As my husband Marc and I prepared to travel to the Grand Canyon, I packed accordingly. I was prepared physically, and I thought I was prepared emotionally and spiritually. I had seen pictures, after all. But I was wrong.
When we arrived, Marc made me close my eyes. He led me close to the edge and said, “Look.” When I opened my eyes, I started crying. How can I describe it? It was breathtaking. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was beautiful. It was so big and vast, and I felt so tiny standing up against it.
There was a huge difference between knowing about it and seeing it with my very own eyes. It was so much bigger, so much more than I had ever imagined.
The Grand Canyon didn’t just make me gasp in awe at the majesty of God, it made me think of His providence too. To explain what I mean, I want to share three stories with you.
God Uses Us in Monotony
I am a wife and a mom. I have three kids. Life can be wonderfully exciting, like visiting the Grand Canyon, but there’s a lot of monotony too. I have spent many days with the same kinds of patterns: Get up, make lunches, drive carpool, shuttle kids to sports practices, empty the dishwasher, do the laundry, and do the laundry again and again. It can be easy to imagine that this feels small or monotonous to God too.
But that’s simply not true. God uses us in the mundane. For example, He might even decide to use you in the checkout line at your local grocery store, Kroger.
God placed a burden in my heart for a young cashier, John. I often chose his register for checkout, and I would ask him about life, pray for him, and attempt to talk to him about God. He often complained about his younger sister, as teens and big brothers are likely to do, and he mentioned that his mom was gone a lot.
I couldn’t see it then, but when I think back to all the pieces, to all that happened, I see God’s hand. From my choosing to shop at Kroger to the times I went, to ending up in John’s checkout line that first time—every bit of it was part of God’s idea to work in the lives of people who didn’t know Him.
I thought I was just going to Kroger and making small talk with my cashier. But I was making connections that would matter; I just didn’t know if or how or when.
God Uses Us Professionally
In 2011, God opened my eyes and broke my heart over the evil of human trafficking. I am the President and Co-founder of an organization that helps churches see how they can engage in the fight against human trafficking, the Freedom Church Alliance.
When I was just getting started with the Freedom Church Alliance, a co-worker and I went to a brothel to minister to the women there as the operation was being shut down. We showed up that day along with another anti-trafficking ministry, an attorney, a locksmith, and a policeman. I had never done anything like this, and I felt so nervous.
But there I was at this brothel. Once we got there, the attorney pounded on the door. An older woman eventually opened it, and as we walked in we saw a young woman come out of a small room with a man who was clearly a customer. Both women hardly spoke English, and the younger one appeared frightened at all the commotion. They were told to pack their things and leave because the brothel was being shut down. My friend and I focused on the women and tried to help them gather their things while expressing that God loves them and values them. We wanted to make sure they knew we would help them however we could.
I don’t remember what all I said to the women exactly, but I felt like it came out all jumbled. Regardless of what I said or how inadequate I felt, we took these two women home that day. The brothel was shut down, the locks were changed, and they had to leave.
The next day, my co-worker, Debra, after realizing that these women might need some financial assistance, returned to the brothel with some grocery gift cards. When she knocked on the door, an eleven-year-old girl named Daisy—the young daughter of one of the women from the brothel—opened the door. Debra’s husband was a youth minister, and they loved serving teenagers. So, she built a relationship with this young woman, who started spending a lot of time with their family rather than being alone in the apartment. Unfortunately, her mother got another job at another brothel and was often gone for weeks at a time.
God Uses Us When We Feel Useless
This was a great victory, but as time went on and I went back to the daily grind, I sometimes struggled to trust that God had put me in this place. I struggled with why God gave me this leadership position—I didn’t have the experience or expertise I thought I needed. I often felt like a little girl wearing her mom’s high heels, like I was in a role that just didn’t fit. I didn’t always feel like we were having a huge impact, and being so new there was so much uncertainty. The call to start an alliance of churches in Houston to fight human trafficking was a call to walk by faith. A mentor said to me once, “if it’s not scary, it’s not faith.” I was learning that lesson all too well.
One morning, as I was spending time with God, I opened my heart to Him about this, and the words just flowed out of me. I said, “Lord, would you please just confirm that you are the One who put me here? I know You’ve called me to walk by faith and not by sight. And knowing for sure that You’re the One who has me in this position would just help me do that.”
I got up off the floor that day and got dressed to go with my colleague, Debra, to visit a safe home we were partnering with as an Alliance. We had a great visit learning more about what they do and the needs the church could help with. As we drove home, we reminisced about the brothel incident several months earlier.
