Today's Devotional Thought
November 13, 2017 by Rachel Piferi
Stop. Evaluate. And Listen.
What does God want you to do in this season of your life?
Hard question? For many it is. In fact, when we talk to women, one of the most common themes that comes up is purpose in life and what it is that the Lord wants you to be doing with your time. For many, it is paralyzing to not have a purpose. And we know that heeding God's voice and walking in the assignments He has for you leads to so much fulfillment and joy.
So often, when we talk about purpose in life, we talk about finding our purpose. But, what about changing our purpose?
For those who have very clearly heard an assignment from the Lord and have followed that path, when was the last time you sat alone with the Lord and asked Him if your assignment has changed?
By that I mean, when was the last time you sat with the Lord, evaluated all that you were doing with your time and resources (things that He may have even led you to), and asked Him if He had something new for you? Asked Him if perhaps your season with some task or assignment was done?
As I have spent time with the Lord lately, I have been struck by the concept that many of us spend a lot of time asking the Lord what He would have for us in a season. We spend a long time asking for direction and then we get involved in the project or group or ministry, but we don't ask Him to reveal to us when we need to give it up to move on to the next assignment He has for us.
And, we either miss the new assignment OR we just pile a new assignment on top of the old without giving the old one up. Which contributes to the ever growing epidemic of busyness that is facing so many people today.
Is it possible that something you started with God a while ago is no longer your assignment from the Lord? Or maybe you have a couple of things on your plate that were never your assignment and you have to let them go if you are going to truly fulfill the real assignment God has for you?
I heard Beth Moore say once, "You can't do a million things to the glory of God."
What truth.
God has a couple of things for you in any given season to pour your heart and mind and soul into. For His glory. And if you get filled up with other things or never let go of assignments or ministries or things that are no longer yours, you won't do those chosen things well. And you certainly won't do them to the glory of God.
I think we would all do well to sit still with the Lord every now and then and evaluate how we are spending our time and resources. Stop and earnestly ask the Lord if there is anything we are doing that could be robbing us of the necessary time and energy to do what He really has for us.
What if God had a new ministry or a new place He wanted you to make an impact for His kingdom, but you missed it because you were so caught up in the old? So caught up that you didn't even stop and ask if you were supposed to still be doing it.
Perhaps you were profoundly fruitful in this old endeavor, but it is just time now to move on to the new place that God has for you. Oh what a shame to miss the new thing that God might be doing because we are so afraid (or even just unaware) to let go of the old.
Today, I encourage you to plan some time to sit with the Lord and evaluate your current endeavors. Listen to those still whispers where He is telling you to let go of something so you can walk into something new. Because, you can't do a million things to the glory of God. So if He has something new, you're going to have to let go of something old.
December