"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 NASB
"Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another. However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith; if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching; or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12 NASB
Finding what it is God has in mind for you and I to be doing isn't always easy.
Before going to bed last night I was certainly struck with a thought that is the title of this post. Regardless of circumstances being a leader isn't for everyone, no matter what society says you should strive for in a company.
People will thrive at what it is God's designed them to be. For me, I am still searching for what it is that God's wanting me to be doing locally. My computer ministry certainly seems to have fizzled out. This blog reaches the four corners of the world and probably the Space Station.
Every cell in your body does its best work when it's doing what God designed it to be doing.
Honestly for several years I began thinking that the avenues opened to me lead to me being a leader. After all that's the roles I kept getting put into. Yet, I honestly, always, felt like a fish out of water. It's not that I couldn't do it, there was never any contentment in it.
As I have mentioned to many, it's not to be taken that I am thinking more highly of myself than I ought. But I really do know a great deal about a lot of things. If being equipped, as the Bible says we will be, is essential to what it is we are to be doing life for God, then in many respects I am certainly equipped.
Yet since moving I have a great desire to not just be busy, but rathet to be found doing what it is God wants me to be doing.
Nothing is off the table. If there are still more things for me to let go of that God says to let go of, then I will let go of them.
We see in the lives of the Disciples that THAT was central to their lives. Letting go of self. In no way were they taught to embrace the world and to serve God. Look at their instructions when they were sent out. Take nothing with you.
I am still asking for help in knowing where to serve at our new Church home. I do want to serve, but I want to be doing what it is that God intended me to be doing, not doing what He's called someone else to be doing. I have a vivid memory of stepping into doing something that was meant for someone else. It honestly felt like I got my hands slapped.
When we come to Christ we are now a part of the body of Christ. We each have something that's for us to be doing. As it is in a human body cells die off and others of like type replace them to keep the body working in the way God intended as long as life exists in it.
Nobody in the body of Christ is to be coasting or bench warming. Nobody is to be doing nothing. Romans 12 and in the book of Corinthians Paul mentions the body’s parts and responsibilities. Cells in a body with no function are often referred to as cancerous or viral. In several other passages Paul warns of those types of people that would be found in the Church and gave instructions on what to do when stumbled upon.
I keep praying concerning my role and function here. My body isn't what it once was so while my mind might have the energy to just go and do, my body says that I had better reconsider, I am not as young as I once was.
God's got a plan for me. He has since before I was knit in my mother's womb. That's what the Bible says. He's known me since before I was born.
I don't want to waste opportunities that God's giving me to grow in Christ. I don't want to waste it on things such as hobbies if they are going to be a true stumbling block to growth in Christ. I gave up other things in this life because I got the hint from the Spirit that they indeed were in the way of God's Will in me.
Satan would love nothing more than for Believers to not be doing what God designed them to be doing. He would love for them to put all their time, energy and effort into waste rather than what they should be doing.
Your question for you is: If indeed you are in Christ, are you living the life God intended for you as part of the body of Christ or are you trying to live in the world and what He wants of you too? Are you listening to the world in what you should be doing or are you listening to God? Are you believing that a square peg will indeed fit in a round hole?
The only form of deserved retirement hinted at in the Bible is when a believer has completed their mission in this life and God takes them home.
The other form hinted at is when God takes people from this world because of disobedience and it tarnished the Name of Jesus. To protect His Name He removes them.
One is a life lived as He intended to its fullest. The other certainly isn't.
Should Jesus return today, what kind of person would He find concerning you?
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