Be The Revival: Appointed

Story Time!!!

God had been pestering me for quite some time.  He was really getting annoying.  We moved alot, and EVERY TIME we did, He would impress upon my heart the need to do more in my new neighborhood than just be "neighborly".

He didn't want me to be the girl who gave casseroles to people when they were sick or the girl that people knew not to swear around.

Funny thing...it seems like, as Christians, we feel like we've accomplished much for the advancement of God's Kingdom by being the person people know not to swear around.  I'm judgy.  Its true.

He kept telling me that those things were just being a nice person, but didn't mean much in the scheme of eternity if I did not connect my goodness to Christ.

Okay!  Absolutely!  Here am I, send me!

But...then my babies were small.

But...then it was winter and we never went outside.

But...then I already knew my neighbors and now its just plain awkward to bring up my faith!

Slowly...every so slowly...I forgot.

Evangelism, for me, became like flossing.  Something I KNEW I should do...but just somehow forgot about.

House after house.  State after State.

Meanwhile, God got more and more irritating.  And, yes, God can be irritating...just ask Jonah.

Then, we moved from Michigan to Georgia.  It was sudden and miraculous.  Everything came together so smoothly.

Too smoothly, really.

It dawned on my husband and I that, maybe God wasn't moving us because He wanted George to make more money or for us to get away from the cold.  MAYBE God cared very little about our comfort and  happiness.  MAYBE...we were being appointed.

This is point number two toward Being the Revival....

2.  YOU ARE APPOINTED

How does that change things for you...to think of yourself as appointed?  You don't live in your house because that house was the right price, with a full basement, and a 4th bedroom for guests.

You live in your house because you were appointed to your neighborhood.

You don't have the crazy insane family that you have because your Irish immigrant grandparents met at a country dance in the 1930s and the rest was history.

You have your crazy insane family because you were appointed to it.

You don't have your career because you moved up the corporate ladder and paid your dues.

You were appointed.

You are part of a Strategic and Divine Plan.

God has a task for you.

And that task is more than just raising healthy babies and being the person everyone knows not to swear around.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says

We are, therefore, ambassadors for Christ as though God were making His appeal through us. We plead with you, on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God!"

If you are a Christian.  You are an ambassador.  You are representing God and YOU speak to the world regarding God's appeal for reconciliation.

My Dad (remember him? You will hear from him alot in Be The Revival posts) says it this way:

"If you are a Christian, you ARE an ambassador.  Its just a matter of if you are a good one or not."

UGHHHHHHHHHHHH!  That kills me every time!

It killed me, one night, as I was chopping vegetables in my kitchen.  Just minding my own business, chopping away.

Up to that moment, God was really pressing me hard to reach my neighborhood for Christ.  I was torn up, but too scared to do anything about it!  My pastor could speak on tithing and I would go home convicted that I needed to share my faith with my neighbors.  It was nuts.  God was in relentless pursuit and I deeply resented the struggle.

So...there I was...chopping vegetables.  When all of a sudden, the song "Going Through the Motions" by Matthew West came on the radio.  I'd heard it a million times.  But suddenly, I laid down my knife and my tomato and began to sob.

"'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

That was it.  The irritation and guilt became stronger than my fear! My time as mediocre ambassador was over.  I had been appointed...time to step up to the front lines.

I did very little thinking...or praying (but more on that later!)...I just acted.  I had to act fast before I could change my mind.  I decided the best thing to do would be to start a Bible Study. I made up really pretty flyers.  I canvased my street (sure it was just my street...but its a long street, I swear!).  If people weren't home, I left them in mailboxes.  

I THEN took my HOA phone book and literally cold-called a bunch of people that I did not know but that lived all around me.  I am mortified when I think about it, even as I write about being brave:)  I did not relent!

But do not think about me as this amazing person.  Remember, this took years to accomplish.  I was a total wimp!

That's the thing about realizing that you are appointed, though.  It also means realizing that Someone has appointed you.  Someone thinks you are the best person for the job.  Someone has your back.

Think about it.  An American Ambassador in France.  Paid by the U.S.  In constant communication with the U.S.  Backed by all the power and influence and guns and military and might and distinction of the U.S.  Face it...whatever your view on American foreign policy...if you are a US Ambassador...you have sway.

Remember, point one? Don't Wait 'Til You're Great  Remember that you are ordinary...but God speaks through you.

If you are appointed by God, then you are also equipped by God!  

Once I let go.  Once I realized that fear was not an excuse...that I would always be a little afraid, but that courage comes from accomplishing things in spite of the fear.  Once that happened, God ignited a fire in me that was not my own.  

For weeks I prepared.  Then, the Friday of my first Bible Study came!  I was new to the neighborhood and didn't know what or who to expect, really.  I made cookies.  I situated everything in my front room.  I had all my notes and worksheets.  I had people praying for me.  

The rest was up to God.  

And boy, did He make "the rest" SO much more than I bargained for!

To...Be...Continued...