When God volunteers you …

Here’s a fact we often forget: Jesus Christ will be glorified through our lives, whether or not we want to cooperate.

None of us were made for our own glory; all of us were made for His own good purpose …

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him,” Colossians 1:15-16.

Because of this, God sometimes “volunteers” us, something demonstrated powerfully in the lives of Joseph and Mary.

Here was a young couple with their own dreams of getting married, starting a family, and enjoying life as much as it could be in ancient Israel. But God had different plans for them; He needed someone to be the earthly mother and step-father of His only Son, so He volunteered them to be the parents of Jesus.

Joseph and Mary certainly didn’t ask for the job. They were informed by the angel Gabriel that God had volunteered them. That’s because God, in his omniscience, knows the best and highest use of our lives and will always direct us that way, sometimes even volunteering us for missions we may not be inclined to think of or risk on our own initiative.

God still volunteers people today. You might think you’ve got your life all planned out, only to discover God has something very different in mind for you. Or you may hear God calling for volunteers, as Isaiah did …

“Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘Whom shall I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?'” Isaiah 6:8a.

Isaiah didn’t hesitate.

“I said, ‘Here I am. Send me,” Isaiah 6:8b.

God is looking for those who are willing to volunteer for His mission. Even today, He asks who will go as His ambassador to the lost. Are you an enthusiastic volunteer for the kingdom of God, or is the only glory God gets from your life that which He volunteers you for? And when God does volunteer you, do you embrace His mission or selfishly push against it?

Scotty