Through YouSample

DAY 5 - Stepping Out Of Comfort & Into Your Purpose

God doesn’t just want to do a great work in you –– He also wants to do even greater things through you.

We see this in the first chapter of Ruth. Ruth has just lost her husband and her mother-in-law, who was also widowed, felt hopeless and tried to send her away.

But Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law; she felt called to stay by her side.

In this season of Ruth’s life, she made a sacrifice to leave what was familiar to her to do what she felt was right — serve. She didn’t choose a conventional path, but instead she sacrificed her own desires and in return received an unexpected blessing.

One day, while serving her mother-in-law and gathering grain left behind by harvesters, Ruth was noticed by Boaz, the man who owned the field she was gleaning in. After asking around about Ruth, he learned of her commitment to Naomi. This prompted Boaz to instruct his workers to leave extra grain for her to glean from.

That was only one of the blessings Ruth received because of her faithfulness to her purpose. She later married Boaz and gives birth to a son, Obed. Through him, Ruth would become the ancestor to the future King of Israel.

When we walk in obedience and faithfulness, there’s no limit to what God can do through us.

Stan is a great example of what God can do through you when you surrender to His will and trust His plan.

Two years ago, Stan was serving at an Outreach event at Elevation Ballantyne. He had been struggling to surrender to God’s will for his life, but when he came face to face with God’s love, he knew he needed to take a step of faith. That very same day, Stan made the decision to go public with his faith through baptism. He also started serving regularly at church and in his community.

The next year, Stan felt God calling him to take another step of faith: to sell his house in North Carolina and move to Central Florida to help grow the Outreach efforts there. He and his family made the move and immediately started making a difference.

Stan was onsite at an Outreach event in Tampa helping pack over 200 snack pack kits for an underserved school and started chatting with two volunteers. They decided that they were ready to profess their faith in Christ right then. Stan led them in prayer as they received God’s grace and love.

God used Stan’s willingness to grow his faith and impact those in his community and beyond. Will you allow Him to work through you today?

TAKE ACTION

Write down three names of people you could invite to serve with you in an outreach event. Take five minutes to pray that God would give you an opportunity to share his love with them.

Ask Yourself: How are you expecting God to show up in these outreach events?