Transformative Change
Traveling through the pages of Scripture reveals to us that God often uses very normal individuals to accomplish His purpose. David was a shepherd boy (1 Samuel 17:34), Gideon was the least of the weakest (Judges 7:15), Jonah was a terrified prophet (Jonah 1:3), and Joseph was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). Not everyone used by God was like Samson empowered with superior strength and might. Many were simply everyday people whom God raised up according to His plan and purpose for His glory. God worked through them to bring the Messiah into the world and change the era of their day in many ways. Sometimes He worked through characters in very small ways. All Rahab did was hide the spies, yet the account of her courage has been given through the ages (Joshua 2). Naomi simply spoke wisdom to her daughter-in-law Ruth and in so doing was used by God to give guidance to one from whom the Messiah’s lineage would continue (Ruth and Matthew 1:5).
Bringing about powerful change in the world seems to be less about the herculean-type moments in God’s economy, but pertains more to the stuff of everyday life. A widowed mother-in-law giving her widowed daughter-in-law advice is hardly news breaking, but it was used by God. Likewise, a shepherd boy fighting off predators in the ancient world would not have been shocking, yet that was the training ground for David’s fight against Goliath. This reality necessitates we must quit viewing change as something “out there” beyond our control and instead see it as something right before our fingertips.
Changing The Generation
Francis Schaeffer perhaps spent as much time as anyone in the 20th century analyzing the world from a biblical worldview. His insight on the point of change gives clarity:
“Those who think of themselves as little people in little places, if committed to Christ and living under His Lordship in the whole of life, may, by God’s grace, change the flow of our generation.” -Francis Schaeffer1
There is no denying that Schaeffer saw the need for theological, familial, political, and cultural change across America as a whole. Something in him saw the importance of the vital nature of the Christian serving in what may seem to be a “little place.” For he understood that any place where a soul is dedicated to God is not truly small or insignificant. You have living and breathing individuals around you who shall live for eternity. Each one of us has the opportunity to work for the living God who has saved us by His grace. What Schaeffer put his finger on was the fact that this investment of the ordinary Christian would be what could change the flow of a generation.
That critical insight I believe sets us in motion to begin to shape our lives differently for it is based on biblical truth. Once we begin to see daily ordinary life as a way to bring God glory and invest in others our daily routine changes. Life has a joyful bounce to it because it is filled with the meaning and purpose that is only in Christ Himself. Every day, every unique meeting with someone, every task is now viewed as a chance to serve the King of kings and Lord of lords!
Changing Our Life
Our need is for this change to begin in our own hearts and souls. As Christ said in Matthew 7:5:
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. -Matthew 7:5
We need God to work in our hearts and souls so that we would see not only the sins of commission, but also those of omission. He must open our eyes to see all the ways we have neglected to serve Him as faithfully as we should have each day. That opportunity to pray with someone that we passed up out of hesitation. The chance to share the Gospel that went by because fear welled up in our hearts. A wide open door of sharing the truth of encouragement with a brother that we refused to walk through. Perhaps it was an act of service that needed to be done which we skipped over because we do not prioritize such deeds. All of us, author included, make countless mistakes of these kinds in numerous ways demonstrating that we all need grace.
Our motivation must be to bring glory to God in where He has placed us in our lives. Certainly, He can take a shepherd boy like David and put him on a throne to rule. The future is not ours to know, but the present is that with which we must be found faithful. May we take advantage of the moment by living fully with joy. God has given us each gifts, let us use them to there fullest in our families, churches, jobs, and in the public square. By God’s grace, each and every one of us can make some kind of an impact for the sake of the kingdom. We might not be the next well-known Christian figure of whose life volumes shall be written, and neither should that be our ambition. May we simply see be committed to living fully under the Lordship of Christ entrusting Him to make whatever impact for His kingdom that He desires. I pray God shall give us eyes to see all the ways we can actually invest in the people around us. Whether through discipleship, evangelism, simply picking up the phone to check on someone, or perhaps cooking someone a meal and having an intentional conversation let us get up the initiative to undertake each one. And may we look back at the end of our lives seeing that we were given the great privilege of serving the glorious Creator!
“And as we get on a bit in our lives, knowing how weak we are, if we look back and see we have been somewhat used by God, then we should be the rod “surprised by joy.” -Francis Schaeffer2
Sources
1 Francis Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: Volume Three (No Little Places No Little People), p. 14.
2 Francis Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: Volume Three (No Little Places No Little People), p. 14.
“for he understood that any place where a soul is dedicated to God is not truly small or insignificant.”
amen!