Is Life About Me Again?

You are not your own; you were bought with a price. I Co 6: 19-20.

With a recent change in life circumstances, it was easy for me to confuse my priorities. In my last job, I had painstakingly worked out God’s plan to use me for His kingdom, but a change in venue distorted all that. All the old false gods reared their heads again in a fresh way, just as if I had never fought and defeated them before. I was again being driven by personal motives and not by Christ. Respect, accomplishment, financial security - all good in themselves but terrible as task masters - they all jumped into the front street of my life’s car, fighting for the pedals and the steering wheel. My life had become about me again.

Two questions that we need to write in the back of our Bibles and repeatedly bring out to ask ourselves are these, “At this point in my life, is my life personal or missional? Has life become about me again?” Sometimes we get confused and think that mission is about location or that mission is about job description. We reason that God has a use for us if we are in one location or job but that all of that diminishes when life moves us around. Early in my career, when we were forced to return from Nigeria for health reasons, I spent seven years trying to get back to Africa, because I believed that God’s mission was over there and I was over here. God fixed that for me in a clear way, but each time my life circumstances change there is a resurgence of that delusion. New local gods parade in front of me in enticing ways and I have to surrender again to God’s mission after a time of confusion, followed by a reordering of my life and priorities.

Circumstances don’t determine whether life is missional, though sometimes we let them do so. Location doesn’t determine whether life is missional … though sometimes we fixate on our location or our job description and think that only over there is God’s mission for my life.

When we accept Christ as our Lord, we are born into mission … and missional life dwells within us, in His person, wherever and whatever.

Dear Father,
Is life about me again? Jerk me around until I see that it never again can be. You have bought me with a price and I am Yours. I am here for Your mission. Place me in it and make me diligent in Your service. Amen