Pencils in the hand of a writing God...

"God does not call the equipped, he equips the called." Saying that you are not clever enough, good enough, or talented enough to serve God is just making excuses. All of us have something God can use, even if it's only a stick or a staff. the question is whether we will offer whatever stick we have to His service. Every follower of Christ was made for a purpose and that our most important task is to discern what that purpose is. "  Richard Stearns

I have been reading from the book " A hole in our gospel: What does God expect of us?" by Richard Stearns, president of World Vision.   I have been brought to tears many times in reading his testimony and his decision to join the staff at World Vision.  In that book,  Pastor John Ortburg shares that..
    "A calling, which is something I do for God, is replaced by career, which threatens to become my god."   Some things have taken place recently at the workplace that have caused me concern and make me struggle to come to terms with. Is my workplace and the people I work with just something I DO, not something I LIVE? May the statement Of Pastor J.O.  NOT be true of me, that my career has taken place of my calling. May it ever be a part of who I am, and WHO I serve. My trips to Guatemala should never become JUST another part of my job, but be a passion I LIVE out that constantly needs to be rekindled. I love going there, being amongst the people there, but what keeps me going is the students I get to bring with me and see their lives transformed, as the mission statement of Students International puts it.

 " Our staff, outreach participants and the poor come together  cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple and serve others in occupational ministries."

All glory goes to God for these trips, the opportunity given to me to be a part of God's work in Guatemala, and seeing  lives changed.   

"I am a pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world" writes Mother Teresa. She had it right. We're not authors, any of us. We're just the pencils. Once we understand that, we might actually become useful to God.