I'm Clay Within Your Hands

          Lately I have been praying a lot about God’s direction in my life; it’s not a worry of mine, more of an excitement. I am so excited to see where God is going to lead me after graduation in May, what kinds of doors He is going to open, and how He is going to use me. Last night at our campus church we had “The Traveling Team” come and speak to us about spreading the Gospel all over the world. They really emphasized the numbers on all of the “unreached” people out there, how so many people have not heard of Jesus, they do not know he is the way, the truth, the life.
          As the evening continued, the speaker went through the Bible and pulled Scripture out where God is saying that His name is to be known the whole world over. One thing that was said really struck home: “Once we are welcomed into Christ’s family we feel a sense of responsibility.” That statement was embedded into my mind; I knew exactly what he meant. Now when most of us think of responsibility, we think of those obligations in life where we HAVE to do something even though we don’t really want to. This is NOT the type of responsibility I am talking about; this is not the type of responsibility I feel. This feeling of responsibility has been grabbing me for quite some time now. I have been praying for God to use me as a light for Him, to show His love to others. I feel a yearning that God has work for me to do even if that does mean stepping a bit out of my comfort zone; its all about being obedient to what His will for my life is.
          As this speaker continued feeding our thirst for more and more knowledge and gave example after example of the blessings God has poured out to his people, I began to think about how many times I go through the Bible and just remember those verses that really show me the positive aspects I want to latch on to; without really grasping the concept that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. How many times have I taken the blessings without accepting any responsibility? God has provided immeasurable blessings in my life and given me inexplicable joy; this message really reinforced my feeling that there is work for me to do. When a lot of people hear messages where missionaries come and speak, they grab onto the inspirational fire that is sent out from these people; they feel that they are suppose to go to these third world countries and spend their lives there helping those who need it most. Others listen to these messages and think, “That is really cool what these people are doing, but it is just not for me.” As for myself, I did not fall into either one of these categories. I had an amazing feeling of peace the whole time and just kept thinking that God wants me to stay here; that there is work to do here. What about all those people I pass walking through campus everyday or those people who I talk to on a daily basis never once mentioning what God has been doing in my life? Those people, those “everyday” members of our society, need to be reached out to as well. It reminded me of an article I just recently wrote a review on for my classroom management and diversity class, in which it pointed out the startling fact that so much attention and emphasis is placed on those students who come from a rough home life, who have emotional or behavioral problems, or who may have learning disabilities and often times it may be the “average” student who gets overlooked. Are we overlooking those “average” people right in our own backyard? These people need to hear the Gospel just as much as those in other countries.
          Now am I saying that I think it is wrong for people to go over and spread the Word of God throughout the vastness of this world? Absolutely not!!! I think that is absolutely essential. What I am saying is that while there is much work to be done across the ocean, there is a vital need that must be done here as well. I feel that God has really been pulling at my heart to reach out to those “average” people, that He is going to use me right here. I am just going to keep praying that I will be obedient to His will for my life so that I will stop thinking about my own personal needs, but take up my cross and follow him.