What am I Supposed to be Doing?
Isaiah 43:19 – See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
All of my professional life I have worked restaurants and retail and you know what? I am really good at it! I don’t say that to puff myself up or have recruiters calling me after they read this, I am simply stating a fact. I’ve made a very good career out of being good at what I do professionally.
A few years ago my world turned upside down. My quiet suburban lifestyle of wife, 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a house in the country came to a crashing end when Satan reared his ugly head in my marriage. Almost without warning (although admittedly at that time I was probably blind and deaf to the signs) my marriage ended, my kids were living primarily with their mom, I was finding a new place to live, and I was alone. On the second day that I was out on my own, I remember asking myself, “What am I supposed to be doing?”
I would wake up, travel to one of my stores, come home, eat dinner, and either watch TV or play a computer game. I was wasting my life. Throughout all of it, every message I heard at church, on Christian radio, and even from the people at work was that I needed to take this opportunity to be reinvented.
I realized I had an interest in God, theology, and apologetics. I wanted to learn more about the faith that I professed.
And then it happened.
I became reinvented.
Not because of anything that I did. God seemed to literally reach right out of heaven and smack me in the face with his hand. My life became brand new!
Everything I did included God. When I would go to work, I would see glimpses of grace throughout my day. When I came home to the hollow abode, God was there waiting, and, what seemed like a cold, grey house was filled with warmth and color. My job performance improved significantly. My spiritual and prayer life kicked into overdrive.
As the prophet Isaiah says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Everyone noticed. I started getting a lot more involved at church. Not because I chose to, but because people at church were asking me to. Again, not of my own doing! God did all of this!
What was aimless stumbling through a desert became a pathway that led to freedom! What was a dried up river of life turned into a stream flowing forth with the life and beauty of Christ.
Praise Jesus that He called me! I will say this again, praise Jesus that He called me!
So, now that God has clearly redirected my path and brought me gracefully into the family of Christ, I am again beginning to ask, “What am I supposed to be doing?”
Again, God has been showing me glimpses of this in potential ministry opportunities. Granted, all of them currently fell through, but I believe they are simply yellow lights on the Main Street of life.
I know the time is coming for God to rock my world again. I feel it. I know Christianity is more than feeling, but God gave us feelings for a purpose. My passion for my secular career is being overtaken by a desire to evangelize to the masses. Each day that God blesses me with sees an increased desire to go out and fulfill the Great Commission.
A man I call friend, Thi’sl, a Christian rap artist, puts it very profoundly in his song “I Signed Up To Die.” He shares stories of people who felt the call and gave all for Christ. Every day that goes by I feel myself needing to be in the places where Christ is marginalized at best and persecuted as a regular daily occurrence.
I share my life a little not so I can show that I am a good retailer. I don’t share it even to show you that I have a heart for Christ. I share it with you because I KNOW there are others like me out there. People who have overcome adversity in life to gain a relationship with the living Christ. People who go to work every day KNOWING that God has called them to be in the battle for Him. People who, eventually, will rise up and take this world back in the name of Jesus!
My prayer is that you figure out just what it is you are supposed to be doing. Get closer to God. Wake up every day in prayer. Go through your day not saying “amen” but living a life of constant prayer. Be always asking God what it is you are supposed to be doing. Live intentionally for Christ and Christ alone.
And one morning…
When you wake up….
You may be just like the prophet Isaiah whose life was reinvented, reborn, and reinvigorated.
Here is a link to Thi’sl’s site if you would like to hear some serious evangelism in the form of rap.
boyradd 