For most Christians, to serve God is an ongoing desire of the heart that can languish in secret for years. We have in our minds and hearts that we will serve Him whenever and wherever he calls. We daydream about the these encounters, gradually raising the heartbreak quotient that will shade the moment. We’ll gladly help the downtrodden, the persecuted, or those who just need a little help as long as it doesn’t require risk on our part. We wait and we wait on God but sometimes act out of our own conscience when he doesn’t seem to be forthcoming with any tasks for us.
But what if we’re just missing the message? What if we stopped sitting idly by waiting for God to deliver miracles and took to heart the messages our pastors have been teaching us for years, that we are the vessels through which God wants to work?
What if this is what we were born for?
In Bruce Wilkinson’s new book You Were Born for This he takes us on a journey of revelation where, right off the bat, we discover that miracles are much more than the overwhelming workings of God in which seas are parted and thousands are fed from meager supplies. They are, as Wilkinson writes, the everyday appearances and interventions in the lives of the people that God loves. In our initial steps, the first idea that we take to heart is that you and I are intended to be the delivery mechanism for these miracles. The journey of miracles is about learning to recognize the subtle nudges and signals that God sends our way and then having the courage and the confidence in His power to deliver the gifts that He’s sending.
You Were Born for This is not a cultic, Course in Miracles type of book. It is about how you and I can actively participate in the delivery of everyday signs of God’s love to others who have come to His attention. Wilkinson lays out seven keys that are necessary to our active participation. The first four, the Miracle Light Keys, are those that we need to internalize in order to participate in this life and miracles. The last three, which Wilkinson calls the special delivery keys, applied to very specific needs such as forgiveness, money, and a life’s purpose.
I was initially skeptical as I read the book for the first time. As I read and thought about the first four concepts a second time, I came to realize that this was the life that I had preached and written about for many years. For example, the Master Key uses your fervent prayer to God asking to be sent to serve another. We have all delivered this prayer up to heaven in the abstract but, more than likely, we have not made this a daily affirmation. Wilkinson shows how, if we integrate this intentional practice into our daily routine, we become more and more receptive to the gentle nudges and whispers that God sends to move us as servants. The other three Light Keys follow logically from this concept. Once you have expressed your willingness to serve, the People Key aligns your heart with God’s agenda and expels any lingering desires for the glory of the miracle. You turn over your heart to Spirit and rid yourself of any thoughts that miracle you are going to deliver is from you instead of God. With proper humility, Wilkinson says that you are ready to approach the final step, the Risk Key, which builds in you the ability to be intentional about taking risks in faith. It is your commitment to God that, despite your fears and hesitancy, you will trust in His power to deliver the miracle that He wants to send.
You Were Born for This is a volume that you will keep on your desk or nightstand for many months as you ponder and practice the concepts. Wilkinson’s stories of the miracles he has been privileged to be a part of will get your heart pounding to partner with God in the same types of situations. You may be skeptical at first, hesitant to dive in thinking that the material might be some kind of Gnostic text or a light-weight treatise on how to change the world but give it a chance. Read it through a couple of times and then put it aside and think about it some more. Read the Bible and then come back and see if what Wilkinson is saying isn’t true. Better yet, decide that today is the day that you will say to God “Please, send me!”
For more information about this book:
Bruce Wilkinson introduces his new book
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 