Living Life With A Purpose: Being Faithful to The Little Things

One of the most important things we can learn as Christians is to be faithful to wherever God has planted us and to whatever assignment we have been given. Many of us are crying out "Lord, send me out into the nations. I'll go wherever You send me." We are laying out in our quiet times saying "Lord send me out into your harvest!" Then when He responds "Go across the street and tell your neighbor that I love him/her," we are so quick to dismiss that idea. We want to serve God in a MAJOR way and going across the street just doesn't cut it (This is not how all Christians think, but I've met a few who operate like this and I've been guilty before as well). We want to lead revival services in Kenya, but won't help stack chairs at the end of service. We want to lead people in worship in Australia, but can't stand at the front door and greet people in our local church. We want to lead prayer meetings in the Dominican Republic, but refuse to sign up to spend an hour in the children's ministry every other week. None of the things I mentioned above are bad desires, but if we can't be faithful to meet the needs of those around us now, why should God trust us with more?

We often think of serving God as having to be some big and great task, but He has called us to be His light and love here on this earth every single day. Simply put our lives are our MISSION FIELDS! The smallest task done for The Lord is a BIG deal in His eyes. It is a privilege and honor to serve and work for The Lord no matter what that task is. This is not to say that God won't place a desire in us to go to other nations and preach The Gospel or to travel the world as an evangelist or missionary, but there are many "ordinary" tasks that can be just as effective in proclaiming Christ and being His vessel.

At the beginning of October, I had the honor of speaking to about 40 young ladies on the importance of prayer and spending time with God. I broke down what prayer is and shared various ways they could spend time with The Lord. Well that morning when I was praying and preparing, The Lord led me to this Scripture in

Luke 16:10-12

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?"

That last line hit me hard:

"And if you are not faithful with other people's things,

why should you be

trusted with things of your own?(verse 12)"

Good question! Why should God trust us with more, if we aren't properly managing what He's already given us to do now?

So here's the question I want you to answer truthfully:

How am I handling what God has entrusted to me in this season?

This is not to beat yourself up if you feel like you haven't been a good steward, but more of an opportunity to check our hearts and lives, and ask The Lord for His help!!!

Let me give you some examples:

Maybe you want to have your own business one day. Well how do you work at your current job? Are you on time? Are you a good steward of your time? Do you grumble every time your boss gives you a new assignment?

Maybe you want to get married one day. How are you treating the brothers in Christ at your church? Are you kind? Do you show them respect? What about your dad, grandfather, uncles, cousins?

Maybe you desire to work in a ministry at your local church. Are you spending consistent time with God on your own? Are you making it an effort to make prayer a priority in your own life? Are you allowing God to cultivate in you a heart for His people?

You see every single assignment that is placed in front of you is preparing you for the next thing that God has in store for your life. God is literally watching to see how we handle what we have been given right now before He launches us into the next. He is literally laying a foundation for your future. If you skip an assignment your foundation will be incomplete and easily crumble when faced with pressure and obstacles.

Often times we have these BIG dreams for ourselves and want to rush right to the top, but God being the GOOD Father that He is, knows that we aren't ready for it yet. So what does He do? Puts us in situations in which we can learn, grow, and prepare for what He has in store for the future.

Think about this Jesus, who is the SON OF GOD, spent 30 years preparing before He launched into His full-time ministry. Jesus, who was fully God and fully man while He walked on this earth, had to be tested, go through His own trials, and prepare. I promise you there is no way that you are somehow exempt from the process. I mean Jesus is a perfect being and although your mom might beg to differ, you are not. We tend to complain after a few days of a test and Jesus went through a whole 30 year process.

There are 2 other similar passages in Scripture that explain this Biblical principle of being faithful to whatever God has bestowed upon you now.

You can read about it in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27.

Lately I've been placed in situations where God is calling me to help others with accomplishing their visions and some of these are very close to what I feel called to do in the near future. I sense The Lord saying,

"Show me that you can be faithful in completing what I've shown you to do for others and you will be able to handle what I ask you to do in the future."

Kingdom work is kingdom work; none of it is greater than another, although teachers will be judged more harshly (James 3). God has called us ALL to do something for Him; to bring GLORY to His name. So whether you lead others or support someone else, you are still serving God. Currently I am in a season of learning and growing, what I like to call a training season. I have a lot of dreams and desires in my heart, but I am learning to take things one day at a time and let God refine, prune, and mold me into the woman that He desires me to be. There is no rush! This journey is a process. Now by all means if God is telling you to start something now, then please do it. Your obedience is needed and tied to someone else's deliverance, salvation, breakthrough, or healing. At the same time though every vision, plan, or dream is not meant to be acted on right away. God has to develop your character, humble, and test you before He can entrust you to be His minister in that capacity.

I'm reminded of Habakkuk 2:2-3,

"Then the Lord answered me and said:

'Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it."

For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry'."

This is one of those Scriptures that tends to get taken out of context A LOT. We like to use this for our own selfish ambitions and dreams and there are many prosperity preachers out there telling us "to write our vision and make it plain." First of all the vision that The Lord told Habakkuk to write was actually a judgement against Israel. It was a direct word from God to the people of Israel to get their act together. Habakkuk was distraught over the sins of Israel and God was telling Him not to worry that in due time, He would handle them. The wicked would get the punishment due them in God's perfect timing. You probably didn't hear that background story in church, which is why it is sooo important that we read Scripture in the correct context. Anything can be twisted to fit our own agenda if it's taken out of context. Is it wrong to write down a vision? No, but just make sure it's actually God's vision and not just what you want to do!!! The point I'm trying to make in all of this is Habakkuk had to wait to see what God told Him come to past and often times that's true in our lives as well.

In our society today it is so easy for someone to post a cute little logo on a social media site and start a "ministry." Unfortunately many have skipped the process and although they have good intentions, there is no anointing or real power being manifested from their ministry. Yes, they may get a lot of likes and attention from the masses, but God is not even in it. Now I'm not trying to hate on anyone who is out there trying to spread The Gospel and the love of Christ, we need as many people to be in position as possible. All I am saying is that there are many premature ministries that have no fruit. There are also many wolves in sheeps clothing gaining momentum, because we aren't doing our part in rightly dividing the word of God like 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs us to.

The truth is that we have all been called to minister in various ways, which may or may not include a pulpit, huge following, and recognition.

Are we willing to lay down our personal desires and dreams for the sake of Christ?

What are the "little things" in your life that you could be more faithful to?

I'm convinced that God has a plan for our lives and that all He desires is for us to trust and follow Him. Our Lord knows the way and knows what we need to experience along the way. Let's all be more intentional about seeking His vision and direction, as we continue on this journey called life. Our Daddy is GOOD and has given each and every one of us unique qualities and talents to glorify His name. And if He knows the end from the beginning, I'm pretty sure that He knows how to navigate us throughout the entire process.

I pray that God will open our eyes to see the little ways in which we can faithfully serve Him now in our homes, schools, communities, churches, and world. I ask that He would give us His perspective and show us how even things like picking up trash off the streets or walking an elderly lady across the street, brings Him great pleasure and joy. That He would help us to find complete joy and contentment where He has placed us, knowing that this is only the beginning. These little responsibilities will lead to greater ones, if we allow for God to develop and conform us more and more to the image of Jesus Christ. He hasn't forgotten about us and knows exactly what He is doing.

Until next time,

Cierra

xoxoxo