My friend and teammate Kelsey D’Antuono has a heart of gold. I love this blog post of hers and wanted to share it with you! You can check out her blog at: kelseydantuono.theworldrace.org.
When people hear that I’m going on a mission trip, I tend to get the same kind of response. I usually get something like “oh, great for you”! Yeah, it’s going to be awesome and I know God is going to do amazing things. But truthfully, I’m kinda bummed that I haven’t started serving God this passionately sooner.
As you’ve probably read from my previous blog, a lot has changed in my life since I was first accepted onto the World Race. I have been trying to prepare myself for this journey in more ways than one. I have been focusing a lot more on the Lord and it has had a great impact on my life. I’ve been learning a lot about God and each day I hope to get closer to living the life that He intends for me. One of the ways I’ve been strengthening my relationship with the Lord is by serving Him.
Jessie Davis is the Young Adults Ministry Leader at my church. It’s incredible because every message I hear from her is exactly I what I need to hear at the time. Today her message captivated me and gave me a lot to think about. So often we are focused on worrying about our lives that we forget that God pursued us first. God chose us and now He gives us the option to follow Him in return. Not only did He choose all of us, but He also saved us. So why isn’t our first priority serving Him and building His Kingdom?
Life gets crazy and truthfully sometimes our faith is put on the backburner. Personally, I used to be more focused on a job, a relationship, and maintaining a social life than I was with serving God.
“The only ‘call’ on your life is to build His church. Everything else is secondary. I think that after a while, we begin to think it becomes less about building His church, and more about building ourselves.”-Jessie Davis
I can honestly say now that I’ve been serving God even a little more than I was before, my relationship with Him has grown tremendously. When you serve Jesus, you become closer to Him. It just happens. It’s amazing and it makes you want to do it more and more.
Serving God doesn’t mean you have to pack up your life in America and travel the world for 11 months the way I am. Stop for a second and think about the world around you. Actually, no. Think about the city you live in. Think about the little town or suburb you call home. What can you do there to help others and serve Jesus? God chose YOU, personally. If everyone served God a little more than we are now, the world would be a completely different place.
There are so many ways you can serve your community. Sign up to serve a meal at the local shelter. Buy a coffee for the cold homeless man on the street corner. Sign up to volunteer at church. There are so many different ways to give back to the Lord!
I’m not writing this to be bossy or tell you that I know how you should spend your time. I’m definitely not writing this because I think I know everything now that I’m going on a mission trip. Truthfully, I’m still learning every day, just the way you are. But, I promise you that it will change you. It will grab a hold of your heart and make you love everyone so much deeper and in a way that you never thought possible. It will show you that everyone on this planet is a child of God, no matter their circumstances.
I pray that in 2016 I will learn how God wants me to use my passion for Him. I pray that when I return from my mission trip that I can take what I’ve learned from my journey and apply it to the community around me. Whether I’m across the world or across the street, I want the people around me to know about Jesus. Nothing in my life has ever made me feel alive the way serving Jesus does. I wish it didn’t take me this long to figure that out. Try stepping out in faith and doing something that you wouldn’t normally do in order to help someone else and further the Kingdom of God. Together we can change our communities, our cities, our countries, and our world.
