Be Available, Be Intentional

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago to visit some of my favorite college friends. When first planning the trip, I thought to myself, "This is a horrible time to be leaving...I have report cards to do, a field trip to prepare for, our class fall party to plan, and parent-teacher conferences to organize." However, this being the only weekend out of many that would work for both of my Chicago-land friends and myself, I decided to set aside my work, forget about my stress, and enjoy a nice weekend, relaxing in the city. I can't help but know without a doubt that God's hand was in this trip every step of the way. He had a plan for my weekend far beyond what I had ever imagined. Surprisingly, I left school on Friday with only one stack of papers to grade, my field trip and fall party all planned out, and most things I could organize ready for parent-teacher conferences. I never would have imagined I'd have that little to do with so much going one.

Throughout the weekend, I had some great conversations with both Karen and Hadassah, and we enjoyed many fun activities...apple picking, a nice dinner out at a Spanish supper club complete with salsa lessons, a trip to the Peruvian grocery store, and a walk around a lagoon/pond where we enjoyed the calm setting surrounded the busyness of the city. Although, the thing that sticks out most to me was the church service on Sunday morning.

Hadassah and I had planned to wake up early and attend her normal church service at Moody. However, after talking until nearly 2 a.m. we decided to sleep in a little and attend a church closer to her home. Totally a God thing...you see the church was kicking off their missions' conference. The speaker made two main points: Be Available and Be Intentional. How ironic it was (or wasn't) that these two things have been on my mind A LOT recently prior to this specific service.

The man spoke of worship as the goal of missions. He spoke of missions in our own backyards and communities, and he spoke of missions abroad in other nations. While he quoted scripture from 2nd Corintians 5:13-20, God took me to Philippians 1:21-27 -- some of my favorite verses. Here Paul says, (summary) "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me...I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you to remain in the body...so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worth of the gospel of Christ."

Here Paul lives his life intentionally to produce "fruit" in and of the lives of others. He doesn't waste a second. He's always available to the call of the Lord, and he is intentional in his relationships to further the kingdom. As I pondered the scriptures and the words of the speaker, I began to feel convicted. I began to ask myself these difficult questions.

Am I available to take on any opportunity/challenge God places before me,

or am I too focused on my plans and my goals for each day/life?

Am I intentional in everything that I do to be a witness for Christ?

Is my life here on Earth producing a fruitful labor?

I would have liked to answer yes to all three of these questions, but I know if I did, I would be lying. You see, our lives here on this Earth are a daily mission, and if worship is the goal of missions then we must live in a constant state of worship. Our ministry is the place where God has put us and the people that surround us, "Christian" or not. The depth of our worship is how we use that mission to demonstrate our love for Christ, the one and only Savior of the world. We should be living every single day available to take on any opportunity/challenge God brings before us. We should be intentional with our words and actions to authenticate the unfailing, steadfast love of our Father. If we do both of the aforementioned items, our lives will most definitely produce a fruitful labor.  

God has blessed me with some pretty incredible opportunities during my short time (soon to be 25 years) on this Earth, and I hope that along the way I have made some sort of Godly impact on someone. I don't want to waste a moment, but I want to live a life like Paul...available to whatever God has planned for me and intentional with each and every second of every day. 

Nothing is a coincidence; every encounter we have is a God appointed opportunity. Don't miss out!

(Let me just say, that as I read through the Bible study lesson for tomorrow, I realized we'll be talking about this very topic. Wow, God's just hammering this one in to me. I hope I learn and never forget what He's trying to teach me!)