28 WAYS TO EXPERIENCE GOD|#28: MISSION

One of the best ways to Experience God is to find your unique way of serving him.

We use terms like Mission, Passion and Calling to describe the way God inspires you to do what only you can do. Some people struggle for years with what God has for them to do; others seem to know very early on.

For over a decade my wife and I were Youth Leaders/Pastors.

I’ve been in a church van on Pike’s Peak, hiding in a tree at a campground at 2 am, up all night laughing so hard I could barely breathe, praying in a hospital waiting room, crying at a funeral, speaking at a school, in the middle of a creek looking for a cell phone and many other crazy places with teenagers.

Not to mention so many graduations I have lost track.

Thousands of lessons, thousands of hours of prayer, hard work and fun.

Hundreds and hundreds of young lives.

Some nights we had more teenagers in our meeting than the church had in the main service.

Other nights we had just a handful and it never mattered to us how big the group was.

Some mornings I will wake up thinking about one of the teenagers we were blessed to know.

I always remember something unique about them and take it as a cue to pray for them.

If over the years we hear that one of them is doing well, we celebrate. If we hear one is hurting, we hurt.

Some of them are now in ministry; some are strung out on drugs at this very moment.

Some are mothers or fathers and some are just now reaching adulthood.

We are thankful that God allowed us to be a part of their lives; each one was created in His image.

It was frustrating, exhilarating, exhausting and rewarding.

And we loved each one of them. We still do.

What if God thinks about me and you, like I think about them?

I still love young people; I try to find a way to help them as much as possible. My wife spends most of her time with young people throughout the week.

For us, it is a way of life. A calling, a mission, a passion.

There is something out there for you to do, a way God wants to work through you. I want to encourage you to find what it is that you were created to do.

Here are some ways to help you find out.

1. Ask God to prepare you for the mission he has for you.

2. Ask yourself, what am I passionate about? (Teaching, music, helping, etc.)

3. Ask yourself, what is it that makes me upset when I see it? (Injustice, broken families, etc.)

4. Ask yourself, what gifts do I possess? (Speaking, teaching, compassion, etc.)

5. Ask yourself, what experiences, good or bad; have I been through that shaped who I am?

These are just a few ways to get you going in the right direction.

I have many friends who are confronting domestic violence, serving the poor, speaking all over the world, making blankets, encouraging others, teaching children, providing transportation for the elderly, counseling drug addicts, teaching others how to read and so much more.

The most effective are always the ones that serve because the love of God compels them. They don’t need applause or rewards. They are content knowing that God is able to work through them.

Find God’s mission for you, there are people who need you to be all that God wants you to be.

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Written by Tom Wise. Copyright © Finding Wonder 2014.