I asked her about Daisy, the daughter of the woman we had taken home from the brothel. She caught me up and mentioned that she had just helped her buy some eye-glasses. She went on to say that, unfortunately, the mom was gone again. But Debra learned that Daisy had an older brother in the picture, who was also gone a lot because he worked often. In fact, he worked at the Kroger near our homes. The moment those words came out of her mouth, I had a mind-blowing realization. I remember thinking, “Is it possible that Daisy’s brother is John?” So I asked Debra, “What is Daisy’s brother’s name?” She didn’t know but texted Daisy to ask and, wouldn’t you know, within a matter of seconds Daisy responded, “It’s John.” I could not believe it.
My mind reeled as I started putting together all the pieces of the wild story God had been weaving. The same John God had prompted me to connect with at the grocery store was Daisy’s older brother. That also meant that on the day God had sent me thirty minutes across town to a brothel, He knew I would meet John’s mom and take her to her home; He knew that Debra would return and build a relationship with John’s little sister, Daisy. There are more brothels in Houston than there are Starbucks, but the one we chose “happened” to be where John’s mom worked. God knew, even when I didn’t. He was masterfully weaving together every thread of this story.
At that moment, I couldn’t even speak. You know what God did that day? He answered my prayer and gave me more than enough confirmation that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, whether I could see the impact I wanted to see or not. He gave me a Grand Canyon moment; He showed me that He is far greater and more glorious than I ever imagined.
God Teaches Us to Trust
Through all of these things, God built up my faith and showed me His power and His control and sovereignty over the universe.
It’s almost as if we believe we’re on hold until God can use us. We see the ways our lives can be impactful based on our experiences, our dreams, and our desires. But I learned that I don’t have to know the outcome before I move; all I have to do is be responsive to God’s prompting. God wants us to trust and obey Him even when what He’s asking us to do might seem insignificant or small. Will we love Him enough to trust Him and walk in faithful obedience? Of course we won’t do it perfectly. It’s messy and it requires us pouring out our hearts, confessing our sin and struggles and depending on Him and Spirit to work in and through us. But God sees our obedience, and He will honor it.
We all have a race to run. Comparing ourselves to others can get discouraging real quick, but if we can remember that we are only called to obey what God has given us to do—to use the talents given to us by our Father—the rest is in His hands. Running our race will surely mean we will do some dying to self and dying to the applause and approval of others, but it is so sanctifying and strengthening to the soul. We grow in humility during the seasons of waiting and trusting. God knows what will happen and guides us exactly where He needs us at the specific moment He needs us to be there.
We compartmentalize, but God doesn’t. He exists outside of our categories. He doesn’t need us to be in specific jobs or have specific experience before He can use us, He can use us right where we are. Titles, positions, and seasons in life are not boundaries for God. When you make yourself available to God, He will use you.
I used to think, “I can’t fight human trafficking because I’m not qualified.” Maybe you’ve had similar thoughts. But this isn’t true. Don’t limit God—He can use you to do things far beyond your imagination.
The stories I’ve told don’t have happy endings—yet. We want stories to end with bows tied neatly on top. I wish I could say I resolved their issues and changed their lives and everything is great. But God’s resolutions are so much more complex than we could ever know and happen only in His timing. I’m learning that impact doesn’t always mean changing the story’s outcome; it often just means we were a part of the story.
Through all of these things, God built up my faith and showed me His power and His control and sovereignty over the universe. He showed me that He sees people. And He knew I would write these words, testifying to His power so that someone would be encouraged to trust Him more. To go for it and not hold back out of fear that God isn’t really there or doesn’t really still move in powerful ways. He is always working, and no moment of your life is inconsequential or off limits to Him.
Sometimes we’re tempted to think we know best (see Proverbs 16:9), but God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways. . . . For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
There’s so much I’ve wanted to do for God, and so many things I’ve asked Him for. He hasn’t always answered in the way I hoped or expected, but He has shown me that His way is always far better than mine. Surrender to His will is the pathway to peace, and there we find the grace to do His will. Trusting His sovereignty frees us, and as we obey, He will show up in ways so unfathomable that your jaw drops and you stand in awe. You realize this God, my God, is way bigger than I ever thought He was.
Worship and Reflect: Take a moment and listen to “Bigger Than I Thought” off Passion’s Follow You Anywhere album. I pray you will be encouraged and inspired to trust Him more!
