Never Stop Going
Where is God calling you to go?
Does he want you to lead others spiritually, maybe even start a small group? Maybe you’re afraid nobody will come. Maybe you’re worried you’re not good enough, that you don’t know enough to do something like that. You don’t even know what you’d talk about. But here’s the thing: if you don’t try, you will never know what might have happened.
If God is calling you to go, you’re going to have to leave where you are. And you sure don’t want to miss out on what he’s doing.
Years from now, you could be looking back on this time in your life and realize, “That was the day my story changed. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I decided it was what God wanted, and now I’m a part of this great community of believers. I had no idea how different our lives would be.”’
What if God’s calling you to get involved in some ministry or even to start a new one? As soon as a few months from now, you could find yourself sharing your story:
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“It blows me away how much it has already changed my life to serve inner-city kids.”
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“I never would have guessed I had so much to offer the youth at my church.”
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“I always felt like I should help repair cars for people in need. I don’t even know how it happened, but I started fixing cars for people on weekends, and all of a sudden, a whole bunch of other people pitched in. Now we have a blast together, and we’re impacting the lives of the families we’re serving.”
None of that can happen if you never take the first step.
Is there a book burning inside you?
Set that book free. Take the first step. Quit making excuses. Start writing some notes and getting your ideas organized during your lunch breaks. Then on evenings and weekends, or early in the morning before you go to work, fire up your laptop and write.
Is there some job you’ve always wondered whether you could get, but you’ve been afraid they might not hire you?
Take a step of faith. Call your friend who’s good with resumes and offer to take her to dinner if she’ll help you get yours together. Then get your foot in the door and ask for an interview. It’s true, you might not get it, but you’ll never know if you don’t try. You have to step out to find out. You have to leave where you are to go to somewhere else.
Do you have a business idea?
Look up online how to write a one-page business plan. Then execute it. Years from now, your story could be, “We started with nothing but an idea. But we followed God, and he opened doors and sent us opportunities. Our lives are different today because we stepped out and took the risk when he led us.”
Do you have a heart for children in difficult circumstances?
Maybe God’s calling you to adopt. You could change a child’s family tree. Or maybe God’s calling you to foster-parent. Then the sky’s the limit! You could be reaching into children’s lives and changing countless families for years to come.
Whatever it is that you’re supposed to go and do, write it down and remind yourself what your heart already knows.
I know what it feels like to start asking yourself questions. “God, I’m afraid. I need details! What’s going to happen? What you’re asking me to do sounds hard.”
And God may answer, “First of all, I don’t give my children a spirit of fear, so that’s not coming from me. You don’t need details. You need faith. And yes, it will be hard. But I didn’t call you to an easy life. I called you to a faith-filled life. Put your trust in me. Let me handle the details. I’m pretty good at them.”
My wife, Amy, experienced the faithfulness of God a few years back after going forward with a giant step of faith. After spending time with victims of human trafficking, Amy believed she should open up a transition home for women breaking free from abuse and other hardships. But all the advice she received said she shouldn’t. She didn’t know much about this type of home. The success rate with these women is very low. There are bureaucratic obstacles. And the list of reasons not to go forward grew by the day.
But Amy believed she should take a step of faith. So with no money, no staff, and no house, she invited people who might be interested and shared the vision to help marginalized women.
A few days later, someone suggested we visit a house that was for rent. When we walked into the home, we saw a lady named Janet whom we knew from the church. Janet had just remodeled an older home as a rental property, not realizing she was turning it into the perfect home for Amy’s ministry. It was in the perfect neighborhood. It had the right number of bedrooms. It had the ideal floor plan. And it was even furnished. Janet explained that even though she intended to rent the house, she had felt compelled to furnish it, hoping it would help prospective tenants in need.
When she heard Amy’s vision to serve women, Janet started crying. After some time in prayer, she explained she wanted to donate the house to the ministry. I will never forget the moment she told us. She cried. We cried. Even the repair guy who came in a week later to fix something cried when he heard the story.
When Amy took a step of faith, God met a need in a way that we never could have predicted and wouldn’t have even dreamed could happen. Recently we just celebrated another anniversary of The Branch15 house, which has been serving women effectively for the third consecutive year.
You might find yourself in a similar place as Amy.
Take that step of faith. Go, even when it would be easier to do nothing. Venture where God is calling you despite what others say. Trust him with the details.
Taken from Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel Copyright © 2017 by Craig Groeschel. Used by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com.
Craig Groeschel
New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel is the founding and senior pastor of Life.Church, which created the popular and free YouVersion Bible App. He is the author of several books, including Divine Direction: Seven Decisions That Will Change Your Life. Craig, his wife, Amy, and their six children live in Edmond, Oklahoma. Visit www.craiggroeschelbooks.com.
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