Threads of Places: Finding Purpose in the Places God Has Put You
The Threads of Places is one of the most redemptive subjects we’ve ever discussed in ‘Restless.’ People often think God’s work happens in one set place, and that they can only serve the kingdom in church or through missionary work. In so doing, they undermine the places wherein God has so lovingly put them. They see those places as insignificant.
Today I want you to ask yourself:
Where has God placed you?
I don't want you to miss the purpose God has for you in your place or diminish the impact of where He has given you influence. So, we might have to reframe our view of where God has put us and shift our language from
“Are these places making me happy?”
to
“How can I use these places for the good of others and the glory of God?”
Jill Briscoe always says the mission field is the ground beneath your two feet, and I could not agree more. God draws the boundary lines of our existence so that people may feel their way to Him. You are put in your village, town, college campus, dorm, apartment complex, workplace, and many other places because God has called you there.
Paul redeemed prison. It was in this dark place that he decided to preach the Gospel. He realized that God put him here for a reason. Paul went from being a missionary to getting stuck in chains. He wrote many of the Epistles from Jail. He wrote these letters that generations have read and known about Jesus through. Paul probably couldn't have imagined generations of people reading those letters, but God knew exactly what He was doing. He wasn't afraid to place the greatest missionary of all time in a prison cell.
You may not find yourself in a prison cell today, but you might think your job feels like one. Perhaps the small town you live in feels like one. You might feel imprisoned by the unhappiness you feel in college and wonder what God could do with you there. But you are there for a purpose until God calls you somewhere else.
You are there until God makes it clear that it's time to do something different. So, you’ll need to understand that there are purposes beyond what you can see. God has set you in your boundary lines so people may feel their way to Him.
Some of my favorite ministry happened in a place where I was the least happy. We lived in a small town in Texas, where my husband was a youth pastor. Those were lonely years for me because I'm not a small-town girl.
We were there for years, and those were some of the darkest years of my life. We were going through our initial round of marriage counseling. This is when I was desperately lonely in our marriage. We had young kids and Zach was always gone doing ministry. It was not my favorite place to be.
And yet, my memories of those years are not of all the dark, lonely times. They’re of a living room full of teenage girls. I’ve held on to memories of our youth group, the women's Bible study, and getting to know women in that small town.
That small town was my least favorite place, but I got to do some of the most meaningful ministry. Even though I wasn't happy, God used that place. He used me in that place to love the people I got to invest in. I'm so grateful that even though I wasn't happy there, I didn't miss the stories God had for me. I don't want you to miss the stories He has for you.
So, write down all the places you find yourself in.
Think about the places you frequent in a week.
The people in those places are who you’re called to minister to.
Take inventory of them and see what's right in front of you.
It's not the places we find ourselves in that matter, it's what we do within those places.
We should wonder what God wants us to do with these places. Bringing others to the Lord is about the places where God has put you. And if ministry comes out of that, good for you. But don’t prioritize reach and influence above the ministry that's happening right in front of you. Everything I've ever built has come out of ministry that started right in front of me.
We think God cares about all the big stuff. But He cares about the small stuff, especially the places He sets you. What happens on your college campus is what He cares about because He set you there. I know you think you chose it, but the reality is that He sets us in our time and places. So, I want you to imagine what those places mean and what could happen within them.
Pray for those places, your neighbors, friends, and colleagues.
Pray for people by name.
Pray for God to move in the places where He's put you.
As you pray for that, God will put within you sparks that light up those places. He'll give you an idea that you never would have imagined doing, and it's going to be fun. This is the stuff that has made my life.
Those little sparks He gives me have become fires that I cannot imagine my life without. The passions, dreams, and stories He's built because of those sparks turn into the best stories. So, don't miss it. I know you can start to overthink this. You can start to think about what God wants you to move. You’ll probably wonder if you’re in the right places, and I don't want you to do that. God is good at making it clear to you.
If He's putting a restlessness in you for something different or new, He'll make that clear. At the right time, you're going to know where to go and what to do.
Jennie’s book ‘Restless: Because You Were Made for More’ is available here and everywhere books are sold. You can also download the FREE PDF book club kit right here to help you put your threads together.
