Move!

I like chess ... I don't love it, but I like it.

You think - you plan - you ponder options - you play out scenarios - and many of the best players study the game and other players to prepare and strengthen their own game.

However ultimately, you must do something in particular ...

     You need to make a move!

This morning was such a blessing for me. I have been asking God to reveal to me where and how I can serve Him more, and how I can be in any small way used to advance His kingdom. I treasure my primary ministry and gifts I have been given in my marriage and family. I try to be a man of The Word, and model and teach those to my children (and be open about my shortcomings and faults, which sometimes leads me to seek forgiveness for my own failings).

However there is still an empty hole where I know a calling on my life has been. I've tried to fill that hole with serving in various capacities, however it never felt right - not wrong - just not complete. He continued to reveal to me my gifts, my passions, and areas of growth that need nurturing - but until this morning I don't think all those pieces were revealed - perhaps I was not fully ready.

Passages like this ...

'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." ' - Matthew 28:19-20

Such common and well known words that just left me with a Spiritual Discontentment - not guilt or shame, just a stirring in my soul and craving for something more ...

Then we read ...

'For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord , and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. ' - Ezra 7:10

Study - Obey - Teach

I think it's critical we know our gifts, understand our passions, and be open to where God wants to stretch us. For me, music and exhortation have been gifts that the Holy Spirit has laid upon me, and the passion for reaching out to others, and sharing those gifts, in particular with the elderly and lonely has been a growing calling on my life. I also feel that combining those will put me into a position where I need growth, refinement, and will be stretched. Additionally, my family shares in some of these gifts and passions and we can even serve together in this space ...

So today through prayer and relationships an opportunity presented itself to merge all of these into one simply ministry that I am eager to share more about in the near future as He puts things in place ...

I encourage you to continue to pray where He may be leading you ... and if you feel God calling, and pieces are falling into places, then there is one thing we must do next ...

Move ... 

His,
~Matthew

Prayer request: Continued prayers for His direction and not my human hands and mind as I move forward. Also for an unmentioned friend of mine that struggles with significant respiratory issues, that he may find relief physically an refreshment spiritually during the struggles.

Praise: Certainly for this morning and His leading. Also for a healthy family, and even a son that is able to help contribute to household tasks like mowing the lawn, it's a blessing to see family contribution as we live and do life together.