Summing Up The Past 20 Years
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
As today we are celebrating 20 years of the mad christian radio show I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking and praying of what message could I share to sum up the last twenty years? And there’s one sentence I keep coming back to: God wants to use you to be making a difference.
There is nothing special about me to separate me from the next person. In fact, there are far more qualified people than I who could have been placed in this ministry instead of me. I was in high school. I was very shy. I had never been to broadcast school, let alone Bible college. But God called that teenager just like He is calling you right now to make a difference.
Romans 10:13-15 spells it out this way:
"For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.' But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'" Romans 10:13-15 NLT
Give The Same Gift To Others
The people around us aren't going to hear about Jesus unless we tell them. We came to know Christ because someone else took the time to tell us and we need to use our lives to give that same gift to others.
The fact that you and I are still breathing means God has a purpose and plan for our lives and that is something to be pursued, not ignored. As people who have decided to follow Jesus, it doesn’t mean we follow Him over to a recliner where we sit for the rest of our lives. No, it means we follow Him where He leads us and that is to people who need to hear about the Gospel or to people who need the hands and feet of Jesus to touch their lives.
Responding To The Call
God gives each one of us a slightly different way of carrying out the building of His kingdom here on this earth, but we all have a part to play. For me, it is this radio ministry, encouraging others and serving in my local church. For you it might mean evangelizing on the streets or working at the food bank or leading a Bible study or teaching Sunday school or leading worship at church or encouraging the down and out or cleaning the church bathrooms or ministering to single moms or visiting with lonely seniors. The list of things we can do to spread the love and light of Christ is endless and it doesn’t matter what your ministry title is. What does matter is you are faithfully responding to the call Christ has placed on your life and you live your days to be His hands and feet here on this earth. As John Piper wrote in his book Don't Waste Your Life:
"But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will not waste your life."
Please don’t wait to find out where God is calling you and then don't wait to say yes in obedience. I get it, it's scary. When I first felt the call to go on the radio I was terrified. I had only been a Christian for two years, I was extremely shy and I had no experience on the radio. But over and over again I've seen God come through in ways I could not and it's such a humbling thing to be a part of. What many people listening to this show don't realize is there have been many moments over the years that could have spelled the end of mad, but God came through. My personal health challenges should have stopped this ministry in its tracks, but God has come through time and time again.
His Faithfulness Isn't Hinged On Our Abilities
You see, His faithfulness is not dependent on our abilities. Where He calls you He doesn’t send you to go alone. With Christ in you and the Holy Spirit as your guide, you will find nothing but a faithful God as you faithfully live out His calling on your life. Where you are weak, He sends His strength. Where you don't know what to say, He sends words. Where you feel scared, He floods your heart with His peace. If there's one thing this ministry has taught me it's that I don't need to have what it takes, because He does! As David Platt said in his book Radical:
"God actually delights in exalting our inability. He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him."
Recognizing Our Need For Him
Any ministry of any form is going to get tough. It will leave us feeling in over our heads, but where our ability ends, our recognizing our need for Him begins. And in that dependency, our faith deepens as He still works in us and through us.
So take your faith and live it out every day in every opportunity that comes your way. Don’t wait. None of us know how long we have left to live this life. This is our one shot to tell our friends and neighbors and anyone we come into contact with about Jesus. Make your life count as your live it out, building His Kingdom. Closing with Acts 20:24 where it reads:
"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." Acts 20:24 NLT
Return To The Impact Devotional Archive
