Displaced

All I ever want to be

Is what You want of me

Lord I give my life to You

And all my hopes and dreams and plans

I place within Your hands

Lord and give my life to You

Here am I Lord use me

Take my life and mold me

All I ever want to be

Is what You want of me

Lord I give my life to You*

Our new pastor started the first of September and has preached three Sundays now. Whether people are "coming back" to church because summer is over or because Pastor New has started, I don't know. But the building has certainly seemed more full the past two weeks. Both weeks I've asked the person next to me and they've agreed there are 'new faces' around. While this, on the surface, is good, it also means some people are displaced from their normal seat.

Have you ever noticed that you can generally find people in the same area of church, if not the same seats, week after week? Usually takes something like a visitor or special occasion to uproot you from your Standard Area. These last two weeks I've noticed some people far, far away from their Standard Areas. (And that's good!) Our worship service should be a place where visitors, guests, and returning folks can find a seat - even if it displaces us from our Standard Area.

I was thinking about this concept of displacement as it applies to life. Sometimes we just feel displaced by minor things - like the new self checks in the grocery store that means there are few lines available for you to find a Real Person for help. But sometimes we get displaced by bigger things - a cross country move, a marriage, a kid problem, caring for a parent. And sometimes God intentionally "displaces" us like he did with Abram:

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you." (Gen. 12:1 NLT)

"To the land that I will show you" is a little vague to my type-A-ness. I'd like more information, please: Where are we going? When will we get there? How will we travel? What do I pack? Who will be there? While this verse answers pieces of these questions, it certainly left Abram with a choice - do I listen to God? do I trust God enough to do this? do I allow God to "displace" me? OR do I decide I'm crazy, hearing voices, or just be downright stubborn and say NO WAY?

We know that Abram packed, left, went, and was blessed. He stepped out in faith - allowed himself to be displaced from all he knew - and God heaped many, many blessings upon him. His story is not simple but his faith in God is evident.

My prayer is that we would be people willing to be displaced...willing to say "yes" when God calls us to go to places he "will show us"....willing to be still and quiet so we can hear God's voice...able to recognize the gentle leading of a God who loves us and challenges us sometimes to be displaced...

So, we give our lives into your hands, once again, allowing you to displace us as necessary, God....Amen.

*CCLI Song No. 3322103 "All I Ever Want to Be"

© 2000 Lorenz Publishing Company (a div. of the Lorenz Corporation)

by Nathan Carter