early age as an assistant accompanist for the small church I attended in my hometown. My love for music and children naturally made me a candidate to serve as a children's choir director, which I did for several years. I served in leadership roles from Sunday School to Vacation Bible School, youth leader and anything else God put before me. To serve Him seemed so easy and His will seemed so evident to me.
As I grew older, I became a wife and a mother, and continued to serve the Lord in similar capacities as before. However, once my marriage fell apart, so did I...and my 20/20 vision of God's plan for my life worsened.
I have never had any doubt about God's love for me. He has seen me through all of my trials. He has continued to pick me up and brush me off, telling me in so many different ways, "This too shall pass."
Now, years later, I have found that I have experienced the darkest times in my life, and my eyes have yet to adjust to the light He provides. While I know He holds me in His hands, I am seeking what it is I am supposed to do, what it is that He wants me to do.
A few months ago at church, my pastor made a statement I will not forget. He said that the people who know the will for their lives and are walking in it are being blessed and are so fortunate. He said that there are also those who don't know God's will for their lives and may never know. I don't want to be the person who never knows. So, I began praying then for definition. The pastor also said that we ask God to bless us, and then, out of fear, we shy away from the blessing. I don't want to be that person, either.
I do have a daily walk with the Lord. I, like many, let my own plans get in the way of His. I don't know what it is that God has in store for me. I know it is MUCH bigger than any plans I could have crafted in my mind. Maybe He wants me to go to a different country to serve. Maybe He wants me to move to a different state to serve. Maybe He wants me to serve in a church a mile away. I don't know what it is that He wants. I almost missed an opportunity to tell Him, "Yes," that Sunday morning. I was comfortable sitting in my seat while others were walking to the front to make a commitment to listen for God and be willing to go wherever He leads. Sure, I could have done that from my seat. However, I grabbed a pen, wrote my name on my card and wrote the word "yes." Now, I will wait for Him to call me to serve and I will be willing to go.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
