If I could only do what I was meant to do…

I know it is a struggle, that feeling swelling inside that you were meant for more. Often feeling like you were made for more than this…

I might not know what defines your this… but I hear your ache to do the things of your dreams, to accomplish something of greatness, to live for something more. And heaven forbid anyone squash your dreams and suggest you were made for this moment. Get behind me Satan, I was made for greatness. How dare anyone suggest anything less than the dream that was placed on your heart since you were young?!

You can step down from your soap box, people around you are starting to stare. This isn’t a musical, there aren’t spot lights following you… the orchestral music isn’t swelling to a grand thematic highpoint as you are finally coming into your own… the audience isn’t sitting at the edge of their seat waiting to see how you finally get all you’ve dreamed of, everything you ever deserved.

and yet…

this is your moment to shine

every moment is your chance to shine

I know I got a little silly there for a moment, but for many of us the reality is we are waiting for that ever elusive something more, that time when we have what we’ve been longing for, dreaming of, striving to achieve, struggle to attain, planning for…. for a long time. Maybe it is a personal milestone… Perhaps a desire deep within your heart… Could be a dream you’ve been moving towards since you were little… Possibly it is something you haven’t yet been able to grasp but know it must be out there for you, somewhere.

For some people, well, that’s what keeps them going. They can endure the daily grind knowing that someday your more than this will be a reality. Maybe this is the motivation that keeps you working that job you can’t stand or gives you the incentive to enroll in another class you could care less about or maybe it is what helps you get out of bed in the morning.

So… it is kind of a scary thing for me to dare say: what if this is your moment?

Now, please hear me, in saying this I’m not lessening your dreams or nullifying your ambitions. What I am asking you to think on is: if this is your moment, how are you shining?

Remember Joseph, and his amazing dream given to him? That his brothers would bow to him? His older brothers nonetheless. Yeah… well then things went horribly terribly wrong for Joseph. See here, this doesn’t nullify his dream, but in the meantime as he was about as far from that dream as I could imagine… Joseph still lived as if it was his moment. Now, I wasn’t there but what I see from that Genesis account is time after time Joseph showed himself to be faithful, true, honest… a man of integrity. Scripture doesn’t show a man who slipped into self-pity, sat around angrily waiting for his dream to be fulfilled. Nope, scripture shows a man, even in dire circumstances, who lived in a way that “his master saw that the LORD was with him…”

Do I live the same?

Do I live so that whether I’m at church, at my job, in the grocery store, at my family dinner table, or when I’m living the dream… do I live as if this is my moment to shine? Philippians 2:15 says that we should live in a way so that we shine like stars. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

What difference would it make if I lived each moment keeping that in mind?

Two things happened this week to bring this straight to real life:

1- I’m in a small group with two of my co-workers going through a study from worklife.org called The Switch. You should check it out by clicking here. During this week’s study, I was taken aback by this:

Not only is work itself GOOD, but it is actually a form of worship. Avodah (Ah’-voe-dah) is a Hebrew word used in the Bile that has two different, yet intertwined meanings: work and worship. Our work is truly a form of worship to God himself!

The Switch, page 76

Take some time to think that over! What difference does that understanding make in your daily living to recognize that our work is worship? How does that change your attitude or behavior right in this moment to know that this is your moment?

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24

“Whatever you do…” oh my word, how many times have I read that scripture? Yet today, it was like seeing those verses anew. Now, how do I heed the words of wisdom in James 1:22 and “do what it says”?

2- I watched this video today. Maybe this will be of help as you think all this through. At Passion 2018, Tim Tebow spoke to just this topic… On Monday, I was told to watch this, today I listened and knew you could use it too!

 

I know it can be overwhelming or maybe it has you already exhausted to think of how you can live each moment as if you were meant for this… to live each moment knowing that whatever you do, do it as for the Lord. But break it down and take one step. How does this apply to your life? What is one step you can take as you face a new day to put this into practice? How can you pray that God would work this in your life? Who can you take the time to share your thoughts with this week as you work it through and possibly so it will bless them as well?

~Jillene