The gap men- finding your role in the Kingdom.
Alarm clock goes off. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Drive to work. Come home. Take care of house projects. Go to bed. Rinse and repeat.
Ever feel stuck in the cycle of monotonous life and wish there was more? Maybe you even have the opportunities to live out your passion on occasions, but you feel limited by life and lack of knowledge. You are not alone.
The Kingdom– for the ordinary people
We all crave significance, to do something that matters, but being an overnight success story does not seem to be in the cards for many of us. Translate this over to our work for Christ, and the likelihood of leading a revival that changes the world does not seem possible. Yet God still calls us to His work.
So what about us everyday people? God says we all are part of the body of Christ, so what is our role when life seems rather mundane?
D.L. Moody dedicated much of his mission to equipping Christian workers, or as he called them, “the gap men,” the everyday people who filled the small needs- the Sunday school teachers, the people who witnessed at their workplace, those who looked after the homeless. These people are not those who seek great notice and usually fame will not come to them, but their work is needed.
The church is mobilized by all those individuals each in their unique calling spreading out to carry forward their role in God’s kingdom. Whether the role seems small or large, the important factor is that people are faithful with their work.
Claim your role
The gap men are essential to the Christian work, because they are meeting the fundamental needs of the world. They are preparing the fields and sowing the seeds that God can water and nourish. So whatever your passion may be, claim it and execute it with joy and faithfulness. There is no work too small. We need to re-frame our perspective to see it in the light of Kingdom work, not compared to others.
What does your heart break for? Maybe you do not know how to begin, but I will tell you that the first step is prayer. Look through history and you will see that many great movements have been sparked by fervent intercessors. Pray, pray, pray. The more you cultivate your relationship with Christ, the more your heart will be attuned to hear when He does speak and provide guidance to your calling.
Prepare for attacks
Perhaps what holds so many people back is that we live distracted lives. We keep busy with meaningless noise, and our hearts grow dull to the joys God instilled in us originally. This truly is one of the greatest weapons of the enemy- He loves to distract and keep our hearts away from what matters.
The other great attack you will experience is discouragement. You will question your abilities, your worth, your impact, but those are lies from the enemy. If he can keep us wallowing in doubt and self-pity, it keeps us from the work of Christ.
The work of Christ is not dependent on how strong and put together you are. It is your weakness where He is made strong ultimately. Do not fall into these traps of discouragement.
You are needed to stand in the gaps and be a light & testimony to Christ.
