I am scared of living a mediocre life, but not in the same way I used to be.
My past fear was of having a mediocre marriage, a mediocre job, and few friends. And I’ll admit there are still days when those seem like the most important things, but my perspective has shifted.
Now I am scared of living a mediocre Christian life.
I am scared that I will not have a passionate relationship with God.
I am scared that I will not have the courage to do what He calls me to do if it is outside of my plan (which it probably will be.)
I am scared that I will push away the urges of the Holy Spirit because they make me uncomfortable and it is simply TOO SCARY for me to be uncomfortable.
In the last month or so, the things and people God has put into my life have seemed to be echoing one thing: You are made for more than this.
You are made for more than comfort and mediocrity.
You are made for more than holding grudges and bad attitudes.
You are made for more because your God walks on waters, and through Him you can do anything.
“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
After coming back from my one week mission trip this year something struck me.
We are applauded for “giving up” one week of our summer to serve and to love those in need. “Giving up”? That week-long mission trip was not a sacrifice.
I’m sure anyone who’s been on a mission trip will agree with me on this: You may have served the people there and blessed them, but you come out so much more blessed.
What have these trips taught us? Life is at its fullest and we are at our best when we serve.
Yet, we come home excited for next year’s mission trip. I almost feel as if we have missed the point. We love to serve and have a purpose on these trips, yet we don’t come home wanting to serve the people around us.
What if we lived every day of our lives not looking at ourselves but looking at the people around us and saying, “How can I serve them?”
Why don’t we live like that? Why can’t we see outside of ourselves enough to serve on more than just mission trips?
There’s a reason serving others pushes out of our comfort zones and brings out the best in us. It’s because we are MADE to serve. We are MADE to love.
“And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44-45).
Isn’t the point of Christianity to become more like Christ?
Yet, as Christians, I don’t think we really want to be like Christ. We want the assurance that we’re going to Heaven someday, but we want to be comfortable and liked.
We want our lives to be ours; we want to be in control. But that’s the exact opposite of how we are called to live.
“He must become greater, I must become less” (John 3:30).
Becoming “less” goes completely against what society tells us. Society tells us how important it is to “find ourselves and our happiness” but let me tell you something.
The happiest I have ever been is serving others.
The happiest I have been was with children surrounding me, loving on them, and not caring about what I looked like or what others thought of me. That is when we have true joy. Not when we “find ourselves” but when we are emptied of ourselves.
I don’t know what being a servant looks like in your life. Honestly, I don’t even know what it looks like in mine yet! But we are called to be servants for more than once a year. We are called to be servants every day – because Jesus was a servant.
Serve your family, friends, city or world – wherever God calls you.
Let go of your fear and let God work through you. We are called for something more.
Are you willing?
An Update from Julia: “In the time between sending in my submission, and learning it would be posted, God slowly started breaking down my ego. He’s showed me that I need to stop acting like I’ve got my life together and am fit to give advice. That being said, this is God’s article, not mine. I hope that it serves as motivation for some of you, despite the fact that it was written by an imperfect (sometimes downright failure) girl.”
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Yes! You’ve really grasped the essence of being a Christian rebelutionary – not just “doing hard things” to further your own career, but doing the hardest and most rewarding thing of all – giving your live totally to God.
Thanks so much for sharing this, Julia. I like the last sentence of your bio – one of the toughest challenges ever… 🙂
Yes! it’s hard, following through with it is harder than realizing it…..
Thanks for reading, God bless!
Beautiful message, Julia. Not a cake walk, and certainly not without trials, but a life sold out to serving God is truly a beautiful thing. Thank you for this article. It hit me. hard.
P.S. Your bio, where it says you love Jesus, Children and chocolate? So much like me =D
Certainly not easy! Glad this could impact you Haylie! Yes! Twinning?
God bless !
I agree with Haylie.
Julia, Thanks for the challenging blog post!
May God use you, and all of us, as a daily witness in our home communities!
Amen! Prayers for you & how God is working in your life 🙂 God bless!
This is great! Service feels hard but in the long run it’s worth it. Jesus is worth it. Thanks for writing this!
Definitely, but it’s so rewarding! He is for sure 🙂 God bless !!
What a fantastic article! Thanks for writing it Julia. I agree with everything you said!
Thanks Heather!! God bless you 🙂
Huge round of applause, Julia. Way to go for writing this!
Thanks Lauren! I was praying God would use this touch someone 🙂 God bless !
Woah, very-VERY good point.
Thank you! Great point.
Thank you sooo much! This was so good!
