Making A Mark

It was a Tuesday afternoon at work, not unlike any other day, until I felt this tiny deposit inside me -
"IT MATTERS MORE THAT YOU MAKE AN IMPACT IN THE KINGDOM THAN IN THE WORLD."

The next morning I had come upon an insightful thought on influencers (which I cannot remember anymore.) But it had caused me to reflect on my life, my goals ...

Social media - the Internet; it's a pretty incredible tool. Knowledge at our fingertips, inspiration to dare to dream and reach for those dreams, the opportunity to connect with incredible new friends ... But it's also a double-edged sword. I feel like society's thinking has gotten so warped and inflated on what life should be, who we should be ...

I love design and photography. And I am blessed that I get to do that every day; I truly feel fulfilled in my work and hobbies. But when I shift my focus to social media and measure my presence and impact there, I don't feel noticed or even noteworthy at all. (And in reality, I think a lot of people feel that way which is why people "buy" likes or follows or strive to go viral.) The question in my mind became "what validates me as a designer or artist?" And the answer, for me, is that my life apart from an online presence should be enough. Just because we cannot measure our impact in likes or shares does not mean we are not making one ... BEING NOTICED DOES NOT EQUATE LIVING A LIFE OF VALUE.

I reflected on this much of Wednesday but was bothered that this picture still felt incomplete. But Wednesday night during church service, God brought to fruition the fullness of this revelation through a message given by Lydia Marrow from Shake The Nations in a scripture from John 16 in that "the Holy Spirit never points at himself or the servant, He only points at the Father." (Her point came in noting that though the demon possessed girl we see following Paul in Acts proclaimed they were men of God, we know the spirit was not of God because she pointed at the servants.) And there was the capstone of what God had been laying on my heart so tenderly ...

IF YOU ARE MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE KINGDOM, YOU ARE LEAVING AN IMPACT IN THE WORLD BUT  IT IS NOT YOUR  FINGERPRINTS YOU WILL SEE ... IT IS HIS !

I realized that there are mighty men and women of God in the spotlight who are known all around the world making a tremendous impact but our perverted perception is that notoriety makes greatness - when in reality there are people the "world" will never know who have changed the world just by their sphere of influence ... the ripple effect.

Wow. I'm still soaking in this, weeks later.

In reality we shouldn't be surprised that God would work in this way. (1 Corinthians 1:27; Matthew 20:16) Every "natural" rhythm of this world is really an unnatural rhythm and a result of a carefully calculated plan by a rebellious, fallen angel working strategically to blindly shift the focus of our culture.

My challenge to you, and myself, is plug in to your world, engage in face to face relationships and conversations more than you plug in to face-time... Do more of the things you enjoy - immerse yourself in your God-given gifts and passions and live ... truly LIVE! But most importantly, realize that a life of notoriety does not equivalate  your value; you are valued simply because you are you, intentionally knit together by a heavenly Father who loves you and counted no cost too high to reconcile with you though the offense was not His.

 ... And leave the fingerprints of Jesus all over everything you say and do! It's the legacy I want to leave, His image, and I hope you do too.

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