Start Where You Are: Aligning with God's Work in Your Life

Engaging Urban Affinities - Part 2
By S. Crawley

Photo by Ben Duchac on Unsplash

Cities are complex.

Where do we focus our time and energy? There are so many things happening. So many needs and opportunities. Distractions.

It's easy to spread ourselves too thinly across different activities, relationships and commitments.

The result is a lot of activity but a loss of focus. It can feel like we're blindly spraying water over a row bottles. Some water might go in, but most will end up on the ground and none of the bottles will be filled.

However, God has been working in us since before we were born.

He is continually shaping, moulding and guiding us whether we realise it or not. Everything He has sown into our lives shapes the contribution that we uniquely bring to the places and people we serve. Prayerfully reflecting on these things helps us discern where and how God is inviting us to join Him and where to focus our time and energy for maximum impact.

As we seek to engage affinities in our city, we can often maximise our Kingdom contribution by starting where we are.

Reflect on Your Journey

Take some time to consider the following aspects of your life story so far.

Painful Experiences

What were the significant low points in your life journey?

We've all experienced pain and brokenness. These seasons often deepen our compassion for particular people or communities. Throughout my life, I have repeatedly found myself in the minority in a wide range of environments and situations. This has made me sensitive and aware of the challenges faced by different kinds of minorities.

God wastes nothing, and the painful seasons of our lives often point to unique contributions He is preparing us to make.

Passions & Abilities

What brings you deep satisfaction and joy?

Do you love creating? Inspiring? Bringing order to chaos? Do you feel most alive when mentoring young people?

Our passions and abilities are given by God and offer clues about where we can joyfully add the most value.

Assignments

What roles, projects, or responsibilities has God called you to in this season?

Student. Spouse. Parent. Assistant. Committee member. Catalyst. Volunteer. These roles may or may not be permanent, but God is using them to shape us, and they also shape our daily and weekly reality in this season.

How do these assignments create opportunities and natural connection points with certain affinities? Does this give us any clues on where we could fruitfully focus our time and energy?

Look Around

Now, take stock of your relational networks and contexts:

Relationships

Who has God placed in your world?

Acts 17:26-27 tells us that all people are deliberately placed by God so that they might seek Him, reach for Him and find Him. This should encourage us! Nobody in our lives is there by accident.

He is at work amongst those we see every day, and He wants to involve us in what He is doing.

Access

Where has God given you natural connections or influence?

Your office? Campus? Neighbourhood? Extended family? God can and does invite us into contexts where we have no relationships or influence, but that's not our starting point. Jesus began His ministry in Galilee. When Paul entered a city he tried to visit the synagogue before he went to the marketplace.

To maximise our impact, we should pay attention to the spaces where we might be the "people of peace" (Lk 10:1-9) LINK.

Compassion

What affinity groups or people capture your heart?

Marginalised youth? The elderly? Single mothers? Most of us have a special compassion for certain groups of people that we don't have for others. This is often God breaking our hearts for the things that break His amongst that group.

This love often points to an invitation from our Father to join Him in bringing peace and healing to that area.

Prayerfully Align

Amidst the noise and the many needs and distractions in the city, our most fruitful long-term contribution will be focused, and it will often start where we are with what God has already put in place.

This does not exclude one-off encounters or calls to new places and people. He is the Lord of the harvest. He will call and deploy wherever He sees fit, and we must be ready to move when He does.

However, the most fruitful engagement comes from recognising what God is already doing - in us and in the affinity group we sense Him calling us to serve.

So start where you are. Reflect on your story, look around your networks, and step out in faith towards the affinity group you sense God is inviting you to join Him in.

For Reflection

1. A Scripture - Ephesians 2:10

What does this verse reveal about God's intentional shaping of our lives for His purposes?

2. A thoughtful question

What insights do your reflections on the above areas give you about where to focus your energies? Are there any affinity group(s) you sense God may be calling you to serve?

3. A possible application

What is one practical step you can take this week in response?

Discipling the Urban Harvest provides practical insights and encouragement to walk with God in multiplying discipleship in an increasingly urban world - growing as children of the Father, serving the communities He has called us to, and discipling those hungry to know Him.