Ah! Glad God could use me to write this and guide you to read it! God bless!
I like this:)
Thanks Mallory! God bless
Julia, thank you so much for this article…God has been working on me about some of the same things, and this was a huge encouragement as I sometimes find myself slipping in my trust of the Holy Spirit. Keep up the good work! To God be the glory!
Mikayla,
Thank you! I’m so glad it could be an encouragement to you, I was praying that God would use this to reach people. Sending prayers your way! God bless
Amen!!! This is such a challenge.
It definitely is, and one I am nowhere near perfect at…but I’m coming to realize that God doesn’t perfect, he just needs willing. Sending prayers your way, God bless!
So true! Thanks. 🙂
wow! great article.this is really challenging.
Wow. Thank you so much Julia. I’ve been trying to decide what I’m supposed to do with my life, and I’ve had many of the same fears that you speak of. This really hit home with me. The thought that God has a very unique and amazing plan for me. Your words about emptying ourselves to find true happiness also challenged me, because lately I’ve been too worried about what others think of me to think about ‘am I really the selfless, kind, humble, Christian I want to be?’ I feel challenged, but somehow, that makes me feel good, and I want to accept this challenge. Because we can be more than we ever thought possible if we stop focussing on ourselves and start focussing on God. Anyhow, I guess what I want to say is thank you, and may God bless you.
Glad this could challenge you, Elizabeth! It’s not easy to do, but God will pick us up when we fall 🙂 Sending prayers your way. God bless!
I loved this article! I totally agree with you, we need to think more in the others’ necessity and start to serve them
Definitely! If everyone just took a little more time to serve, we could make such an impact on this world! God bless
That is so true friend!
You are an encouragement.
WOW Thanks so much! I have be struggling with being scared of living a mediocre Christian life. I’m scared that I’m just a christian for “fire insurance.” My question is, How do you know where your heart is? And if its not in the right place, how can you change it?
“fire insurance” CLEVER.
But honestly, Im not quite sure, other than to tell you to really spend some time with God. Take atleast an hour {it’s easier when no one is around you so you don’t get distracted!} and just talk to Him, read your Bible and ask Him to show you your heart. I can personally tell you that my heart is not always in the right place, and that’s often because I get too wrapped up in the world- TV shows, drama & things like that. So if you want to try to change your heart, maybe step back from the world and step into God. Sending prayers & love your way. God bless!
I agree with everything Julia said but I will also add to that by saying, pray for God to reveal hidden sins. I have been doing that lately and have been so surprised at the things the Holy Spirit has showed me. That’s part of you can slowly change your walk with God and grow closer to him.
Thank you so much for writing this arttical Julia. You have described a lot of people. I believe that if we join together as Christians living to be like Christ others will see that Christian living is more than just a ticket to heaven. I believe they will see that Christianity is having a true relationship with the King.
Amen! I think we could really change how we are viewed as Christians if we actually started acting like Christ! Sending prayers your way, God bless
Thanks Julia. I pray God blesses you as well.
“Isn’t the point of Christianity to become more like Christ?
“Yet, as Christians, I don’t think we really want to be like Christ.
We want the assurance that we’re going to Heaven someday, but we want to
be comfortable and liked.”
I couldn’t agree more! This is something I’ve really been noticing a lot these past few months. There is a really great post o Adam4d.com about this as well: http://adam4d.com/mtd/. All too often, we seem to be view God as a genie in the bottle, not as the Creator and sustainer of the entire universe. (Fun fact: one gram of matter lost due to nuclear fusion could light a 100-Watt light bulb for 28,500 years. In the core of the sun, 4 trillion grams of matter are being lost per SECOND. And the sun is a pretty small star.)
Thank you for this article, Julia, it’s beautifully written 🙂
Thanks Melody! Whoa! God’s pretty incredible 🙂 Sending prayers your way, God Bless!
Amen to that! :’D
Thanks, you too 🙂
This is awesome! Thanks for writing it!
I agree! Your article was so encouraging and eye-opening!
” (…) but when we are emptied of ourselves.” This really hit me. It made me realise how selfish and lazy I am.
Thank you, Julia! Thank you for letting God working through you!
God bless you! 🙂
Glad this could impact you! Our culture has definitely made a lot about us and our comfort, it would be fantastic if we as Christians could really turn back to God 🙂 God Bless You!!
That part really made me think too. I as a Christian have become so complacent and “comfortable.” I long to serve others, but have a very difficult time going about it.
Don’t give up! 🙂
We can’t do this withouot Him, so…put it in Jesus’s hands and let Him guide you step by step.
