Great Works!

Recently, I was sitting in a pew at my church pondering my life versus God’s amazing power. I sat there and as I thought about how great my God is, I started to list all the amazing blessings and opportunities He has given me.

Missed Opportunities?

I thought about all the avenues that He has given me to serve Him: Missions, coaching, volunteering with our Youth Group, participating in our Community Group, Girl Scouts… the list could go on and on. I was not proud of any of the things I was doing.  I knew that with all of them I had missed opportunities to do better, encourage more and point people to Jesus. Many times I had chosen to take the quicker road of “getting the job done” so I could pursue a more selfish desire like watching a TV program. I began to feel smaller and smaller, selfish, guilty, and sad. I was starting to feel really horrible until IT happened!

God is Gracious

A gentleman in my church was giving His testimony on how he came to know his mission for God in his life. He knew years ago that God had a mission for him but it was only revealed to him during this past spring. In the spring he was invited to volunteer at a church that has the purpose of feeding the minds, bodies, and souls of the homeless community in downtown Dallas. Since then God has used this man to create an amazing partnership between our church and this downtown Dallas church! Wow!

Here is the kicker: He volunteered because some friends of mine invited him. Guess who invited those friends? Well, I did! My God is so gracious.

God is Faithful

It hit me like a sweet load of guilt-saving bricks. God knows exactly how He is going to use me! If I wake up in the morning and say to God, “Well, God how can I be of service to you today” or even “God, help me serve you today” then I have it all wrong. It is not about me! I should not take any pride in the ways that God is using me or even worry about if He is using me. God is faithful! He is using me just as I am.

I had no idea that God was using me when I invited my friends to go to that downtown Dallas church, and He was! In Ephesians 2:8-10 is says “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”

God Knows All

Now it is my resolution not to worry about how God is using me, or even how I can be used by God. Instead, I plan to get to know the Savior of the world better – so I can hear His voice throughout my day and know His heartbeat for me and my family.

Now, how is God going to use this? I will leave that up to Him. I now really understand it is not “Karen knows best” but “God knows all.”