My life verse is Romans 8:28.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
This verse helps me when I start getting overwhelmed at all that seems to me on my to-do list. The words say not in some things but in all things God works! This is an incredible encouragement… God has it all worked out! He also has called us according to His good purpose.
Last month our family went on a mission trip to New Orleans with the Student Ministry from First Baptist Church, Opelika. The youth group sang in the French Quarter. It rained a good bit during the week; it was hot and humid. Many things did not happen according to the schedule we had set, but as the scripture reminded me… God works in all things. We praise God because we had opportunities to spend time with some kids during the week that came to know Jesus.
I had the opportunity to pray with one young man, Brian, to accept Jesus as his savior after he crawled up my arm. I shared the story of Zacchaeus with him because he was also a little guy with a knack for climbing. I told him how Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “I’m going to come to your home.” Brian said he wanted Jesus to come to his home, and now he has! I’m so thankful for the opportunity to serve in New Orleans with my family, and to see more and more people come to know Jesus.
Once we got back from the mission trip we realized all we left behind to go serve. Having been away for a time, we saw with fresh eyes that there are so many opportunities right here at home to serve. That is the beauty of the Christian life… we can serve no matter our location! It was good to go on the trip to serve, and it is good to serve right here in our local community.
While we had experienced a lot of rain in New Orleans, we saw that it had rained a lot here at home, too. We returned to find that several families have leaking roofs. In fact, some roofs are caving in. This past week I went with a couple of guys to tarp one of these roofs. I wish I could explain the look on the sweet lady’s face when we arrived at her home. With tears in her eyes she said, “Thank you,” multiple times. Once we had finished tarping the roof, we prayed and thanked God for His provisions.
In truth, our small group of guys did not feel like we had time to work on a roof that morning, but God had made the time for us to do the work. We could have just said, “We don’t have time,” and continued through our day, but we would not have experienced God’s gracious hand working to repair and restore a home and our lives. When we say, “Yes,” to serving, God also is doing a work in us that otherwise would not be done. I believe the more we say “Yes,” to these opportunities, the more God opens our eyes to the truth that we truly have been called according to His good purpose. I am so thankful that our Lord knows all that needs to be done, and He has all the time to do it!
Through our obedience to God, he uses us to serve in ways that will have eternal impact. There is much to do! We want to invite you to serve with us. Find out more about different ways you can serve, or contact us to get involved.