God be your strength!
Dear Julia, thanks for your post here in Reb, to be honest, Your post gave me courage, because I was thinking about mission to Ukraine next summer 2016. I still dont know if I should go there or not, if my parents will agree with this idea or not, because now I am starting my university studies and I dont know if I can handle everything. Please pray for me and with me. Your sister in Christ .. Mary
Mary,
Prayers and love to you as you get this sorted out ! Remember if it’s something God is calling you to, He will work it out! Once again, prayers to you sister. If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to leave a comment/contact me. God Bless!
Thanks for your support in prayer and thank you for your encouraging words in your comnent ! 😉 +
Wow! This is an amazing article. I love your thoughts. When you said, “I’m sure anyone who’s been on a mission trip will agree with me on this: You may have served the people there and blessed them, but you come out so much more blessed.” I agree and it made me think of my life. I have lived in Uganda for 8 years, my parents were missionaries so I got chances to serve people a lot. But I remember there was one time where I was asked to go out into the village to teach some ladies how to make bracelets. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go, but I went with some others from my church and when I left I decided that if there was anything like that happening again I would go. I got to know one of the women and it was a really blessing just to sit and be there to teach them something new while getting to know them. After that I started thinking of other ways to bless people.
People expect teens to not want to give up a week of their summer for missions, when they do, like you said, they are applauded. If we were promised that we would be applauded more would we do more? Maybe the first few times but after that, we would be doing it because we learnt something new or was blessed by the experience. We just need to try. We are called for SO much more than what is expected of us.
It is truly amazing what God can do through us.
J
Elizabeth,
Wow! What an opportunity to serve in Uganda, that is so incredible! Exactly! After coming back I was so hungry to serve, it was more natural for me to want to, and now I find myself fighting to keep that desire. It’s sad how easy it is to readjust to instant American culture.
Could you perhaps keep me in your prayers? Coming back from missions trips has me confused on rather I am lead to serve overseas or do something else and with all the pressure to figure out your life in high school, God often gets crowded out. Sending love and prayers your way- keep serving and following The Lord! God Bless! Your sister in Christ
Hi Julia!
Sorry it took me awhile to respond! The past week has been crazy with start of school.
I will definitely keep you in my prayers. I know how it feel to have to get back into the flow of things when you are on a mission trip or just getting back. When you get back from a while you go into “culture shock” as my mom calls it. And it can be difficult, like you say, to keep that desire to serve in you.
Where do you go on your missions trips? And what do you do on them? Just so I know what to pray for!
God bless! E
You’re totally fine! My school schedule has been insane lately so I definitely understand.
Yes! Coming back you are so on fire for God and all the things you could do and then it kind of fades back into your everyday life…
This year our youth group ran a camp for inner city kids- so being responsible for those kids & just getting to love them was so great…I miss it. But yeah we did that and I’m hoping (Lord willing) to go to Haiti next year…definitely would appreciate prayers on that since my parents aren’t sure about letting me go overseas…
And with this (because my comment was being glitchy and not letting me type more) if you wouldn’t mind just praying for my school year? I’m taking college classes and I’ve been pretty overwhelmed by all the school being thrown at me…anything I can pray about for you? Your sister in Christ, Julia
Thanks!
Sounds like you are really busy, both with school and with what the Lord has called you to do right now. I will definitely pray for your school year and your (maybe) trip to Haiti.
When my parents heard the call to go to Uganda their parents and friends didn’t want them to go but they did what the Lord wanted and they were blessed by the work that they did. So don’t give up!
Actually, there is something you can pray for! I am doing a bike marathon in two weeks and need to raise funds for it. Please pray that that will go well and that we will have good weather! And if you would pray for my school year as well.
Yes…very very busy. not quite sure how I like it, school can get so stressful! oh, prayers for that definitely! good luck & sending prayers in your direction- it will be great! Your sister in Christ, Julia
School can get VERY stressful, every morning I say, “One more day, I can do this!”
Thanks, and it will be. We only have 2 weeks till the ride and I am very excited.
Blessings, E
Good point.
Yeah, it does seem like a lot of times people thing a lot about what they’re giving up when serving others and less about how much it helps others, as well as the great chance to grow in your relationship with Christ.
“What if we lived every day of our lives not looking at ourselves but looking at the people around us and saying, “How can I serve them?”
Love this Julia! What a beautiful article and an inspiring reminder of what we were placed on this earth for. Thanks for being a courageous voice in this generation!
