What do I do with my life?
“What do I do with my life?”
We all ask that question at some point in our lives.
We wonder. We take personality tests. We talk to guidance counselors.
We think about money, fame, safety, health, and goals.
What do I do with my life?
In answering that question, we must consider faith. We must bring Jesus into the discussion.
We’ve heard the songs about giving our lives away. To give my life away so He can use me.
We’ve heard the verses, the challenges, the sermons.
We know that God calls us… all of us… to freely give Him our lives.
He calls me to give my life.
“Lord, I give myself to you…” Psalm 25:1 NCV
“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39
To serve Him with everything.
To give our all in dedication to the One who is ever faithful.
To remember that we serve, we give, we go because He came, He gave, He served us.
He asks me to give my life with eternal goals in mind.
Can we do the same?
When we ask ourselves, “What do I do with my life?”
Can we ask that question with eternity in mind?
I have always struggled with what this really means.
To give my all.
And, now that I’m experiencing it to the extreme… I’ve realized something very important.
It isn’t the initial “giving” that is so hard.
Oh, it IS hard.
Selling everything… that night we put our mattresses on the curb for the trash guy to pick up… that day we sold everything in a garage sale… that day we loaded up what was left, loaded it into 3 small trucks and put it in storage… yeah… that IS hard.
But, that isn’t as hard as the daily reminder to KEEP giving all.
What does it mean to give my life?
Well, for us… we’ve been called to go to Africa to tell kids about Jesus.
We’ve said yes to the call and we are living it out in West Africa.
That is and was hard.
Daily giving all is even harder.
The practical side of giving our lives away is so incredibly REAL.
We’ve given up the life we had in our town.
We’ve let go of the normal friendships and events and happenings.
Our girls gave up piano lessons and their homeschool room and their toys and their friends and their church and their belongings. Their clothes, their rooms… their space.
Our everyday life, as it was, is gone. Given to the call of Christ on our lives.
Daily choosing to live in that call is where the rubber really meets the road.
Continually choosing to let go, to not accumulate stuff at Christmas and birthdays, to not hold on to anything that can’t travel with us.
That is hard.
Seeing things the girls want or could have if we were in one place and DAILY choosing to continue walking the path God has for us.
To keep walking in obedience every day when the pull of regaining our life is so strong.
What do I do with my life?
The push back from the world around us says to dig in, plant roots, buy stuff, build a home and have a life.
Our hearts call us to stand firm, resist the pull and walk in daily obedience. To choose to give our lives away. every. single. day.
And again tomorrow we will choose.
To walk in obedience.
To keep giving.
To push aside those things that tie us down and keep us from following the call.
And none of this is to make you feel bad for having stuff or staying here or living your life.
We ALL have been called to something. All of us. YOU.
What is holding you back from following the call Jesus has placed on your life?
“To keep walking in obedience every day when the pull of regaining our life is so strong.” Love that! Great word Jenilee!
“He is NO fool who gives up what he can not keep, to gain what he can NOT lose.” ~Jim Elliot.
This one phrase comforted me (and still does) on those days when I am reminded of what I have left behind.
Keep giving it away! We can’t keep it anyway.
I love that quote!
I found your journey while pondering the question of how to give your life away. I too have a call on my life to west Africa Nigeria after an encounter with a scammer who after a six month chat was moved to confess and redeem himself with God. I would
Love to make a way for these young men and women to find a legitimate means to support a God fearing life free from the darkness that surround them as the only way to make a living for their
Birth families. As I I defend if, even the Christin churches can not be trusted for the darkness and corruption behind the walls.
If you would have any comment or suggestions for a ministry, I would be very indebted. Blessings.