But You Already Said Yes

As I often do, I had a nice long conversation with God this morning on the greenway. To be honest, most of my blog posts get written during my Monday morning greenway outings. Something about being out in nature early in the morning brings me clarity and makes me feel ridiculously close to God. This morning I was thinking about the question that Pastor Doug posed to us on Sunday: Why does my group/community need me? God and I talked about this question this morning, and He reminded me of some things that He has revealed to me about myself recently and also showed me one particular moment from my past that answers this question.

I have been working through an online lab for a few weeks, and it has required me to take the Myers-Briggs personality assessment, the Enneagram test, the Strengths Finder test, and the APEST test, which tells you what role you are called to play within the church as described by Paul in Ephesians 4. Needless to say, I have been learning a lot about myself and the gifts and talents that God has given me. The Myers-Briggs and Enneagram tests just explained how I process and react to information, but the Strengths Finder results really tied everything together for me and brought some clarity to why God has led me to the people and places He has. My top strengths go hand in hand with my Myers-Briggs and Enneagram results. 

The results of these assessments are all indicators of what I bring to the groups and communities I am a part of. No other person is going to have the same exact results that I have. I am unique. This is why my community needs me. I bring something to the table that no one else brings whether it is a unique perspective, past experience, talent, or gifting. And so do you. 

I have been meeting with a group of ladies for about 5 years now. In the beginning, we were meeting on Wednesday nights. A dear friend of mine from college was turning 40 and invited me to Coyote Joe’s for her birthday on a Wednesday night (because Wednesday nights are ladies nights of course) a few years ago. I told her that my small group met on Wednesdays and asked if it was okay for me to bring the girls from my group with me. She agreed, so off we went. We had a wonderful time laughing and dancing that night, and my friend got to know the ladies in my small group. About a week after her birthday, that same friend called me up and said, “So what is this group you’re a part of, and how do I join?” 

I have known this friend for years and years. She brought this introvert out of her shell as much as was possible when we were in college. She knows all my secrets, and I know all of hers. She encourages me when I need to be encouraged and sits by my side when I just need someone to be present with me. She lives on the other side of town, so we don’t see each other as much as we would like. For selfish reasons, I was overjoyed at the thought of her joining my small group, but I also knew some things that the others didn’t when it came to this friend of mine. I knew that she had two similar life experiences as two of the ladies in my group. I don’t mean that the three of them had the same similar experience; I mean that my friend had a similar experience as one of the other lady’s and a different life experience that was similar to another lady’s experience. Very confusing, I know.

Before my friend joined the group, I remember not knowing exactly what to say when one of the ladies would bring up her experience, but thinking that if my friend were there, she would know exactly what to say because she had lived through a similar experience. Fast forward about a year and here she was, sitting in this group with us. I just love how God works! My group needed my friend. We needed her wisdom. We needed her perspective. Those two ladies needed to hear her say, “Yeah, me too” when they brought up this particular hurt from their past, and she needed to hear it from them as well. 

I was the connector for my friend to join my group initially, but she has found a home with all of the ladies in our group. She knows that she can call any of the ladies in our group when things get rough. She knows she has someone with a shared experience that she can lean on when she needs it. That is huge! This group needed her more than I could have ever imagined, and I have had a front row seat to watch God work through it all. Would our group have survived if she hadn’t joined? Yes. But are those two ladies better people and farther along on their healing journeys because of her presence in our group? One hundred percent yes! 

Here’s the bottom line…when I made the decision to follow Christ, I gave God my yes. I gave myself to Him to use me for His good, His glory, and His kingdom in whatever way He saw best. In the same way that God uses everything that Jesus went through to draw people into Himself, we have to allow God to use everything that we have been through to draw people into Himself also. You may be the best, most talented player on the team, but if you are sitting on the bench and not in the game, you’re no good to the coach or the team. If I am not stepping into the groups and communities He is calling me to, I am going back on my word. I am denying Him the opportunity to use me, my experiences, and my unique giftings to reach His other children. Can He still reach them without me? Of course He can. But that’s not the point. The point is, I said yes…and I have to honor that.