What God has accomplished through me always amazes people, as an author of 70 books, conference speaker, and mom of ten kids, they want to know how I do it all. Truthfully, I don’t do it all. There is a lot I say no to. But I’ve ended up where I am due to one determination. I’ve just committed to reading God’s Word and walking it out.
Twenty-eight years ago, I was a 17-year-old teen mom who committed her life to Jesus and dared to believe God could make something out of her life. Seeing the destructive path I was on, I dared to read God’s Word and do what it says. I talk about my journey in my newly released book Walk It Out: The Radical Result of Living God’s Word One Step At A Time, and here are a few things I’ve learned in the process:
Whether you realize it or not, God intended for us to do what the Bible says: take the gospel into all the world, care for the vulnerable, help the needy, tend to our most important relationships. These are guideposts that point us down the path of true living and eternal life.
For many years I assumed God’s will for my life was all about me. But as I actually did what the Bible said, I discovered there was a large world out there who needed Jesus, and God had a part for me to play. Yes, I found true living and eternal life for myself, but as I follow God’s mandates I was able to share God’s Good News with others who found true living and eternal life, too.
As we choose to walk out God’s desires for this world, we model for our children a better way to live. When we prayed and ask God what matters to Him, He will open our eyes to those around us who needed help and hope. And as we extend love to others, God’s love flows through us. When we allow Scripture’s mandates to direct our lives, we’ll discover a God-designed mission that will excited and delight us. Isn’t this the type of life we want to model for our kids?
As a young mom I was asked to help start a crisis pregnancy center. I didn’t think I had time, but God reminded me of those who reached out to me when I was a teen mom, giving me hope. I started a weekly support group in 2000, and I’m still leading one today. I find great joy telling young women that they matter to God, and that their children matter. Watching my passionate service, each of my adult children have discovered their own passions in varied and unique ministries. They reach out to others as they were shown.
It’s important to know God’s Word, but the time comes when God’s Spirit whispers, “Are you done learning about Me, and are you ready to connect with Me?” After we fill our minds with head knowledge, God wants us to place our feet on the ground and act. He wanted me to have a living faith that was undeniable to me and to all those He brought into my life. But the walking part is important. As James 1:22 says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves,” (NLT).
“I used to ask God to help me,” said Hudson Taylor, humble missionary and founder of the China Inland Mission. “Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.”
These words resonate with me, because God took me on the same journey from independence to dependence. I’ve never needed God so greatly as I do when I walk out His mandates. I’ve cried to Him in desperation; I’ve turned to Him in prayer more than ever. And that’s exactly where He wants me — wants each of us — to be.
We want to walk out God’s directive to share with those in need, but we often don’t know what that looks like. Seeing all the needs can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to ask, “God what is the one thing You need me to do today?” Then, do that, knowing God will tell the next step as needed.
What is God calling us to do? How is He asking us to help and love the poor or to care for lost sinners? We can see how God wants us to act by seeing how Jesus loved and cared for people. Our calling isn’t to a specific job or ministry. Our calling is to walk as Jesus did.
Dare I say it? Sometimes we step out of God’s will for us today because we’re trying to figure out what He has planned for us tomorrow — for our future. But when we walk out God’s directives and take steps of self-sacrifice, love, service, and compassion, we will discover God’s purpose for our future, and our family’s future, because our faithful steps will lead us to it.
“Who we choose to become and how we choose to live everyday creates a trajectory for everything else,” said author Jerry Sittser. “Perhaps that is why the Bible says so little about God’s will for tomorrow and so much about what we should do to fulfill his will today.”
For years I tried to figure out God’s will for my life, but as I followed God’s Word — one step after another — I found myself in the center of God’s will. All I’ve accomplished has resulted from faithful steps of doing what the Bible says. Of course the greatest success isn’t what I’ve done, but who’ve I’ve become on this journey with God. And who my children have become as they’ve followed me.
[written by Tricia Goyer]
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