“He must increase, but I must decrease.” — John 3:30
I once heard Alistair Begg describe the calling of God through the picture of making a team. The coach calls your name, tosses you a jersey, and in that moment nothing else matters. You aren’t negotiating for a better position or asking what number you’ll wear. You’re simply grateful to be on the team.
One line especially stayed with me:
“Jesus, I want to be on Your team.”
That simple prayer has lingered in my heart.
This world will keep us busy. It constantly tells us what looks good, what is worth pursuing, and what success should be. Left to ourselves, we’ll spend our lives chasing the wrong things.
If I had to describe my life, it would be this: God has tenderly walked with me through everything I thought looked good, patiently rewiring my heart and my eyes to see Him instead.
Grief became hope when I realized the Savior loved me.
Talent became a conduit to serve others when I knew the Source.
Fear became trust when I understood He spoke the world into existence.
Pain and suffering became a dinner table where my Lord invited me to sit, be still, and commune with Him.
Ambition shifted away from building myself and became a desire to see, love, and serve others.
Interior design transformed from materialism into a way of using creativity to help others see beauty, seek God’s will, and ultimately find Him.
One by one, I opened the gifts God had given me and tossed the instructions aside. Yet my loving Father patiently picked them back up and gently said, “Here… let’s read them together.”
His Word became the instruction manual I didn’t know I needed.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” — Psalm 119:105
You have a calling too. It begins with surrender.
“Jesus, I want to be on Your team.”
That’s where it starts.
Talk with Him about everything. Read His precious Word every day. If you are not being filled with His truth, something else will fill you instead. As much of your life as you allow Him to touch, He will. So surrender your heart first. Then surrender your plans, your gifts, your work, your dreams, and your fears.
Then go.
Carry what He has entrusted to you and use it to serve others. Let Him multiply the work of your hands, because it all belongs to Him anyway.
Beauty stirs the soul because it bears the trace of something eternal. If my work has any worth, let it be this: that it turns eyes not to the work, but to the One from whom all beauty comes.
{If you enjoyed this blog post, you might also like this episode of The Love Offering Podcast, where Rachael chats with Morgan Krueger about how we were never created to carry the burden of making ourselves great. We were created to magnify the One who already is. You can listen to the episode here.}
About the Author:
Barbara Ann is the founder, owner, and lead designer of both Lintels & Lallies as well as “design MAGNIFIED” (a division of L&L teaching Biblical design.)
Barbara Ann believes every good design begins on the foundation of God our Creator, and the study of His designs and desires for our homes.
Barbara Ann speaks and writes about such topics through various platforms.
