May 20, 1995 was a day that my life changed forever. It was an unusually sunny day after a month of almost constant rain. I got in my car with my brother and made my way to a church at the intersection of 2 gravel roads in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. Over the next 8 hours I would make the second best decision of my life by getting the honor of marrying the most amazing woman, being welcomed into a family that I didn’t know very well, and embarking on a journey that has been amazing, frustrating at times, and full of experiences that have helped me see the bigger picture of who God is and who He has made me to be. The following week we moved 600 miles away to a place where we knew absolutely no one, to take a job that had never been done before, and to start our life together. We were having the time of our lives. We moved there with no furniture, no bed, equipped only with whatever wedding presents we could fit into our 1986 Chevy Cavalier. We couldn’t have been happier and more excited for what the future would hold. Looking back, we didn’t have much and it might have been easy to feel hopeless or fearful, but we were grateful for what we had and we used it the best we knew how. At times over the years our perspective about what we have has drifted from grateful for what we have to envious of what we don’t have yet, but when we get too far off base, God gently reminds us of a deeper Truth that He taught us in the summer of 1995.
As we start 2019 I want to encourage you to read or re-read Matthew 25:14-30 and ask God to speak to you. I would encourage you to read through the parable with the perspective that God is the master and we are the servants. Which servant do you relate to? Keep in mind that each servant was given a significant amount of money to manage (many years of a common salary), one was given more than the others but all were given an unbelievable amount. Do you relate to the person who has been given 5 shares to manage and feel the weight and the honor of managing that level of resources. Do you relate to the servant who was given 3 shares to manage and you see the opportunities to use what God has given you and you are ready for more of what this next season looks like for you? Do you relate to the servant who got 1 share to manage and for whatever reason didn’t do anything with it? Before you pass quickly over the 1 share servant, ask God to show you what He has given you in your life – not necessarily money, but in resources. Resources of car, home, phone, time, personality, influence, athleticism, artistic ability, energy, positiveness, compassion, etc… are all gifts that the Master has given you to take care of until He returns or until you end your life on earth. I invite you to identify the resources you have in your life, evaluate how you are using them, and then ask God how He would like you to use what He has given you. This week I want to invite you to humbly evaluate where you are at and let Him speak to you about what your 2019 can look like using the resources that you have.
God has shown me that He has given me an amazingly talented family, great health, a large house, a youth ministry (in a large church) with potential for influence and impact, a great community to live in, an incredible team to do ministry with, a heart of compassion, a passion for people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus, and so much more. I feel God has asked me the question – what will you do with what I have given you this year? I can choose to respond like the 1 share servant and pout about what could be better or get complacent and wait for everything to get easy or I can choose to respond like the servants who got 3 and 5 shares who simply did the best with what they were given. This year I want to appreciate what I have more than ever. I want to use what God has given me and not overlook the gifts. I want to see God do incredible things in and through me. I want to be ready for the Master to come back and ask me how I did with the resources he entrusted me with.
No matter where you are at, no matter your age, gender, experience, spiritual awareness, I believe that 2019 can be a year where God does the incredible in and through you. I believe that when we acknowledge that great things God has entrusted us with to manage during our short time on earth, we can choose to use them to impact the world for Christ. I believe our broken world needs more servants who will do the best with what they have. I invite you to join me in this journey this year.