Christ is our leader.
He has a unique purpose for you and for your life.
It's vitally important that you know what role you play within the Body of Christ.
We live in a world full of needs.
Every church has a financial need, every orphan needs a home, every hungry or thirsty person needs sustenance, every jobless person wants a job, and everyone who is hurting, wants relief.
Realistically, there is no way that you as an individual could possibly help to meet the needs of all the people around you.
Yet, if we took the time to hear 100 stories of people who had valid needs, we would be moved to help each one in some way or another.
As Christians, we are born of the Spirit of God, which means that when a need arises, we instinctively want to fill it.
Also as Christians, we have a Heavenly Father who wants to share what's on His heart with us.
He loves sharing the things that are His heartfelt desires as well as the things that cause Him pain just as I love sharing things that are on my heart with my wife.
My wife, however understands that just because I share what's on my heart with her, doesn't mean that I want her to do anything about what's on my heart.
Years ago while single and living in Spokane WA, I was introduced to the Big Brothers of America Program.
I've always loved volunteering my time and after learning about the program, I decided to become a Big Brother.
Most of the boys in the program who were looking for "Bigs" are from single parent households.
Some are suffering from neglect and others are dealing with abandonment issues.
For these reasons, the program stresses that you need to be a stable and reliable person in your Little Brother's life.
They ask that you meet with your Little Brother to spend some one-on-one time at least once per month.
I went through the training program and was introduced to my Little Brother and his family.
Initially, things went well.
My Little Brother and I used to go to the park or out to eat, or to movies together.
However after a while, meeting with my Little Brother started becoming a burden for me.
I came to dread our meetings and I felt horrible for feeling that way.
I spent time in prayer seeking answers for feeling burdened over spending time with my Little Brother.
God spoke to my spirit and said: "I love you.
And because I love you, I share with you what's in my heart.
I shared with you how the boys involved with the Big Brothers program were hurting, but just because I shared my heart with you about the boys in the program didn't mean I wanted YOU to become a Big Brother to them" I left my prayer time a little puzzled.
I pondered and spent more time in prayer about the Big Brother situation over the next several weeks.
I learned a valuable lesson from seeking God over this issue.
I was exposed to the Big Brother program.
I saw that there was a need.
I had an emotional reaction to the need and I responded based on my emotions.
All the while I thought that it was God that was leading me to become a Big Brother when actually, God didn't have anything to do with my decision at all.
When we were born again, our spirits were recreated.
The Holy Spirit came to dwell on the inside of us.
The Holy Spirit on the inside of us is the Spirit of God.
So when we see needs going un-met, we feel what He feels.
When people hurt, we hurt.
Where there is pain and misery, we want to reach out to those who are in pain and to those who are in misery.
Because of the Spirit of God on the inside of us it's difficult to watch Feed the Children commercials and do nothing.
Because of Him it's difficult to watch clips about abused animals and all the other horrible things that are going on in the world.
Because of the Spirit of God we literally "feel His pain".
Coming to the immediate assistance of hurting people is the right thing to do.
Reaching out to comfort those who are in pain and to those who are suffering is what we are supposed to do.
However, making long term, life altering commitments to people simply out of an emotional tug on our hearts may not be His perfect will for you.
Making decisions based upon emotional tugs at the heart is why there is an initial outpouring of support when tragedy strikes, but those who initially give their show of support begin to disappear as time goes by.
Your role in the Body of Christ is based on a calling, not an emotion Every one of us has been created to supply a unique gift to the Body of Christ.
When you find out what role God designed you to play within the Body, doing what you were created to do won't seem like work at all.
There will be no burden to do what you were created to do.
In fact, you will love doing what God created you to do.
On the other hand, if you are trying to meet a need or serve the Body of Christ based on an emotional tug on your heart and not as a calling that God placed on your life, every day will be drudgery.
Fortunately for me, in my Big Brother scenario, my Little Brother's family abruptly moved out of town and left no forwarding information with the Big Brother organization.
If you're reading this and you're searching for the area that God has called you to fill in the Body of Christ, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer and find out where you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to be doing.
Spend time with God until you know how you're called to serve the Body of Christ.
Be sure you're doing what you're doing out of a genuine calling and not out a need being present, nor out of an emotional tug at your heart.
When a puzzle piece is placed in the space it was created for, you don't have to force it in place.
The puzzle piece will drop in perfectly.
Likewise, when God opens the door and shows you what your role is within the Body of Christ, things will fit perfectly for all involved.