You Get What You Get

Just when I thought life was about to get a little less busy all of the time, the CommonApp college application website begins to mess up, my teachers add more and more work to my plate, and the Student Council I am apart of is asked to plan a huge Homecoming event last minute. I prayed to God for wisdom and a hard-working mentality, but this is not what I had in mind. 

And it's just that. That's the God we have--one that gives us opportunities to learn and grow rather than one that gives us an immediate power or blessing.

Right before I preached my All Saints' Sunday sermon a few days ago, I prayed earnestly and hastily rather than singing the sequence hymn, which is my typical practice when I preach. It went something like this:

"God, inspire me with opportunity. When I enter the pulpit and preach your word, allow me to be translucent to those who have anxiously anticipated the sight of you. Inspire me with the opportunity to be that translucent teacher, and inspire others with the vision to see your grace in the scripture we will explore. Sustain me in the pulpit. Uphold me with all of your blessing so that all of these opportunities that you shower upon us today may be wisely used. Amen."

I think I repeated those words over and over during the hymn "I sing a song of the saints of God".

I believe in those words more than anything. God literally showers us with opportunities--opportunities to grow closer into communion and fellowship with the one who makes us, redeems us, and sustains us, and likewise with the people around us. 

So, as you continue to live out your own earthly ministry, pray for opportunities, and to be inspired by them.