The Limit of Your “Reach”
We’ve been talking a lot the past few weeks about the idea of “reach”…our impact for the kingdom of God in our world and in the worlds of those around us. When we think about our “reach” we might think first of our family and our close friends. We might think about co-workers or people with whom we share hobbies or activities. We might think about our church family. It’s great to think about all of these things so long as we don’t limit our “reach” to the people and/or places that we can think about.
What often happens is that God brings people into our lives that are unexpected. He brings opportunities into our lives that we had not planned. Why does He do that? Because He knows what His plan is for us and we have, normally, only a faint idea of what that plan might be. However, if we are not careful, we can put up a fence or draw a line around what we think the plan is and hesitate to go outside the fence or the boundary that we have drawn. Throughout the history of the church, men and women have had a “reach” that went far beyond what they had ever anticipated. That kind of reach usually requires sacrifice and it always requires a willingness to trust and follow God’s leading.
Please don’t limit your “reach”. Men and women who have had a far ranging reach for God almost never planned it that way in the beginning. Who knows…perhaps you or I could be one of those? Don’t limit your reach. Instead, extend your hand to the Lord and let Him lead you wherever He desires.