World Changers
For Pastor Appreciation Month, I recently was given the gift of a new book. The title of this book is appropriately named World Changers. Since the inception of AICM, God deposited deep down in my soul this incredible desire to make world changers. The first time I had this thought, I quickly dismissed it; thinking to myself that it was an impossible dream. Not long after that, the thought came again. I decided that I needed to ponder what that looks like in the life of a hopeless, forgotten, and maybe abandoned child. How do you develop a world changer out of a life that is so broken? I began to weep and feel this life calling well up within me. I knew that if God wanted to make world changers, He would definitely choose those who society has thrown away. I just knew that my God always reaches down to the depths of the pit and pulls out His most prized possessions. He has proven to me that He loves to make something beautiful out of devastation; beauty out of ashes. I spoke out loud that day and said, “God, if you want me to partner with you in this impossible endeavor . . . I’m in. But God, I’m scared. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t even know where to begin. But if You are in this, then I’m your girl. I want to be where You are. I know Your heart is for the lost. It is for the forgotten. It’s for the marginalized and it is definitely FOR the children.” By the time my conversation was finished with my Heavenly Daddy, I knew what He wanted from me and I knew the ministry that He placed upon my life.
God quickly showed me that being a world changer was not just a call for the children of Uganda, but it was for me and my household. This truth began to challenge my heart from only thinking about this globally to bringing this challenge to my own small circle. I began to see my own children from a different perspective. God gave me a desire to pour into them daily and to help mold them to see that God has a desire to use them. I spoke truth and life over them. I began to pray fervently for each one of them to become world changers. I begged God to give them a hunger and desire to passionately serve Him. I tried to use each and every opportunity to show them that one small choice can change a life. A choice to show kindness. A choice to forgive. A choice to be a friend when rejected. A choice to love the unlovable. A choice to serve when treated as a servant. Each and every one of these daily choices make a difference. I longed for my children to see their God in every one of these daily choices. I wanted to see them be used by Him; to be world changers for Him.
“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. ”
After almost twenty years have passed from that God-moment conversation, I can confidently say that the call to see God move in the lives of children in Uganda has remained and grown even stronger. I have been able to see God handpick these children in Uganda one by one and say to each of them, “You are loved. You are valued. You are not forgotten. You are priceless. You are a World Changer for Me.” As these children embrace the love of their God, they begin to see how He wants to rescue them and use them. It is a beautiful thing when an unloved and hopeless child, accepts and receives love and hope from their Creator.
God has called each one of His children, including you and me, to be world changers for Him. What does this look like in our everyday life? I believe the first thing that we must recognize is that Jesus is our greatest example of a world changer. He came, He served, He led, He taught, He loved, He sacrificed and He changed His world forever. He was a world changer for you; a world changer for me. And in return, I want to be a world-changer for Him.
Is being a world changer for every single one of God’s people? Good question. The answer is a resounding YES! He wants to take your life and use it for His glory, for His purposes. He is looking for those who say, “Yes, God – I am all in”. His eyes are roaming to and fro across the face of the earth looking for a child of His that has their heart set on Him. The idea of living your life in such a way that you would change the world may sound a bit daunting. However, I’m not talking about selling everything you own and moving to a third world country in order to be a world changer. I’m talking about the little everyday choices we can make to choose Him. Being world changers for Him means, He is your everything. If He is your everything, you will love people deeper, you will serve people stronger, and you will change your world.
You can have a life that matters for the kingdom. When you choose to make Him your priority and live daily for Him; there is no end to what He can do through your life. A life that is surrendered is a life worth living. Choose Him today and change your world!
So how do we begin? How do we go from the everyday ordinary, life to a life that matters? How do we transform the mundane things we do each day to count? In the Introduction of the book, World Changers, the author Greg Laurie simplifies the call to this:
“We are all parts of this one body and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other and each of us needs all the others. So what does that look like? Maybe something like this.
When you first open your eyes in the morning, before you put your feet on the floor, offer up a silent prayer: Lord, use me.
When you walk through the doors of your church: Lord, use me.
When you enter your workplace or classroom or step into a coffee shop to meet a friend: Lord use me.
When you step through your front door into your house with your family: Lord, use me.
I can assure you with all confidence that God is looking for people to use every day, people who want to serve others rather than be served.”
Let this become a prayer of our hearts . . . Lord use me, I want to be a world-changer for You!
- Sandi Balli
