I am a little embarrassed to admit this to you, but for the longest time I did not believe I could truly call myself a writer until I had successfully been published and met one of the “best seller” lists, with a contract for my second and third book being negotiated. Surely I could not glorify God and do what I saw to be my calling, if I was not on every bookshelf in every bookstore in America, as well as every online store, such as Amazon, etc.
But over the past year, I have finally realized my calling is to glorify God, not Aimee. My calling is to reach souls for Jesus, not sales for a publisher. My calling is to express the love, grace and goodness of God, not chart publishing contracts and quotas of book sales each week. I am sad it took me so long to realize I could do what God called me to do with twelve people and not wait to do it for twelve million.
Once I let go of the notion I had to have my books published in order to do what God has called me to do, I realized it is far more important to do what I’m doing where I’m doing it, than to “dream” about doing it on a bigger scale.
What if we reach people for His Kingdom by loving the people right in front of us so hard, they want what we have?
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." - John 13:35 (NIV)
What if that woman at the grocery store who never smiles, then runs to hug you and says she loves you, is the reason you are shopping in that store? What if the teacher who is so difficult on your child needs to be met with compassion rather than combativeness? What if the guy who was supposed to finish working on your car two days ago is greeted with understanding instead of a tongue lashing? What if the neighbor who allows his trash to blow over into your yard is met with baked goods instead of the middle finger? What if the guy who cuts in front of you at the movie theater is spoken to kindly rather than scoffed at, loudly? What if the mom in Target with a special needs child having a meltdown is greeted with a gift card rather than a snarky, “can’t you do something about that” comment?
We each have so many opportunities to glorify God through our actions that we might miss them if we are too focused on the big scale dreams, rather than the mission in the moment gifts. I don’t have to go to Africa and preach to a village in order to call myself a missionary. I can walk through Publix in my town and love people. I don’t have to speak in front of thousands of people at a conference because I wrote a New York Times best selling book in order to show people Jesus.
If I am living right, the guy at the gas station will notice. I don’t have to be on a nationally syndicated talk show to discuss how to love people.
I think too often we have this, “go big or go home” mentality. But what if we go big at home? What if we love people right in front of us, rather than long for “big” opportunities to love on a bigger scale? The audience we long for is waiting for us in our daily walk. It’s the people at the grocery store, at our church, in our neighborhood, at our children’s school, at the gas station, at the restaurant where we love to eat, at the pharmacy, at the doctor’s office. Every single person we encounter is our audience. Are we showing Jesus on the stage, or are we putting ourselves under the spotlight? Because if it isn’t the All Jesus, All Day Show, we need to re-read the script.
I’ve said it before, but I need to say it every single day. It’s like the t-shirts Michala and her friends wear: It’s Jesus. Spelled out: Jesus period.