Yes! serving in the small ways is the hardest, I think. Sending prayers your way! God bless
Dear Julia your story sounds like mine, i love to write, i love Jesus,children and chocolate. I also have written many books and want to publish them. I have never been on a mission trip but my dad was a missionary kid. I Have found that America has been over evangelized but we can still effect the world here in the USA by being real and showing people that Jesus loves them. Not just talking about ourselves but listening! Sometimes we seem to think they are not really people i know this sounds silly but it is true. Jude 1:22 some had compassion making a difference. you have made a difference Julia and i wish i could meet you.
Faith,
honestly, this comment was so encouraging to me as i’m not in the most stable place now- struggling a lot with my faith. Yes! America may not have the people that have never heard about Jesus, but even just LOVING people can make such a difference, don’t forget that 🙂 listening is so essential.
I’m always saying that its a bummer that with all the great people we meet on this site that you can’t physically “meet” each other. Wish I could meet you too, but it’s nice to know we’ve brushed shoulders in this corner of the internet! (oh, and I’m very open to conversation if you want to talk to me for some reason just drop a comment my way 😉 )
You can make a difference!!
Your sister in Christ,
Julia
Hey Julia
Thank you and i really am glad we have met. What kind of books do you write? I love to write adventure books with the christian message in them. A way to reach my generation in a book or two. I will not forget. I have found that the word is alive and i will pray for you. Thank you and you are not a failure you are a child of God and he wants you to be blessed a million more times than you ever could see. Yes God is the one who writes through us but also he has made you to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus(2 Corinthians 5:21)! Be encouraged and that is all i want to do!
Ephesians 2 :10 (I love this verse)
Your sister in Christ
Faith
Faith,
I haven’t been doing much writing lately, my heart hasn’t been into it and I’ve been writing quite a bit for school, so that’s kind of been a bummer. I don’t write fiction type stories as much as I used to, I’m more into non-fiction/memoir type writing now. Like the dumping your heart on paper kind, I’m passionate about it. I’ve been wanting to start a blog but I’ve yet to do it 🙂 That’s such a good idea! I love it.
You’re sweet, thanks for pointing me back to Him. I’ll include you in my prayers as well- hope you’re blessed in whatever you’re doing/going through 🙂
Your sister in Christ,
Julia
Hey Julia
Yea i have had that sometimes too! But then i get an idea and keep writing for a while. I love putting Jesus in my stories and then my heart is always in it. Yea i understand. Yea i have mostly been into non fiction mostly because i am a dreamer:). Good it is always a good start when you are passionate about it. That would be awesome tell me if you do i would love to get to know you a little better. Thank you i have always been encouraged by people praying for me and i enjoy your outlook. Don’t be discouraged you are awesome! Always a pleasure and thank the Lord i have been blessed greatly and too you too.
Your friend and sister you have never met
Faith
PS. My favorite verses are Philippians 4:13 and Ephesians 3:20
PPS. Could you tell me some of your favorite verses?
Faith,
“Writers block” is real. Or I just avoid writing every once in a while, i’m not sure. I’m hoping to get back into it though, I miss writing! That’s awesome- I wish I could read them 😉
Thank you! if you wouldn’t mind praying for me, that would be great 🙂 sending prayers your way still !
I love those verses 🙂 I like John 16:33
Your sister in Christ,
Julia
Julia you responded quick
Yes I love that verse
John 16:33 (KJV)
These things i have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer i have overcome the world.
I mesmerized that one.Yea i do that too. Yea i have been busy you have to find time to write. If i ever publish them i will send you a link or something but i can not give them out now;( i don’t want someone to copy it). What do you need prayer for if you don’t mind my asking and i will pray now anyway. Thank you
Your sister in Christ Faith
PS. Zechariah 10:12
PPS. 2 Peter 1: 3-4
haha that’s me! or I kinda disproved my quick responses by not commenting back till a day later. whoops…
Yeah…i’m hoping to find some time to write soon 🙂 that would be awesome!
trusting God I guess, there’s a lot going on and I really need to get closer to Him and I’m not quite sure. Thanks for prayer- i’ll be praying for you too!
Love the verses!!
Your sister in Christ,
Julia
Yea ha ha! I noticed that!
Yeah that would be awesome. I have to go but will write more later. bye
Faith
Sorry it has been so long. How have you been?
Those are both awesome verses.
Oh my gosh, sorry I just saw this. I’ve been alright :-/ how are you?
Good, it has been a while since we have talked.
It has been!! I hope you’re doing well 🙂
I’m just now reading this, but how are you doing now @disqus_6V1av2QeB1:disqus?