New Mission

March 1st, 2022

New Mission

Article by JC Neely

God wants to take your everyday, average life and tell an incredible story.
I believe that’s true.

So, let’s read it again… God wants to take your everyday, average life and tell an incredible story.
We all need to agree on a few confessions to live into that truth.

Confession #1: My life is average.
Our lives are fairly average. I know, I know- you just got a new iPhone. You painted your bedroom for the first time in a while. The bonus check came in. They won the tournament. The tickets are purchased. You made the team. You’ve changed your desktop to your next destination. “Average now,” you say, “but awesome is coming!” Really though, are we? Can I invite you to settle into the average? Can I invite you to cozy up with the reality of your life? I’m not talking self-hatred or belittling all the gifts God has given you. I’m talking about resisting the sneaky pride that finds its way into our hearts and heads. I’m talking about the envy that social media and the reality of our world feeds into my heart. I’m talking about looking to put something on social media or the allure to tell the story that makes people say WOW. You had coffee there? Your view out the window looks like that? Your kid scored how many points?!

The first confession of living a new mission surrendered to God is confessing- God’s plan is to use average people, like you and me. If I try to make MY story awesome, I’m working against Jesus in His desire to make me more like Him.

Which leads to…

Confession #2: My awesome story will never be about me.
God tells incredible stories. Not just the Bible, but the story of redemption God is writing is truly incredible. Consider some of the biblical characters- every day, average people, but now we tell incredible stories. I imagine some of the biblical characters are almost embarrassed how much we’ve made it about them- fight like David! Lead like Moses! Stand like Daniel! Don’t you wonder if they are like, “Are you serious? I was just a farmer, a teenager, a shepherd- this story isn’t about me? It’s about God and what He did in my life.” The same is true today. We should make it a practice to examine our lives and look for how God might be at work. Not so we will be awesome, but so that we can put God on display in an awesome way.

Confession #3: No one’s calling is greater than mine.
This is a confession that is positive. But often, I need help confessing true things that are hard for me to believe! No one’s calling is greater than yours. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO, the student, the hourly employee, the parent, or the preacher. No one’s calling is greater than yours.

See, God wants to use you, right where you are, to tell His redemption story.

God didn’t need an eloquent speaker. He wanted to use Moses. God didn’t want a large strapping warrior. He wanted to use David. In your circumstances, God is not looking for the expert in the field or the trained seminarian. He wants to use you. Paul says, “whatever you do…” (The Greek here means, “whatever,” like, anything you can possibly find yourself doing that isn’t sinful- whatever) “whatever you do, do it for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) Specifically Paul was writing to the church at Corinth saying some of you will find freedom in areas others won’t, as long as it is not sinful- do it for the glory of God. Quit worrying about where and how others are being used; seek to make much of God in your world.

God wants to take your everyday average life and tell an incredible story. I really do believe that!

So here is a prayer to try out today:
God, my life is fairly average. I believe that this life of mine will never really be about me. But I firmly believe no one can live this life for me, and no one’s calling is greater than mine, so take my everyday, average life and tell an incredible story today. Yes, even today.