I’m using YOU.

Reading Time: 7 minutes

“The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Exodus 3:7-10

Don’t you love that we have a God who hears the cries of the oppressed? Don’t you love that we have a God who is concerned about our suffering and comes to save us? 

Let’s examine this from Moses’s perspective. You grow up as a prince, watching your people be enslaved. You may deal with identity issues as you watch your mother, sister, father, and brother slave under the tyranny of the foreign empire you are housed in. You see the psychological effects it has on the people you love. You see the poverty and lack of education. You see the abuse and misuse. You want to help bring your people out of oppression. You want to fix and ease the pain. 

It gets so bad that you are overwhelmed with passion and impulsively kill one of your people's oppressors. Now, you’re on the run. For 40 years you’re a fugitive, plagued by thoughts of the oppression your people are still going through. As you’re working in the fields, you see an intriguing bush. You go to investigate and you hear the voice of God. 

God assures you that He sees your people. He sees their oppression. He hears their pleas for help, and He has taken it upon himself to do something. You’re overjoyed—there’s finally hope for your people. God is going to fix it. He is going to do something. But, when God starts to lay down the plan to do it through you, time stops. 

Now let’s switch back to our perspective. As Christians, some of the biggest questions in life are “What is my purpose?” Or “What is my calling?” While I don't have answers to all the specifics, I do know that we were created to worship and lead in worship. Worship doesn’t just mean singing or playing an instrument. Worship is putting God in His rightful place as head of your life. Worship is giving yourself back to God, and worship leading is pointing others to do the same. You’re tasked with allowing God to transform you and being a billboard that points others to the Architect that built you.

That's what Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-16: 

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Ok, so you’re supposed to use your gifts to point others to the God who gave them, right? You’re supposed to be a billboard of what God can do so that others can go to Him, too. But, how? What lane do you take? I think we can look at this story of Moses and come away with some answers. 

The old cliche says “You are the solution to a problem in the world” and if you allow God to use you, I do believe that concept can reign true. There are specific niches of ministry, not just pastoring and singing but brand management, graphic design, and business that God uses as avenues to love on people and point others to Him. Ministry is not a job title, it's about how you're loving others within that avenue. God has given different passions and skills to all of us for a reason. 

God is calling you to minister through your gifts. Dedicate them to God then sharpen them. You are called to minister just like Moses, Abraham, your favorite pastor, or your favorite worship leader. Just give your gifts of administration, charisma, design, or academic expertise back to Him. 

Moses had a soft spot for the oppression of his people and wanted to see them liberated. His passion was brash and had some sharp edges, but with God’s refined calling, he was able to lead nations. God placed a passion in Moses and Moses gave that passion back to God for the service of others.

So what about us? How do I affect people positively? How do I love how people need to be loved? 

I know some of you are graduating from high school and may be wondering what majors and paths to take in college. Or maybe you're about to graduate from college and wondering what job to start. It may be hard to determine what your “purpose” is. You have options, but I want to add some focus and narrow some things down for you. Your purpose when you give your life to Jesus is to be loved and from that love, love others. Your passions and skills are the avenues through which God may use you to do that. If anyone wants wisdom they can ask for it. That's what the bible says. God will continue to lead you toward the avenue of ministry. You just need to remember the goal. Allow God's love to transform you so that you can continue to worship Him by loving others. 

It starts with Jesus. You can not introduce someone to others that you don't know personally. You can’t share a love you don't have. While we can see ourselves in this story we can more prominently see Jesus. God saw the hurt caused by sin and stepped down to do something about it. God saw your pain before you were born and decided to come down to bring you healing and hope. He decided to come as a man and not just dedicate His life to the cause like Moses did, but sacrifice it so that the people He loved could have liberation. 

It’s from that love that we love. While we may not be able to beat sin like Jesus, we can ease the effects of it in others' lives. We can’t just lead others to ultimate healing in Jesus but perform acts of physical, mental, and emotional healing on Earth, like Jesus did while He was on Earth. We can dedicate our lives to caring for the hurting and broken through our actions and leading them not just out of oppression to a physical land of peace and promise, but more importantly to a spiritual promise land of rest, peace, and joy found in Jesus. 

Jesus’ job was to lead us to liberation (while accommodating physical needs on the way) and by following His example we can do the same for others. God has seen the oppression of His people. He has seen the hurt and the pain. And He may be calling you to be a part of the team used to help heal and alleviate pain for now and lead to greater healing in Jesus. You down? 

We aren't just giving people Tylenol and Advil to ease their physical pain. We are allowing them to follow us to the Doctor who will perform spiritual surgery and give the lasting rest, peace, joy, healing, and liberation we all crave and need. Give your passions and gifts back to God and let Him love others through you. That's your job. That's your “purpose”. God has seen people in need of help and wants to use you, your passions, and your gifts to help them through you.

Do you want people to experience the peace, prosperity, and purpose you have experienced in Jesus? Or do you need to experience it for yourself? The method to both ends is the same: allow Him in. Let Him take over and the effects are automatic. You will grow and the love will show. 

Let God love through you!

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