I had a cool God moment a week ago today. I was a counselor at my church’s high school camp and I was asked, 15 minutes before service started, if I would briefly share about my upcoming missions trip with the World Race and what missions means to me/ why it is important. Being that it was a very short time before I got up to speak, I decided not to even try to prepare anything in advance. I know, I know, this does not sound promising. This sounds irresponsible; this sounds like a disaster bound to happen. However, it wasn’t like that. Although I did not prepare a script, I did prepare- through prayer. I prepared my heart and mind to be used by God once I got the mic.
My prayer, which I repeated for 15 minutes in 100 different ways went something like this:
“God, I don’t even know what to say. I have no idea what is important to touch on or what these students need to hear. Please just speak through me. Don’t let a single word come out of my mouth that is my own. Only let the words be spoken that are directly from you. I’m not going to prepare a thing to speak before I get up there because I don’t want my own agenda or what I think is right to get in the way of the work you want to do through me.”
So I spoke. It wasn’t the most eloquent. It definitely wasn’t prepared or poetic, but I noticed God speak through me as if he was speaking to me- through myself. It was an odd dynamic. And even if it didn’t speak to a single student, it spoke to me (although I have gotten feedback that blew me away from some students that said God spoke to them through what I had to say which was just the best answer to prayer!).
While I was speaking this is what God verbally said through me, and at the same time to me:
“If the only point to being a Christian was to get you to Heaven/ save you from Hell, you would’ve died the day you got saved. Yet, we’re all still here.”
This is never a thought that has ever even crossed my mind before which is how I know without a doubt that it was from God.
We each have our own unique God-given purpose for our life. If there wasn’t a specific, unique job for you to do, God wouldn’t still have you here.
To everyone under the age of 20:
I know people have told you, very vaguely (although still truly because there are Bible verses such as Ephesians 3:20 and Jeremiah 29:11 to back up this truth) “God has big plans for you!” or “You’re going to do huge things with your life” or “You’re meant to change the world!”
And now that you are reminded that these truths apply to everyone you might not feel as special or as called anymore, but don’t let the devil steal from you. You’re still just as special and just as called because God’s purpose for you is unique to you that no one else can do except you.
So this is what you need to know now: God’s plans for you start now. His purpose for you started yesterday. His dreams for you began the day he thought you up.
I know when I was growing up I always thought my big plans were in the future. I thought God’s dreams for me would be fulfilled once I had a college degree and a successful career, but that is a lie straight from hell! Yes, I know that sounds harsh and you might think I’m exaggerating but I’m dead on. Why? Because the devil wants to lie to us to keep us from doing the Lord’s work now. Today. He thinks if he can distract us long enough we’ll do less damage to hell. He’s so crafty, we almost miss it.
I didn’t get this truth until just a few months ago. In January when I decided I was going on the World Race I thought to myself, “Finally! I’ll be in God’s will! I finally get to do his work! I finally get to do what he has had planned for me!” It took just a few short weeks in this skewed mindset for God to fully capture my heart during one of my quiet times spent with him. As I sat with him he said:
Ashley, if the world race was my only plan for you, or my only purpose for you, if that was my only will for your life, I would not have wasted either of our time in the last 20 years of your life. I would not still have you in college. Yes, although that may be part of your plan for the future, you’re going to miss the plans I have for you now if you solely stay focused on the future and not what you can do for me now. Today.
So everyone my age and younger. Get this before I did. Get this before you miss what your purpose is now. Get this before you waste his and your time. God wants to use you today. What are you going to do for him now? Don’t focus on the future. Be present in the present. Find out what his big wild dreams are for you. Dig in and surrender to be used because life is far easier and better when you surrender your lives and your plans to him because what he has prepared for you is bigger and better than whatever you have for yourself. Allow God to work in and through you. Let him do the hard planning and heavy lifting. Follow God’s will, and just wait and see where he takes you- I guarantee it’ll be beyond your wildest dreams.
To everyone who’s beginning a career or still young in it:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters (Colossians 3:23). Do everything you do for the Lord. And seek to follow his will. Seek to make his name great- not your own. Search for his plan and his will- don’t chase your own selfish desires. Don’t follow your own heart and just what you want.
The saying “follow your heart” is actually a very crafty lie of the world created by the enemy. God never once tells you to follow your heart. What he wants is for you to follow his heart.
See, he actually tells us to guard our hearts, because he knows that our hearts are actually deceitful in and of themselves (Jeremiah 17:9). He also knows that following our own heart will fail us (Psalm 73:26). So he actually asks us to give him our hearts, so that he can create in us a pure heart (Proverbs 23:26 & Psalm 51:10). Since God will never fail us, following his heart will never fail us either. He always has the best in mind for us, so if we would just set our hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the father (Colossians 3:2), our lives can truly be successful and will fulfill our purpose by following God’s dreams and desires for our lives.
So, don’t be like the world; don’t fall prey to it’s lies.
Don’t follow your heart, follow God’s heart.
His dreams and his plans are biggest than your wildest ones. So dream as big as possible, his will still be greater. Work with all your might, surrender your plans to him and just wait to see what he does through you. Follow God’s will, and just wait and see where he takes you- I guarantee it’ll be beyond your wildest dreams.
To everyone 40+ or anyone who declares themselves “old”:
It is not to late for you.
Your time is not up.
You are still alive because you have not fulfilled all that God has for you to do.
Quit waiting on the next generation to change society. Quit waiting on the next generation to start revival. Quit waiting on the next generation to carry out God’s will for our world.
Yes, there is truth in raising up the next generation. I fully believe and support that. However, that is not your only purpose and I guarantee 85% of the “old” people reading this aren’t even that focused on the next generation or raising them up because we are always searching for adult counselors to lead camps or Bible studies for youth. So no cop out answers here.
The next generation has their own work to do. In their own timing. They are not responsible for the work you got too lazy to do or didn’t believe in yourself to do. It is not based on your strength in the first place. So not believing in yourself is not an adequate answer because God’s power is made perfect in weakness.
I’m sorry if I seem harsh, that is not my intent. What I do intend is to light a fire under your butt to get you off of it. I’m tired of seeing an apathetic older generation who uses cop out excuses to displace their responsibility on the next generation. Instead of telling the next generation that God has great plans for them, why don’t we start having a generation to look up to who are living out God’s great plans of their own? That’s what I would love to see and that is what our society needs.
So what dreams did you say no to God about earlier in your life? Or what dreams did you doubt yourself in? What does God still have you around to do? What part of his will are you still supposed to be living in? Follow God’s will, and just wait and see where he takes you- I guarantee it’ll be beyond your wildest dreams. You still have time and God still has purpose and work for you.
