God didn’t call me to do some huge, world-changing thing.
Maybe He didn’t call you to do some huge thing either. DON’T TAKE THAT THE
WRONG WAY.
I oftentimes feel like I’m not
doing enough. When I hear that “God has big plans” for my life, I tend to think
it actually means something crazy. Something like becoming a professional
athlete and having a positive influence in that field, saving tons of starving
children, publishing an award winning novel that brings people to Christ,
traveling the world and helping the needy, etc.
But maybe those “big plans” mean
being a teacher in a classroom of only 13 students. Maybe those big plans mean
buying a McDonald’s cheeseburger to give to the homeless guy on the same corner
every week. Maybe those big plans mean doing the best I can to have a positive
influence on the people around me in my life right now.
I know that I’ve written about this same topic before. But
it’s something that I am constantly thinking about and having to remind myself.
It’s dangerous to always hear, “God
has big plans for you.” Not because God doesn’t have a perfect plan, but
because maybe that plan isn’t actually that “big” in our own eyes, which might
leave us disappointed.
If I’m constantly trying to figure out what God’s big plans
for my life are, I’m going to be distracted from the plans God is working out
in my life right NOW.
This last year, I made the
commitment to sponsor a little girl in the Dominican Republic through an organization
called Compassion International. Getting to write letters back and forth to
Esther has been one of the coolest things! And getting to meet her and spend
the day with her was even more amazing.
A few weeks ago I had an opportunity
to sponsor another child. In my head, I kept thinking something along the lines
of, “Yes, I have to do it. The more children I can sponsor, the better.” There
was also a part of me that thought that if I could just sponsor one more child,
maybe I would be closer to completing those “big plans” God has for me. But in
my heart, I realized something very different. It’s not that sponsoring another
child would be a bad thing, but maybe right now devoting myself to sponsoring
and writing to Esther (my current sponsor child) is what I’m called to do.
I’ve made a commitment to myself
that in the months to come, I’ll stop living to do more. And instead, I’ll
start just living as I’m loved. It shouldn’t be about trying to do all these
things that just might be a part of what God wants for my life. It should just be
me living as someone who is unconditionally and wholly loved by God.
There’s a thin line between living
to earn God’s love and living because we’re loved. Even if we know that God
loves us as we are, I think it’s easy to fall into this idea that we should try
to do as much as we can for Christ, even though we’ll never be able to repay
Him for what He has done for us. Instead of living in this mindset, we have to
remember that we are already loved completely and entirely, and could never be
loved any more or any less.
We’re loved for who we are in Christ,
not for anything that we’ve ever done or will ever do. So in the months to
come, live like your loved. Don’t live to be loved. Don’t live, constantly
chasing after all these “big plans” and opportunities. Live loved. Being right
where you are, serving God where He has you right now, loving Him and loving
people is the “big plan” God has for you.
It doesn’t mean that you won’t ever
do that huge thing you’ve been dreaming of doing. Maybe you will change thousands
of lives. Maybe you will start a world-wide organization for children. But don’t
let that be the reason that you’re living. Live because you’re loved.
Psalm 63:3
“Because your steadfast love
is better than life, my lips will praise you.”