Creating History with God
This past weekend, I had the honor of doing a dear friends, fathers funeral service. The moment I was asked by the family, I was speechless and honestly humbled to tears. The days prior to the visitation and service, I couldn't get my mind off the family, the service, and why on earth God wanted to use me. I began asking myself, "Why didn't they use an actual minister to do the service?", then God reminded me of a verse that I had read recently in 2 Corinthians 4:1, "Now, it's because of God's mercy that we have been entrusted with the privilege of this new covenant ministry." Because mercy of God rests on me, I can be trusted with representing Jesus and bringing people back to the right image of the Father. God continued to tell me the weeks following, "Jason, I trust you. I trust you. I trust you." God kept hammering that into my mind. I had no clue why he kept affirming me in that particular area, but I received it every time.
Fast forward to that Monday, I got the phone call from my good friend with the honor of doing her father's funeral service. In dealing with delicate situations such as that, I made sure that I had people that I trusted to really pour some wisdom and insight into me as I got myself ready for it. There were moments where I unintentionally added pressure on myself to do so much for the family, but then I heard the whisper of my loving father again, "Jason if you don't do it, I will not be mad at you." I answered back confidently, "I know, but I want to do this for you, for me, for the family." His answer I will never forget, "If you do this, your only job is to love them through me. You cannot love them by your own human strength. They need my love and comfort. You are a conduit of my presence and love. You represent me and I have given you this opportunity to do that. I trust you to lead people into true love." Needless to say, God has way to more to say than I do.
To be known, seen, and trusted by God is humbling. It is something that has always marked my life for him and his glory. There is no greater honor than to represent God. He wants to redeem hearts back to himself. With funerals, there are some who begin questioning God's goodness and essentially who he is. Death can be a tragic thing and it can be a beautiful thing. It can rip you apart from God if you let it or it can bring you a lot closer to him. Death is something that I do not quite understand, but I do know that God is extremely good and the loss of someone's life does not dictate the way I see God because He is real now and He is real in those moments of hurt, loss, and confusion. We just have to let Him into those moments.
I am sure you are wondering where I am going with this. Well, here it is. When an opportunity arises for you to simply say yes to God, do it. A wise thing to do is find someone that you trust and that you allow to speak into your life. When God presents something to you, it is an opportunity to say yes and discover uncharted waters of who God is. Do not let feeling of doubt creep in. You are qualified. You know what makes you qualified? It is Jesus living inside of you. The same power the rose Jesus from the grave lives within you (Romans 8:11) and you get to bring that into every situation.
I want leave you with something to chew on so that when an opportunity arises for you, you will be advanced into your identity:
"We are creating history with God with every moment we say yes to Him. He is always inviting us into His story of molding, growing, and loving us."
