on intentionality

[via]

It is so easy to compare-to rob ourselves of the intrinsic joy that comes from knowing we are exactly where we are for a specific purpose. Our God does nothing on accident. In fact, everything He does is on purpose. He created us and placed us in our families and cities with a clear vision in mind. Psalm 139:15-16 says

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, in the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

We can try to reason our way through life, thinking about things and analyzing them to the nth degree. Or we can say thank you to the One who created us and gave us life. This morning, a man came to spray our house for ants. (I know, ew.) As he walked through the house, we made small talk, and he asked if my roommates and I were in school. I told him about all of our professions, and when I told him that I teach at Downtown Academy, he asked about the school. We began to talk about the education system and the need for kids to learn morals and how to treat others even more so than the need for academics. Together we discussed the brokenness of our education system, and he asked me if I was a Christian. For the next twenty minutes, we talked about God's grace, and he shared with me his story of how the Lord rescued him. He explained to me how he works with several young men of Athens that he and his son play basketball with, and when asked about his life, he always points them to Christ, saying that his whole life is because of Christ. 

It is in moments like these that I am so grateful for God's sovereignty. On a typical summer morning, He brought this man to me to remind me of the importance of just giving glory to Him in all things at all times. God can use absolutely anyone for His glory. We are apt to think that if we are not a "professional Christian," such as a minister or preacher, our lives somehow count for less in the kingdom. But God will and can use anyone who is willing to be a bearer of light. And for that, I am oh so grateful.

God is building a movement-one of ordinary people, like you and me, who are starting right where we are to confront the injustice in our world...It is indeed incredible that God choose to accomplish the miraculous through the ordinary. Let's continue to charge the darkness-to take one step at a time, as we follow His holy and good call to us: Seek Justice.

-Gary Haugan, founder of International Justice Mission, for She Reads Truth