We were at a youth pastors retreat and Greg, the student ministries pastor I worked with, asked me what aspect of the ministry I wanted to do in the year to come. I had no idea. I was already overwhelmed by the ministry we were in. I couldn’t think about the year to come. So, I prayed.
Every morning I would go sit along the Chattahoochee River and ask God, “What do you want me to do?” I needed to give an answer and I needed to have vision for the work ahead. But God seemed silent.
Through the week we heard great teaching, had powerful and intimate worship experiences and just had fun hanging with our team and other youth pastors. And every morning I would go down to my spot on the river and talk with God. Day after day I would ask Him what He wanted me to do. And every day I heard nothing.
The final day of the retreat came and I didn’t have an answer. I asked. I pleaded. “Lord, tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.” And then it came. I heard it loud and clear. I realized in that moment that I had actually heard it all week long but it was drowned out by so many other noises and ideas that I had dismissed it. But there it was, “KNOW ME.”
That’s what He wanted! It’s what He always wanted. He didn’t need me focused on ministry or discipleship or retreats or even missions. He wanted me focused on Him. He wanted ME!
Years later I’ve come to believe that the most important thing for me to do is to know Him. My job is to fix my eyes on Him. His job is everything else. I cannot know which way to go; I cannot transform my own heart; I can’t even be good. But as I keep my eyes on Him, He transforms me into His image. He changes my heart to love Him and others better. He tells me what to do and how to minister to others.
My job is to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. His job is everything else.
…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…. Hebrews 12:2
Young Woman,
That passage is really talking about letting go, laying down everything that slows us and just looking to Jesus, so we can run the race He has for us.
What are your eyes fixed on? Accomplishing a new goal? Finding someone to spend your life with? Just getting through one more day? Or something as wonderful and exciting as ministering to others? Even good things, when we’re focused on them, keep our focus off of Jesus.
By focusing on Him first and keeping our gaze there, He can change us and we can see everything else so much more clearly. Would you pray that our eyes would be fixed on Jesus and that before everything else we would KNOW HIM?
Originally posted 1/1/19