NEW BOOK CLUB NEWS: Melissa Phillips of Lynchburg, SC says, "I LOVED Tangled Heart!  Everybody did. It was our first book in our first bookclub with 27 participating.  Since we had some "cheaters"  (LOL - they read through the entire book instead of just the 1st half), we decided that on your next book, we would read the entire book in one month.    By the way, we are going to pass the book down to our teen girls at church.

3 Steps to Finding YOUR God-given Mission

By Rebekah Montgomery

Ever watch a water bug? It dithers all over the surface of the pond but never goes anywhere or accomplishes anything except feeding itself.

That is about what many ministries accomplish. They feed themselves and consider that success. That’s not success unless God has called you to lead water bugs.

Your function as a leader is to:

• paint a picture of a goal which inspires people to follow you
• build teams to accomplish the goal
• inspire and motivate the teams
• lead change
• establish core values
• allocate resources
• find out what’s not going well and fix it
• develop emerging leaders

You must have a God-given mission because your vision is the most potent weapon in your arsenal as a leader. So how do you determine what God is calling you to accomplish?

Step One – ONE CAUSE

Remember the water bug? Many things distract it.

Leaders can be distracted, too. But this is key: You need ONE CAUSE that drives you, ONE CAUSE that grabs you by the throat and won’t let you go.

Here’s some examples:

• Paul was driven to take the Gospel to the Gentiles.
• Dorcas was driven to clothe the needy.
• King Josiah was driven to purge out idolatry.
• David was driven to united Israel.

To lead, you must be driven. Find that one thing that you must do. Pray about it. Ask God to light a fire in your soul.

Step Two – EXPOSE YOURSELF

Don't give up if your mission is not immediately obvious. Keep exposing your heart to needs and solutions. Visit ministries. Volunteer at a suicide prevention hot line or an AIDS clinic. Get to know some single mothers. Keep on looking and be open. Paul found his mission in a dream when the man from Macedonia pleaded with him. Peter had a vision on a rooftop. Dorcas looked at her own neighborhood while Josiah discovered his while housecleaning. You just never know how God will open your eyes to the harvest.

Step Three – STAY CLOSE

When you find it, don't run from your mission but stay close to it. You will find that you have a tendency to run from your mission in frustration because you will see all that needs to be done and all you want to do and how little you can accomplish on your own. And that is just what God wants you to see. You cannot accomplish it on your own. Feed your sense of inadequacy. Stay close to your weaknesses. It will help you recognize the One who empowers you to complete the mission to which He has called you.

© Rebekah Montgomery 2008
For reprint requests, contact Rebekah at her website, www.Rebekah Montgomery.com

Rebekah Montgomery, author/speaker/teacher, is a gifted, dynamic communicator. She is the author of more than five books and has penned 1,100 articles. She shares tough real-life topics and biblical application in a simple easy to grasp manner. To book Rebekah for your next event visit www.rebekahmontgomery.com. Rebekah is also the editor of Right to the Heart of Women and a publisher at Jubilant Press.

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