DIG: Doing God's Work

From the garden:  A
 reminder spring is coming

Friends and fans, this thought has been popping up in my mind for a while now and recently I was having a chat with a colleague and sure enough it emerged again so I'm sharing this thought with you all.

For most of my life I believed that God's work only involved active ministry, that is, serving in the church, doing missions and the various aspects of church ministry.  I believed that because that was how I perceived it based on the preaching, teaching and how the people in my world portrayed doing God's work.  My quest to grow spiritually over the last twenty years changed that.  I now have a deeper understanding of purpose, profession and serving.

There is a saying that the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you know why.  Knowing why you were born is finding your purpose.  If you are a believer, that is you believe in God; if you are a Christian, that is you believe  the gospel of Christ and accept Jesus as your saviour, and you have not yet come to terms with the "why", you need to keep seeking and dig deep because everything will change for you once you answer that question.

The error that many folks make is thinking that their life's purpose has to be something big or note worthy and it doesn't.  Whatever you do that adds value to another person's life is God's work.  Whatever you do that eases a persons mind from stress and frustration is God's work.  If we really get this; really, really get it, our perspective on life and the world around us changes for the good. We begin to see people for who they are, God's creation who are suffering, have gone a stray, have been born into different circumstances and who need love and compassion no matter their station in life.
Interestingly, the message at church (RCCG-Jesus House Toronto @JoyCentre) this past Sunday was "What is the worth of a soul".  As the pastor closed off the service, he asked the congregation to remember to minister to people that cross their path, in some simple yet very impactful ways.

+Michael Lee-Chin, the Jamaican immigrant who became a billionaire in the Canadian financial services industry, has said repeatedly in his books, in speeches and interviews that he is grateful and privileged to be born at at time like this, in a country like Jamaica and to live in Canada where he could have brought his vision to reality. I heard him make the statement a few times.  He, along with the people who support him, has created many opportunities for individuals to reach their potential and bring their dream to reality; thousands of people have employment at various levels and are able to provide for their family and bless others.  However, we all do not need to create billion dollar enterprises or be the pastor of a mega-church to serve God.  Regardless of what we do for a living, be it a brain surgeon or the janitor at the hospital, we are all doing God's work.  If we think about it like that we will have a totally different attitude about going to work and dealing with the difficult challenges every day.

Remember, God created the world, it is good. On the grand scheme of things, in spite of all the negativity and bad things that happen every day, there is so much good all around us all the time and there is where our focus needs to be.  Go ahead make the shift, you will be glad you did.

Make this a turn-around Tuesday,

Beverley