Growth Purpose

Here I Am

Walk into a classroom in the middle of a day, and you’ll hear shouts of “Here!” as the teacher marks down who is in attendance.

Enter a house filled with children and you’ll witness the same shouts as parents try to find out where their children are and what they’re up to. Sometimes you’ll hear parents making the proclamation as children try to locate them.

If you think about it, whether at school or at home, “here” is kind of an odd response. It doesn’t give the person who is asking a ton of information. Just a simple acknowledgment of the person’s presence.

Yet throughout Scripture, we see a similar statement repeated frequently.

When Samuel is being called by God in His sleep, He responds per Eli’s instructions “Here I am.” (I Samuel 13:4)

When Isaiah hears God’s cry for someone to send, He also replies, “Here I am.” (Isaiah 6:8)

And when Ananias is called by God to go see Paul, formerly Saul, the persecutor of Christians, he too says, “Here I am.” (Acts 9:10)

Such a simple yet profound statement of willingness to be used.

First, the statement acknowledges where the person is. It indicates that the person is waiting, listening for God. “Here” is where they are – not in a corner “hiding” from God, not somewhere where they shouldn’t be, but “here” standing ready to listen.

Then the statement indicates their personal response. “I” am here. I am waiting to hear what God has called me to. I stand alone before God, and it is my desire to be used by Him, even if none go with me.

And then the last word – “am” – the condition of being. The person doesn’t list their abilities, or provide their resume – they simply are. And who they are is being offered up to their God.

It’s what should be the cry of every Christian’s heart. Three words that demonstrate not only our location, but the direction we are heading.

“Lord, Here I am – ready to be used for whatever purpose You have planned.”

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Being Content Hope

Delivered

We read a lot about fear in the Bible. That makes sense as the Bible is filled with people who were persecuted and pursued, whose very lives were often threatened by people in authority. There are people who were betrayed by their family, those who traveled to distant and enemy lands and those who led their people in battle against those enemies. These people had many reasons to fear, yet throughout Scripture they are commanded not to, because of the faithfulness of God.

However, although life-threatening situations can certainly promulgate fear, there are other reasons that we become afraid. There’s fear of an unknown future when the uncertainty of life seems all too real. There’s the fear of unrealized dreams when we realize that the opportunity to do that which we desire seems to have passed us by. And there’s the fear that comes when our carefully laid plans never materialized and we realize how little control we actually have.

Yet just as the faithfulness of God should quell the fear of those whose lives are in jeopardy, so does His faithfulness calm the fear of those whose future is unclear. As Psalm 34:4 tells us:

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

That word “all” holds such promise for us. It’s not only the fear that we know that God will deliver us from, but the fear of the unknown too.

As we trust in Him, His faithfulness will continued to be revealed. And we will find that we have no cause for fear.

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