You were created for impact.
So how did you spend your day today?
The Bible teaches that God has laid out plans for your life since before you were born. Plans for purpose. Plans of good things to drop in your lap, gifts from him simply because he loves you. Plans for a destiny that is both pleasing to him and rewarding for you. Plans of action, of good works, projects for you to complete placed along the road in your journey. Plans of relationships — first with himself, and secondly with others. Good stuff.
And, efficient planner that he is, he gave you all the equipment you need to fulfill those plans. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness — through our knowledge of him” (2 Peter 1:3).
We are born with gifts and talents. We develop skills. We grow into the internal desires and ambitions that are hard-wired in our DNA. And those gifts, skills, and desires get amplified when we join his family, and our spiritual DNA enhances our natural abilities. Because of our relationship with him, now “all things are possible”. We were created, equipped, and then commanded to touch those around us, to use our abilities to help them. In a word, to have impact.
So how did you spend your day?
I’ll admit, this is a troubling question for me. “Today? Really?” Hmmm. I dropped some money in the Salvation Army bucket while heading into a store. I looked at my checking account to see how much I could give to an organization that feeds and clothes the poor. I spent some time writing to a friend, offering some advice on how to overcome some issues in his life (I like to think of it as “encouragement” but it might more closely resemble “nagging”). Hey, I did let two cars merge onto the road ahead of me (at two different points!) so they wouldn’t have to wait for the mile-long backed-up holiday traffic behind me. And, resisting the flesh, I didn’t curse at the woman in the opposite lane who seemed to love the sound of her car horn because she was in a hurry and got stuck in the same traffic as the rest of us. “Impact? Really?” Hmmm, what else? I finished up a major project at work that might help make a few customers’ lives easier. (Does that count?) Ha! — I did spend some time this morning praying for a few friends (squeezed in between my own urgent requests). Surely, that counts.
You know, we can’t all be Mother Teresas. We can’t all be Billy Grahams. Or even Dr. Phils. We can only work with what is set before us; we can only touch those people we encounter while going about our work-a-day lives. But our lives have to be about more than just our own interests. Like Jesus said to his worried parents, we should be more “about out Father’s business.” And two things he requires of us: to love him and walk with him, and to love others and be a blessing to them. To deepen our relationship with him, and to become his hands in this world.
My list today seems so insignificant, so pathetic. But maybe it’s just a starting point. We have to prove ourselves faithful in the little things before God can use us in bigger things. I still have so far to grow in my relationship with him, and in becoming more productive in my day to day activities. But the desire is there. I want to live a life of greater impact.
So how did you spend your day? Today might not have been your most shining hour either, but don’t give up.
You were created for impact.