First Things First

This 31 Day series is all about reaching out to the world around you, but I think many of us need to be convinced that we can do something. And because I'm a word girl, I read that last sentence in my head a few ways. Play along...I think many of us need to be convinced that we can do something or that we can do something.

We have 29 more days to talk about the something. Today I want to talk about the we.

Did you ever just feel like a ping pong ball, getting whapped back and forth in life? Sometimes the goal is just to make it until bedtime...until Friday...until retirement...until...Wait!

Hold up here!

I am not just trying to make it to the grave in one piece. That is not the mark of a life well lived.

But sometimes life just seems to slip by while we are figuring out what we actually wanted to do with it. It all just feels so...random. I would bet, though, that on the days you have time to sit quietly and think about what could be or what might be, you hunger for something more than random. You want to know, to be assured of the fact, that your life mattered. That you counted.

You want to know that your showing up to this game called life made a difference.

Then the phone rings, the kids are hungry, the dog starts barking, and you lose the moment. You push away that yearning for something more and tell yourself everything's fine. That you were just being melodramatic.

I'm here to tell you otherwise.

You weren't just having a hormonal day or feeling a rumble of discontentment.

You were feeling the pull of something greater than yourself; you were wired for greatness. (Now, before you get carried away, I said greatness, not wealth or fame; in our culture they often get wrapped up into one package.) And I know you were wired for greatness because I know the One who wired you.

I approach reaching the world from a Christian perspective, which does not mean I am out to convert the world to believing what I believe. But my belief in Jesus Christ is what drives me, and it wasn't until I got a few things settled in my heart that I was able to move forward.

I've always felt a little anonymous, a little lost in a crowd of people much more capable, affluent, worthy than myself. Remember that question...what would you try if you knew you couldn't fail? I never had an answer. I never had a dream, until I figured out who I was in Christ, which took the better part of 38 years. I've not always been the quick study I am today.

Seriously though, let me share a few verses that helped me realize that I am on this earth to do more than take up space. These are God's words to us in the Bible.

• "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God created beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)"
• "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans not to harm you but to prosper you, plans to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)"
• "I have called you by name. You are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)"

It wasn't until I realized that God knew me and loved me that I was able to see past what my life was and begin to imagine what it could be. Somehow, knowing that I was part of a bigger picture made me want to be part of that bigger picture, if that makes any sense.

Maybe it's the same for you. Let me encourage you that you were made for a purpose higher than your own, and that you matter far more than you could possibly imagine.

Think about that while you listen to the words of this song by Casting Crowns, Who Am I.