This weekend I presented the third sermon from my series titled Missionaries You Should Know, focused on Saul of Tarsus, aka the Apostle Paul. What gained my attention from my study of Acts 9 was Jesus’ simple testament in verse 15: “Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as the people of Israel.”
This verse reminded me of the counsel I once received from my friend Ken Lumley. Eating pancakes at a Village Inn in Ft. Worth, Texas one night, Ken leaned across the table and said, “God calls special people to specific places for His sovereign purposes.” We were talking about church planting and the story of Abram from Genesis 12:1-2.
I thought about Ken and Abram and missions and Saul, and used that principle to share what I believe God wants to do in each of our lives. So this weekend I used Acts 9:15 to simply point out this truth: God calls and sends special people to specific places for His saving purposes.
I believe that each person is special. Not in a little league “everyone gets a trophy” kind of way, but in the sense that we are special because God has set his affection on us and we are profoundly loved by Him. In other words, we are special because we are God’s children. We don’t really bring anything to the table that completes a deficiency in God. He’s quite complete on His own without us. But because we belong to Him, special we are indeed.
We are not God’s special people in a vaccuum. We are who we are in the context of where we are. Paul was called and sent to a specific people in specific geographical locations. Part of knowing what God expects of you is to simply evaluate where you are in this world. You are in a family, a neighborhood, a school, a job and a city by God’s design. He intends for you to live your life as an expression of his tangible presence in order to share the gospel of Jesus Christ right where you are.
