More From Julie Wicker

Prior to writing my devotional for The Upper Room, I felt a nudge that God wanted me to expand my territory in ministry. God had sent me 1 Chronicles 4:10: “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request” (NIV).

One day while reading The Upper Room, I realized it was a global ministry. I decided to submit a few entries, and my devotion called “Created for God’s Purpose” was selected. In my devotion I wrote about serving with my women’s group through a church bake sale, which is just one of the many ways we serve in our church. I wrote about how God uses our gifts and talents in different forms of service. While I’m sure we don’t always feel equipped, we can remember that just like the saying goes, God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.

In our women’s group, we serve through community outreach and we nurture women of all ages. Around the time that I submitted my entry, our group hosted a “Refresh and Renew” two-day women’s retreat. I was blessed not only to serve on the planning committee but also to be one of the speakers. I talked about having the confidence to do bold things like Peter did when he walked on water in Matthew 14. I shared with the women how I felt the call to expand my territory and how I had submitted an entry to The Upper Room, which was a global ministry. After my talk, one of my friends approached me and asked why I didn’t write my own content. I already shared a blog with my friend Deborah, and over the last year we have increased our writings. I recently realized that we are expanding our territory by reaching readers in countries like China, Ireland, Italy, and more through our blog entries.

Most recently I have felt the nudge to serve through the Run for God bible study and 5K program. This is a couch-to-5K program where you can grow mentally, spiritually, and physically. In January I started running on my own using the program. Once I had successfully completed the program myself, I stepped out of my comfort zone, and I have been leading the program at my church. We have men, women, and children planning to participate in a local run this November. My church is already prayerfully making plans to lead the same running program in 2020.

One of the scriptures I focused on in my devotion for today is from Isaiah 64:8: “We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of us are the work of your hand” (CEB). As we move forward in 2020, I pray we will all be in tune with God’s will for us so that we, as God’s clay, can use our gifts for serving him.

You can find the blog I mentioned here: www.waterwalkers29.wordpress.com. Each week, my friend Deborah and I take turns posting daily, based on a word of the week that we feel should be our focus.