Here I Am

This guest blog post brought to you by my beautiful and strong friend who always listens to me, challenges me, strengthens me, and loves me graciously--Gabby Salvador:

We get so busy figuring out where we want to be and how to get there. What we want out of this life. I am always thinking how great life will be when I am a mom.  How awesome it will be when I am not struggling with this sin and can REALLY live for Jesus. How stress-free life will be when I am no longer in debt. But what I forget to consider is that none of that has any bearing on who I am and God's ability to use me in the very place He has me at this moment. It’s like I am staring at a table full of circumstances, some I want to pick up, some I want to put down. But at the end of the day, none of those things are ME. None of them have any eternal significance, so why do I spend so much of my time concentrating on them?

I want to be like Samuel: “Here I am. You called me” (3:1-10).  I want to be like Isaiah: “Here am I. Send me” (6:8).  I want to be like the unknown author of Hebrews: “Here I am, I have come to do your will” (10:9).  I want to be like Abraham, Jacob, Esau, Moses: “HERE I AM!” (Genesis 22, 27, 31; Exodus 3).  You get the idea.

Is it really that easy? I think it is. I think we must focus more on being where we are and leave the rest up to God, truly expecting Him to move, knowing that whether he takes us to the East or the West, rises us up on wings of the dawn or sets us on the far side of the sea, He will be there guiding and holding us. We need to simply be still and let him fight for us (Exodus 14:14). And that will be enough.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have hopes and dreams, but they should never come at a cost to our ability to live life with contentment to the glory of God EXACTLY where we are. Don’t judge your present state in terms of an ideal future state. If that idea feels very abstract and far away, as it has for me, I encourage you to take a moment away from dictating through prayer what you want God to do, and sit in his presence.

"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.” Job 6:24