“A hamburger without the bun? They call it a wrap?”
A hamburger wrapped in lettuce instead of the traditional bun was a new thing years ago at one of my favorite old hangouts, In-and-Out Burger. They called it Protein Style.
Incredible. I was a bit skeptical. I wasn’t convinced that healthy lettuce leaves could replace my fatty, white-breaded, sponge-doughed hamburger bun.
It sounded unappetizing and messy. I could see everything dropping into my lap, tumbling down my leg, and plopping onto the floor. I couldn’t get myself to try a hamburger as a wrap.
Years later, when I finally tried a sandwich as a wrap, it was actually pretty good. And I managed to avoid getting it all over my lap. I now can enjoy a good sandwich wrap.
However, I have always loved a good destiny wrap: layers of God’s promises and providence lovingly wrapped with His will for our lives. I am convinced that destiny is anchored to marriage for more of God’s singles than they realize.
Many Christian singles are busy searching for their soul mate. They visit churches, work out at the gym, eyeball classmates, and hang out at malls, parties, and bars looking for their mates. Yet when someone asks them what their purpose in life is, they look at you like you’ve got two heads and dart the other way.
I’ve noticed it’s not just younger singles who feel like this.
I’m both amazed and grieved that so many believers are just going through the motions in life without knowing their purpose. They may have a career that’s fulfilling. Spiritually they’re wandering from group to group and church to church, not really even trying to find their niche.
Passion, seeing a need, desire to share the gospel and see sinners get saved, and compassion have created thousands of missions, ministries, and cultural changes all over the world. Click To TweetPerhaps some of them think that purpose and destiny are only for super spiritual people. And that God only made the callings of pastor, missionary, or evangelist. How wrong they are!
So many believers have created ministries over the centuries because they followed God’s heart for the lost. Passion, seeing a need, desire to share the gospel and see sinners get saved, and compassion have created thousands of missions, ministries, and cultural changes all over the world.
You don’t have to be a hero, wealthy, intelligent, or anything else the world considers important to do what the Lord has told you to do. You might be a hero by the time you’re done, but you can start as a nobody.
William Booth created the Salvation Army in 1865 when he saw the churches in England turn their backs on those who were poor and/or alcoholics.
Lilias Trotter was a wealthy, artistically talented, high society woman who got saved as a young adult. She later heard about the spiritually lost plight of peoples living in North Africa and received a call to share the gospel in Algiers. She sought to go through an existing mission and was turned down for health reasons. Soon she launched out on her own and ended up founding several missionary stations and painting hundreds of watercolors of her experiences there.
Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ, was founded by Bill and Vonette Bright in 1951 while he was in seminary. He felt a strong call to share the gospel and teach college students and started his first outreach at UCLA.
Rosa Parks sensed a strong peace from the Lord on the fateful day she refused to give up her bus seat for a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1955. Little did she know that the events spiraling after her arrest would catapult a relatively unknown young preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., into the limelight and forefront of the civil rights movement.
You don’t have to have some big burden for the lost in another country. Mary Kay Ash launched her famous cosmetic line after leaving her male-dominated sales career.
Creating a cultural shift is intimidating to most people. We just want to live our lives and not be bothered. Yet there are things happening in our communities and countries that are evil and wrong. It only takes one to start the fire of eliminating evil and wrong. William Wilberforce would agree that this is how he ended slavery in England, though it took 45 years.
If starting a ministry scares you, you’d be in good company. Corrie Ten Boom was scared as her family sheltered Jews targeted for arrest, deportation, and death.
You simply need to let what breaks God’s heart break your heart. That’s what Bill Pierce, founder of Samaritan’s Purse, wrote in his Bible after visiting poor children on a Korean island.
What have you always wanted to do?
What is God drawing your attention to?
Is a particular crime or sin bugging you?
Is there a need for a product or service that you feel impassioned to provide in an ethical manner?
Do you have a strong sense of urgency to pray for a particular country or region?
Welcome to your destiny, Christian single.
Now, if you want an ordinary, boring life, by all means, go find it. Have a boring life and a boring marriage. That’s easy to do.
However, there is an alternative. It’s find your destiny and purpose in Christ. Then marry someone who’s chasing the same thing. According to everyone who’s done it, there is no greater thrill in life than to marry someone who’s pursuing the same calling and chase God together.
Marriage is a wrap for ministry, a canvas for showing off God's power and grace. Click To TweetIt would behoove you to start walking toward whatever you think might be His call on your life. He will help you find what He wants you to do.
Think: marriage is a wrap for ministry, a canvas for showing off God’s power and grace. You might not like the Protein Style, but you will like the Lord’s style as He prepares you for ministry and marriage.
And your mate might be there, looking around, and wondering what’s taking you so long to find them.
Well? What are you waiting for? Get cracking!
