His Purpose, Not Ours

It was a regular Sunday morning, just like any other Sunday morning.  As a staff member, I arrived about an hour early to the church building as usual.  And as always was the case, regardless of how early I arrived, there were already church members present in the parking lot, waiting for me to unlock the building.  As I walked across the parking lot, I passed Ms. Wanda sitting in her car.  I spoke a loud “Good morning!” to her as I hurriedly made my way to unlock the doors to the building.  She nodded and waved.  Ms. Wanda was a life-long member of the church and despite her aging status she continued to faithfully lead mission projects and participate in many valuable ministry opportunities.

After retrieving my coffee, walking around the building to unlock additional doors, and greeting everyone, someone asked me if Ms. Wanda planned to be present for Sunday School class.  I confirmed, “Yes, she’s already here.”  My affirmation was met with a polite objection, “No.  She’s not here yet.”  Hmm.  I continued to walk around the building, looking for Ms. Wanda.

As Sunday school started, and I had still not seen Ms. Wanda in the building, I walked back to the last place where I had seen her – in her car, in the parking lot.  As I approached from behind, I was startled to see her still seated in her car.  I gulped and walked to the driver’s window to see her eyes closed.  Oh no.  I tapped on the window and to my great delight, she opened her eyes and smiled.  “Are you ok?” I asked.  She rolled down her window to reply, “Yes, I’m fine.  I always sit in my car before walking into the church and ask God what His purpose is for me is today.  I will be inside in a moment.”

This hit me hard.  What had become routine for me was treated as anything but routine by Ms. Wanda.  Driving to church on Sunday, walking into the building, greeting people – these were all things which I had allowed to become repetitive and predictable in my life, seemingly losing some of its importance.  Later that morning, between Sunday School and Worship Service, Ms. Wanda found me and expounded on her Sunday morning parking lot prayer time.  She explained, “I never come into the church building until I have met with God and cleared my head of distractions and frustrations.  I want to make sure I am coming to church for the right reasons – His reasons, not mine.”

Jesus warned about vain repetitions and James warns against useless religion.  Our purpose is to serve God by serving others, and to remain unstained by the world.  This is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit, by the work of Christ on the cross.  We all need to intentionally pause on regular occasions to ensure that we are meeting with God and following His word.

Blessings,

Pastor Bruce

bruce.cullom@gmail.com