Shout it from the mountaintops!

Recently I attended a writer’s conference at a nearby Christian university. The presenter of the social media workshop posed these questions, ‘what is your passion?’ and, ‘what is your purpose?’ As she talked about this I could only think about what I call ‘my message.’

My passion and my purpose are wrapped up in ‘my message.’

We all have a message, something that we want to shout from the mountaintops. It is often born of a story, an experience, or a tragedy. For some it is learned or discovered. Or, it can be from a revelation from God.

All of us have a message that we convey to the world; an outstanding theme in our journey with God.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   Acts 1:8

As followers of Christ, I believe that our message should contain two parts; 1) a message about God, and 2) a message about humanity.

Passion about God + Passion about People

There are multiple places in the bible that we can find the two greatest commandments. Jesus told us that the most important things for us to do are to love God, and love others. These two are significantly more important than any other.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”   Luke 10:27

Our message, as followers of Christ, therefore, should also contain these two most important parts. Our message to the world should be what you want people to know about God and what you want people know about themselves.

Who is God to me?

God is loving, merciful, forgiving, and the great comforter.

I could say that He is loving and merciful, but that leaves out His great compassion.
I could say that He is kind and forgiving, but that leaves out His faithfulness.
I could say that He is strong and powerful, but that leaves out that He is perfect peace.

God is just so many things. One could say He is everything!

In other words . . . . . He is soooo good! Saying that God is good encompasses everything else about His character. All the things of God fall underneath the umbrella of His ‘goodness’.This theme has permeated my life for the last five years.

“O taste and see that the LORD is good!”  Psalm 34:8

What is most precious to me about God is His goodness. In my high points and low points of life, He has always been there. He has always been so good to me.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”   Psalm 107:1

Therefore, the first part of my message is that God is good.

About six months ago, I learned of a girl that had been coming to my church with a friend of my mom’s. She was nineteen and very much lost. I knew very little about the details of her life, but I felt drawn to her nonetheless. And, one Sunday, we met.

I wanted to help her, so we agreed that we would meet for coffee later that week.

I can pick out the people in a room that think that they don’t matter. And, she definitely was one of them.

She wrote me a note the day that I met her. It read . . . . 

Angel lady,

The unspoken/unknown connection that has called you to me has intensely impacted my heart and strength to hold on in ways you are unable to comprehend. But just know, wherever this goes – you are just one more strange sign in my life to not give up faith.

There are good people with good intentions, like angels upon the earth who were sent at a time of weakness.  You are unaware of the impact your concern or interest, whatever it may be, has on my heart and faith.

I was shocked by her words. She knew that I wanted to get together with her, but other than that, I had done nothing for her. We only met once. And, I am definitely no angel lady!

Somehow, that tiny gesture of reaching out touched her soul.

I never saw her again. She canceled our coffee date and never came to church with my mom’s friend again. I tried to get in touch with her, but gave up after a while.

I think about her often. And, I have been praying for her ever since.

It’s amazing to me how desperately people want to know that they matter. And sometimes it takes very little to let them know that they do.

I desperately want people to know that they matter.

Whether or not a person knows that they matter can change their purpose, where they live, who they associate with, and most importantly, who they live for. It can change everything.

What if people knew without a doubt that they mattered to God?
What if they knew that they are His masterpiece?
What if they knew that they are worth dying for?

My message to the world is:
GOD IS GOOD, and YOU MATTER!

Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!   Psalm 73:1

God created us all for a purpose. God created us to have passion. He created us with a message. And our message should become our mission.

What is your passion about God? What is your passion about people? What is your message?