Western Plains District

The other night, at our Thursday Night Bible Study, we came across a remarkable chapter in the book we are studying, which is called Rediscover Jesus.  The chapter of the book was entitled, “Transformation.”  Yes, yes, we all know that we should be transformed.  We have been part of the Transformation Movement, even!  Transformation seems like a wonderful idea.  However, I fear that most of us think to ourselves, “Well, yes, transformation seems nice, but I do not want to go the extra mile.  I do not want to get out of my comfort zone or even my pew at the church.  I do not want to find out what God might be wanting for me to do, because it might disrupt my life in some unhandy and uncomfortable ways.  Transformation can be for someone else, but please, God, do not ask me to do it.  I am too old, too young, too settled in a job or too busy in my life, too unsure of who you are or what you might ask of me, too sure of my own opinions to brook any change, too rich, too poor, too angry, too stressed out”, or whatever your “too” is.

The chapter says, without any compromise, however, that if we are not willing and able to be transformed, we will miss out on the life that God has promised.  Here is the prayer that the chapter offered to all of us:

Loving God,

                Here I am.

                I trust that you have an incredible plan for me.

                Transform me.  Transform my life.

                Everything is on the table.

                Take what you want to take, and give what you want to give.

                Transform me into the person you created me to be,

                So I can live the life you envision for me.

                I hold nothing back;

                I am 100% available,

                How can I help?   

                AMEN

As we read this prayer, each of us in the Bible study was stunned.  Could we really pray that prayer and mean it?  Could we really be transformed in such a complete way?  And we ended by asking, “What can God have yet for me?”  Maybe God wants me just to go forth from the church to invite people to come.  Maybe God wants me to sit and listen to the struggles and triumphs that people around me are having.  Maybe God wants to send me somewhere, either near or far.  Maybe God wants to send me to a new job.  Maybe God wants to lead me to work with disabled people or maybe God wants me to work with the dying.  Maybe God wants me in the inner city to work with the youth who see a very bleak future.  Maybe God wants me to teach a Sunday School class.  Maybe God wants me to create a way to feed the hungry.  Maybe God wants me to visit people in the hospital or in prison.  Maybe God wants me to demonstrate how to love enemies.  Maybe God wants me to grow a garden.  The list could go on and on.

I challenge each one of you who read this writing to pray the prayer given above, and to really mean it.  God created each one of us, not to sit in our little corners and be a lump of clay, but God created us to be as active as we can possibly be for as long as we possibly can.  Even Jesus said, “I came not to be served, but to serve.”  (Mark 10:45 NRSV)  Here we are, Lord.  Use us, whomever, however, for whatever you intend.  AMEN

Sonja Griffith                                                                                                        District Executive Minister