By Pastor Brandon Young
Do you ever feel like you are meandering or wandering through life haphazardly? Many times in my life I have definitely felt this way. I was just hoping I ended up at the right place at the right time. It is a frustrating experience. It is like trying to make your way around with a blindfold once someone has spun you around. It is very difficult and dangerous, and it never seems to work out without a negative consequence. We often run straight into the living room coffee table busting our knee in the process. I think this happens in our spiritual walk as well. It is not God’s will for his people to spend their life passively rambling around hoping for a good outcome. I want to share a principle with you that is a principle which is true in all areas of life. It works in our marriages, on our jobs, and especially in our walk with God. The principle is this: If you want to have great impact on the lives of others, be intentional.
To live intentional is to live deliberately. Deliberate originates from the Latin word deliberatus, meaning “resolved upon, determined.” Used to describe an action made intentionally, it can also mean doing something in a careful, thoughtful manner. On purpose and by design! We need to be intentional in our spiritual walk with God. Every word and deed needs to be deliberate and well thought out by allowing God to direct our steps. Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” We must allow God to direct our steps because we cannot see past the end of our nose. We must walk by faith and stop floundering about by sight. Trying to make decisions and take the right steps without the direction of the Lord will definitely produce lasting negative consequences. Let’s look at a biblical formula for being intentional in our life.
Paul says in Colossians 2:4-6, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” The first thing we must do to live intentional is prayer. We should be diligent in prayer meaning we should be praying all of the time. We should be praying in the morning, during the day, in the afternoon, in the evening. We should pray when we go to bed and when we wake up. We should be constantly in prayer, and persistent in thanksgiving. Prayer is not to change God, or to show God what he should be doing in our lives, but prayer is to change us and allow God to direct our path. Prayer is the most important thing we can do every day. Satan understands the power of prayer in our lives, and that is why he attacks our lives with busyness and distractions to hinder our talk time with God!
The second thing we must do to be intentional is to be passionate about our purpose! Let nothing or no one defeat your purpose. Our purpose as Christians is to lead others to Christ, and we must be passionate in doing so. Every word we speak and every deed we do should be for no other reason than to show the world the transforming power of Jesus in our lives. Our words and actions should be filled with love, compassion, and empathy for those around us. Forgiveness, grace, and mercy should always be at the top of our daily to-do list! We can’t just hope that we will make an impact today! We must set out to do so from the get-go! We must wake up each morning passionate about carrying out the mission of our Lord! Take every word, every thought, and every deed captive to make sure they look and sound Christ like! If we live like Jesus, we cannot help but to impact everyone around us!
Finally, we must plan and prepare. Live your life so intentionally that you are constantly looking for ways and opportunities to be utilized in the wisest way possible to lead others to Jesus! When David intentionally went out to fight Goliath, he had already been praying about the task ahead. He saw the purpose and he pursued it with passion as he ran out to meet Goliath, but he also had planned and prepared for this moment when he picked up five smooth stones out of the brook. When David saw the people of God being tormented by this giant, he was prayed up, passionate, and ready to allow God to use him to win this battle. He intentionally went out onto the battlefield knowing that his Lord would deliver again! Let’s decide to pray like never before pursuing the Lord’s mission with passion. Plan and prepare to make an impact on those around by being intentional!
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, Hunter Greene.)