I began to explore the idea that God was calling me to ministry when I was in college. At the church I was attending, I met with one of the pastors who supported and encouraged me. He offered me a summer internship working with the youth at the church as an opportunity to explore my calling. It was a time of listening to God and allowing Him to show me the plans He was making for my life.
That pastor, Ed, shaped my identity and understanding of ministry in many ways. Perhaps the most profound impact was his commitment to living out Ephesians 1:12. He told me that all of my life—not just my church life, not just the times I was doing ministry work, but all of my life—was designed to be lived “for the praise of His glory.” Everything I did, every action, every conversation, every thought was an active opportunity for me to give praise and glory to God.
We sometimes limit our understanding of praise and worship and think it is something we do for one hour each week inside the church. Today’s passage reminds us that God is ever-present in our lives, working all things out according to His will. Our opportunity is to welcome God’s voice and the work He is doing in us and then to respond purposefully to it. Then all of my day can be praise and worship if I open myself and allow God to guide and lead me. No task is ordinary. No activity is merely secular. Instead, every single part of my life God intends to be lived “for the praise of His glory.”
Dear friends, I encourage you to look at everything you do and say this day as something that will bring praise to God.