Our Place is Important

It is interesting that the Biblical story is always told in the context of places.  Abraham's story began in a land known as Ur.  Moses grew up in Egypt.  Isaiah was a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.  Ezekiel was a prophet who lived by the River Chebar.  Jesus walked the roads of Galilee.  John Wesley birthed Methodism out of England.  E. Stanley Jones is known for his missionary work in India. Deitrich Bonhoeffer served Christ in Germany.  Jesus became flesh among us in a little town of Bethlehem, but His work and presence is known in every corner of this round world.   

To drive across the countryside or across the county is to see one steeple after another on streets and roads that are as different as mountains are from the coastline.  Wherever there are people, there are those who are committed to following Jesus and being about His work in the places where He has put them.  There is no place where Christ cannot be served and His Kingdom advanced by the gifts offered to Him.  Many of the great revival movements began with a few people whose hearts burned so for God to work in their midst that they would not quit praying until He acted.  Many acts of kindness are not offered by some organized group, but by a single individual. 

The place where God put us is important in His story.  We may be the one in the particular place where we are upon whom He is depending.  A recent read put it this way, "Remember: you are your brother's keeper; you are your sister's keeper.  You're a watchman.  And where God has placed you, God has placed you on purpose."  ("Healing Prayer" by Chotka and Dunnam).