Recently as I was traveling I did what tend to always find myself doing at an airport or on a plane, I watched the people around me go through life and wondered what that life might be like for them. When I find myself in these situations I often watch the crowds of people around me and wonder how many of these people know Jesus, how many are hurting, how many are lost and who of those among me are walking through a terrible storm and just doing there best to get through the day?
It's easy to sit back and get caught up in our own agenda, but it's not what Christ did. Knowing that His time here on earth limited, He still took the time daily to reach people. All kinds of people. From what we read in the bible Jesus made that his main agenda. But do we? We wake up each day with a world of opportunities to reach people just as He did. God gives us chance after chance and puts person after person in front of us that we could reach out and talk to. But in order to recognize these opportunities we have to be willing to do a few things. One, we must be willing to step out of our comfort zone. When God calls us to minister to someone it is not always going to be at the alter in church where they came to seeking help. In fact, that was the last place the Jesus reached people. It was mainly on the outside of the walls of the church that He did His ministry work and healings. So why wouldn't we still be doing that today? Two, we have to be willing to set our own agenda aside and look for ways that God wants to use us. It would be very easy to load a movie on my iPad and plug in my headphones on an hour long plane ride, or I could purposefully plan to engage in conversation with the person beside me. Being willing to have your day "interrupted" so that you can be used is exactly the attitude that God is looking for, so He can trust you to be used. Three, we must be close enough to God in our own personal walk that we have the confidence to be able to help someone else. For instance, the guy who doesn't know a thing about car engines in not going to be the first guy to pull over and help someone on the side of the road with the hood up on their car. If he doesn't have the confidence that he can help them with with the problem, he just won't try. And I'm not talking about "having the answers", God will provide the answers. But I am talking about being so tapped in to the one that has those answers that you step out in faith and confidence the He will speak through you.
Jesus demonstrated (as a man in flesh and blood) how important it was for Him to step aside and make time to draw near to God....to seek God...to hear from God...and draw strength from God. If He needed that to do the ministry work that He was sent to do....and He did it very effectively, then why we not think the same is required from us? It is...if you want to be effective in building His kingdom! Today, tomorrow...every day....I encourage you to draw near to God and promise Him you will set aside your agenda daily and look for opportunities to reach people He puts in your path. Don't approach it with a close-minded idea of what it must look like for you to reach out to someone, but instead let God speak through you. Even if the only purpose for you that day was to plant the seed in someone else, it is still a very important task. And each day that goes by that we get so caught up in our own world that we stop trying to help those around us is another day that seeds did not get spread. Someone who crosses your path today is going to be hurting and need the answer that live inside of you, and I promise that if you ask God to give you the words to say to them, He will! "He is faithful, He is true and He is love. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is the Healer of hearts and He has the power to free us from the bondage of sin. He knows your past and loves you despite anything that is in it." That very message may be exactly what someone needs to hear today!
God, Thank You for trusting us with opportunities to represent You. Please open our eyes and our hearts so that we do not miss those opportunities. Help us to know when you are nudging us and teach us how to rely on You in that moment for strength and for answers. Holy Spirit guide us and fill us when we are alone with you, so that in those moments what is in us will pour out into others. In Jesus name, Amen
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