Labor force for the Lord

Routine; the dreaded word that we hope we never fall into. It has become increasingly difficult not to become a victim of routine as a second semester freshmen at Indiana Wesleyan University. The initial thrill of being in a collegiate setting, soaking up hoards of knowledge with your peers had become stale and habitual.

I sat in my Macroeconomics class listening to another intricate lecture over the United States labor force, when it hit me! The United States labor force is the sum of all people who are employed or constantly seeking employment. People who were available and willing to work but had not made specific efforts to find a job were considered discouraged workers. I could not help but ask myself, "Am I a discouraged worker in the labor force for the Lord? Had life become such a routine that I was no longer striving to glorify God in every aspect of my being?" Goosebumps coated my body and all my muscles tightened.

Instantly, I felt the need to validate why I had to still be in the labor force for the Lord. According to James, "faith without deeds is dead." (James 2:26) I frantically flipped through all the activities I participated in at IWU: leading a Sunday school class, American Marketing Association, Friday Night Live, Student Activities Council, so forth. With all of these activities under my belt, I had to be part of the labor force for the Lord...right? It took some serious evaluation, but I realized that routine had me in its grip, and I had become a discouraged worker.

For the next couple of weeks I felt that I was walking alone in a never ending web of monotony. Participating in HELM's February meeting of the Council for Ministries in Higher Education in St. Louis was a great break between the tedium. It was encouraging to discuss the many new ventures the Disciples denomination is forgoing; however, there was still a barricade with my individual relationship with the Lord.

After much prayer, scriptures searching, and leisure readings, I realized what was messing up relationship with God. The problem was ME! My life had become routine because I wasn't being filled by earthly love; the temporal words of affirmation that has to be given over and over again. For so long, I had turned to this love to validate my roles in life: leader, friend, daughter, and mediator.

Donald Miller once said, "God's love, God's voice and presence, would instill our souls with such affirmation we would need nothing more and would cause us to love other people so much we would be willing to die for them." When thinking about fully embracing the love of God and waking up each morning to another glorious day that the Lord had made, how could life be routine?

When I receive updates from other HELM fellows about all the amazing things that God is doing in their lives, I can't help but rejoice! I'm thankful that I am a HELM Leadership Fellow because I have a group of life long friends to keep me accountable and to remind me that each day is a day the Lord has made.

Mandy Ogunnowo is in her first year as a HELM Leadership Fellow and is a member of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lawrence, Kansas.