“I am the Lord.  I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand.  I will watch over you and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,”  Isaiah 42:6 NIV

Have you noticed how these days the world seems chocked full of people who seem to be oblivious to God?  They seem to wander around consumed by their own desires and don’t seem to pay much attention to the fact that there is a God in heaven.  They don’t seem to pay much attention to the fact that each and every day we have a choice to make.  We can serve God or serve satan.  Now right here some of you are going to get all upset and say “hey wait just a minute, I may not serve God but that doesn’t mean that I serve satan”  Well there is only once choice my friend, you are either for God or you are against God.  There really is no middle of the road here.  Our pastor recently said that the only things in the middle of the road are dead skunks and yellow lines.  So if you are one of those people that are oblivious to God, let me warn you that there will come a day when you will know full well that God exists. You will have no doubt about it.  It is entirely up to you whether you figure all this out before it is too late.

So if you are one of the few that fully understands that Jesus Christ is Lord, then I congratulate you.  You have taken the first step, however, it is a life long journey that you are embarking on here.  So if you have realized that the God we serve is very real, then the next steps are to ask Him into your heart, ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit, confess your sins, and repent.  If you have done all this and you are a full fledged believer, then you need to realize that God didn’t just put us here to sit around and look pretty like a bunch of earth decor.  God put each and every one of us here for a purpose.  This scripture passage tells us that He has called us here for a righteous purpose.  So today I challenge you to discover what that purpose is.  It may be that you have already discovered your purpose, and are living this out as we speak, and if you are I applaud you because you know that it is never easy.

In this scripture passage, God tells us that He will hold us by our hand and watch over us.  The wonderful thing is that God never just tells us to do something and then runs on to the next person. No, he is with us every step of the way.  He provides all we need to get the job done and He will lead and guide us through the process.  In the case of my blog, he even sent someone into my path to help me get it started and boy did that poor guy have his work cut out for him.  There have been many times recently when I could almost feel God holding my hand or standing beside me watching over me.  God’s presence is something I have come to rely on in my life.  God tells us that he never leaves us or forsakes us.  Let me tell you, I have stepped away from Him a few times and I don’t ever want to do that again.  That is a scary place to be.

This scripture passage also tells us that He will appoint us to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations.  The dictionary defines covenant as a formal agreement or a promise.  God wants people to see Him through us.  He wants us to shine like a light in a world of darkness.

Often times we accept Christ as our savior.  We accept the fact that He is Lord.  We say the sinners prayer, we make a public profession of faith, we get baptized and join a church and then we lose our way.  You see satan wants to keep us in darkness.  He certainly doesn’t want us to lead anyone else to Christ, so he tries his best to destroy our faith and our witness.

But we are called for a purpose.  So today my friend, if you don’t already know what it is that God has called you to do, talk to God.  Find out what he is calling you to do.  Many months ago, I thought I was fulfilling God’s purpose in my life.  I was teaching AWANA, teaching Sunday School and serving in my church.  I thought I was doing pretty good.  Then a woman that I had never seen before came into my Sunday school class.  She participated and joined in the discussion and after class came up to tell me how much she had enjoyed the class.  She then asked me if I was a counselor and I told her yes I was.  She then told me that she saw me doing something to reach a larger audience.  It was a strange conversation and I didn’t think too much about it, but all of a sudden I began getting notifications and emails about starting a blog.  I realized that God was calling me to start a blog.  Now you will laugh, but I wasn’t even sure what a blog was, much less how to start one.  My mentor had already told me that I needed to get a website up for my counseling, but a blog?  I thought, me start a blog, yeah right.  But, those emails and notifications of how to start a blog kept popping up and I couldn’t really ignore it anymore.  Then God reconnected me with a friend that I had not seen in years who helped me start my blog and here we are.

If God is calling you to do something don’t be afraid to step out.  Remember, he is holding your hand.  He is watching over you.  Even if you feel that you are doing a lot for God, he may be calling you to do more so don’t be afraid.

This reminds me of my five year old niece.  She has not mastered swimming yet, but loves getting in the pool with me and my husband.  I think about the thrill she gets when she dives into her uncle’s strong arms knowing that he’s not going to let any harm come to her.  That’s exactly how it is with us.  Remember that when we are in God’s will and doing His work that we rest in His very capable hands.  So don’t be afraid to dive right in!

Have a great day!