Intentional

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 

Psalm 139:1 ESV

There’s something about showing up.

I don’t mean just being physically present in a place.

I mean showing up – body, spirit, soul, every fibre of your being and then some.

And then showing up again. And again. And again.

There’s something to be said for the person who shows up for their life each day. What may seem like a mundane existence could in fact be glory hidden in plain sight.

We tend to think of power as this grandiose pink elephant in the room that everyone wants to ride on and nobody could possibly miss. But the longer I live, the more I find that power – true power – is more like a quiet river steadily going about its business. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d hardly acknowledge its presence. But it’s there. And everything around it is impacted by its daily existence.

Sometimes…many times…being powerful looks like showing up intentionally every single day. Making a purposeful choice to be there, wherever there is, whatever there looks like.

This is a pivotal decade for me at personal level for various reasons. And as I think about the trajectory of the years ahead, I find that more than anything I want to be intentional.

Intentional in my presence and in my absence.

Intentional in my speech and in my silence.

Intentional in my writing and in my living.

Intentional in my gratitude and in my praise.

Intentional in my kindness and in my graciousness.

Intentional in holding onto hope and in fighting off the fears that come my way.

Intentional in stepping out in faith and in making good use of divine courage.

Intentional in how I love God and in how I love people.

Intentional in faithfully pursuing the small things as much as the big things.

Intentional in being me.

The intentionality with which God created each one of us often gives me pause. That He would so concern Himself with the tiniest of details – right down to the number of hairs on my head and the days formed for me.

We look for value in so many places when the proof of it is (literally) in our face – staring right back at us every time we’re in front of a mirror.

What better response, what better worship could we then give Him who created us than to live like we’re created – intentionally.

Whatever God has placed in your heart to be and to do this year, this decade, I hope you’ll make the daily choice to be intentional with it.

You are His wondrous workmanship after all.