We look forward each year to "Mission Week" at our church. Missionaries come and update us through pictures and reports, giving us intimate glimpses of what it is like to serve in countries fraught with dangers and difficulties, but also many sweet blessings. We give monthly, but we also take special offerings during Mission Week.

After a missionary spoke on Sunday morning, our pastor asked that we take a minute to pray about our contribution. He asked that we not just automatically pull out a few dollars from our wallet or write a cheque without asking God what amount He wanted us to give. I bowed my head and asked God for direction. I prayed that I would hear in such a clear way that I would know that it was His leading.

As I listened for His answer, an amount was pressed upon me. It was an odd amount, not some figure rounded off in tens like we usually think — and not the amount that I had earlier planned to give. I had absolutely no idea how much money was in my wallet, but I whispered back to God that if I had that much in my wallet, I would give it. I opened the bill compartment of my wallet and there to the very dollar was the amount that I heard I was to give. What joy He gave me in giving that morning, "for God loves a cheerful giver"! (2 Corinthians 9:7b NKJV)

How many times have we missed moments like this by not taking time to prayerfully seek God's will? By not running ahead with our own decision, but rather submitting to His direction, we can experience an intimate exchange with our Lord.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the joy of hearing Your direction in ways that cannot be denied. Those moments bring You especially near, and they encourage us to listen more closely for Your clear answers. You are a loving Father, who honours our submission to You in delightful ways. Amen.

Periodically, we talk to people who are dissatisfied with life. Such individuals dream of being a celebrity, with fame and fortune, or being in control of a huge company, with a personal jet at their disposal. Even ministers "stuck" in small parishes sometimes dream of being the pastor of a large, influential city church.

I suspect there were a few during David's time that imagined themselves to be king material. They no doubt whispered of their dreams and prepared themselves mentally for opportunity that might come. Other things might have been neglected as they envisioned personal glory.

But David did what was before him to do. David tended sheep for his father. He spent hours in the fields, keeping watch over what was entrusted to him. David had time in his shepherding to observe the wonders of God, to think about God's ways, and develop a close walk with the Lord. David kept focused, and that focus had much to do with preparing him to be king. Even more, it prepared him to be a man after God's own heart.

Acts 13:22b – I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do. (NIV)

What a lesson for us: to do the work at hand, as God has provided for us to do, and to do it with complete focus and to the very best of our ability. We can look back and see that very often we have been prepared for greater things when we gave ourselves fully to the lesser ones. When we acted responsibly to what may have seemed not that important, God watched, and then trusted us with a greater service for Him. We can never tell when we are being shaped by His hands for a mighty work yet to come.

Prayer: Father, help us to recognize the work You have entrusted to us today, and to do that work fully and with gratitude. Amen.