Your Sweet Spot

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3)

“I’VE DECIDED. I’M GOING BACK TO CHINA. The missionary service has accepted me,” Eric Liddell informed his sister. “But I’ve got a lot of running to do first. Jennie, you’ve got to understand. I believe that God made me for a purpose. For China. But he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure. To give it up would be to hold him in contempt. You were right. It’s not just fun. To win is to honor him.” Those famous words from Chariots of Fire have been quoted often because they resonate with those of us who have been trained to think that the best, most spiritual ways of serving God involve professional ministry and missions. While lives fully dedicated to God often do find expression in those fields, many people in other areas of life are just as fully dedicated and fruitful. We were made with all sorts of gifts and interests, and all of them have the potential to reflect something of God’s nature. When we are living in our sweet spot, we feel his pleasure and honor him.

God may have a specific calling for many of us, but he is far more interested in commitment and devotion in the work we do than in the position we hold. When we delight in him and commit our ways to him, he leads us through our desires and interests, opportunities and circumstances, gifts and talents, and counsel and convictions. He has been known to put his people on unexpected platforms in the least likely venues—an imprisoned Israelite named Joseph who became a ruler in Egypt, a shepherd named David who became king of Israel, a fig farmer named Amos who became a prophet, a Jewish girl named Esther who became queen of a pagan land, and more. Some of our platforms are beyond our control; some are given when we follow our interests and convictions. In any case, God thinks far more creatively about the ways we serve him than we do. Commit your ways to him in whatever you do, and see what he does in return.

{Lord, you created me the way I am for a purpose. Use my gifts, interests, and activities for your glory. Let everything I do honor you, and let me feel your pleasure. Amen.