SEIZE THE MOMENT

In my travels, I meet so many who want to fulfill God's unique call on their life but aren't quite sure where to begin. I remember the feeling all too well.

Years ago, when John and I were just starting out, I didn't write books, travel around or speak to large audiences from the stage. Actually, I didn't have any
platform to speak of whatsoever. I worked backstage in the TV department at a ministry, and to be completely honest, I didn't even have enough work to do in my position.

Now, it would have been easy to look at this simply as a season of waiting. I had too much time on my hands as it was, and I could have just twiddled my thumbs until God moved me into a more significant role in the future.

Except, deep down, I knew that isn't how God works.

God invites us to work with what He's already given us. To those who are faithful, He entrusts more. It's how His kingdom operates.

Look at the words of King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived: "Whatever your hands find to do, do with your strength" (Eccl. 9:10a).

Or consider the words of Paul to the Colossians:

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:23-24).

 Rather than sit and wait for my situation at the TV station to change, I decided to seize the moment. I did all the work I was given to the best of my ability and when I had finished that, I did whatever else my hands could find to do. By the time I left that job, my position had transformed from that of a general transcriber to the role of an associate producer!

I've seen time and again in my life that God is a rewarder of our faithfulness. He desires to promote us in due season, but we are not bystanders in that process—we have a part to play.

I don't know what doors you are waiting on God to open in your life, but I want to encourage you—press into what God has you doing right now and watch Him go to work on your behalf. God desires to do a new thing in your life, but that new thing will require old faithfulness. The way you finish your current season will determine how you begin the next one. You may not feel as though your current role is one of significance, but I can assure you—anything God has given you to do is significant. Treat your current season like a commission given you by the King of everything, for that is exactly what it is.

Remember the words of the prophet Zechariah, "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin" (Zech. 4:10, NLT).

Beloved, don't look down on your current situation just because you don't view it as your final destination. Commit to living wholeheartedly. Embrace your season in its fullness. As the missionary Jim Elliot so famously said, "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."

When you do what only you can do, God will do what only He can do. God is a promoter of the faithful, not the discontent or impatient. In other words, if you want God to promote you into the next season, get busy investing yourself in your current one.

Lisa Bevere