Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3 9 2026
Chosen for Such a Time – A Jewell in God’s Hand.
PS. For our Courageous Mens Group. We are meeting Off Campus Today. ((See you next week)
He chose you for a reason. The real question is, do you know what that reason is? Scripture tells us that none of us arrived here by accident. Before we ever took our first breath, God already knew us and had intention for our lives. In Jeremiah 1:5 the Lord says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” That means every life reading today was seen, known, and purposed
by God long before the world ever knew your name.
Each of us carries something that God Himself placed within us. We are not random people stumbling through life. We were created to carry light into places that are often dark. In many ways, we are chosen to save the innocent…the broken, the discouraged, the ones who feel forgotten or lost. Those are often the people God places right in our path. The question then becomes: how do we help save them? Maybe our part is just to help till the soil and plant a seed.
It begins with remembering an important truth about ourselves. Each of us is a gift from God, and when we forget that truth, we sometimes begin to live smaller lives than the ones God intended for us. Not using the gifts God has placed in us can almost resemble ingratitude. Think about it this way. Imagine someone gave you a wedding gift that was far beyond anything you expected. Instead of a small household item, they gave you something extraordinary…perhaps a fully paid trip around the world. Every destination prepared, every ticket waiting, every moment planned for you to experience something beautiful. But you never take the trip. The ticket just sits in a drawer. Years go by, and you never even send a thank-you note to the person who gave it to you.
That would be heartbreaking to the giver, because the gift was meant to be used and enjoyed. In many ways, the gifts God places inside us are similar. They were never meant to stay in the drawer of our lives. They were given so that His glory could be seen through us. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us of this truth: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” In other words, God already prepared a path of purpose before we ever arrived on this earth.
The Bible even gives us a powerful phrase that speaks to this moment. In Esther 4:14 we hear the question asked, “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Those words echo across the centuries to us today. No matter where you find yourself in life right now, you are still here for such a time as this. You are a living piece of a divine purpose that only you can fulfill. God created you to be a light in this world.
Jesus Himself told His followers in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” That means our lives were designed to shine. Yet it is not really our own light that changes people; it is His light shining through us. When God lives within us through the Holy Spirit, our lives begin to reflect something different. Jesus promised this in John 14:26 when He said that the Holy Spirit would come to guide us, teach us, and remind us of the truth. Imagine that for a moment—the very Spirit of God choosing to dwell inside ordinary people like you and me.
But when we look around at the world, we quickly notice something. Many people walk through life like empty shells. Some have been crushed by their mistakes. Others were wounded by people they trusted. Some simply got lost in the confusion and noise of life. You probably know someone like that, and if we are honest, most of us have felt like that at one point ourselves.
Those are exactly the people God calls us to reach.
We are not called to lecture them or judge them. Instead, we are called to come alongside them, to build trust and friendship, and to allow the light of Christ in us to shine quietly and consistently. When people experience kindness they do not expect, it begins to stir questions in their hearts. Eventually, they ask things like, “Why are you here for me?” or “Why are you being so kind?” “What’s different about you?” Those moments become sacred opportunities for us to share the story of what Jesus has done in our own lives. We can tell them how He welcomed us back when we were wandering like prodigals. We can tell them how He restored purpose where there once was emptiness. We can show them that the hope of glory is not just a religious phrase…it is a living reality for those who walk with Christ.
This season of the year is a powerful reminder of that hope. As we move toward Easter, the church historically enters the season of Lent, a forty-day time of reflection that mirrors the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness. It is sometimes helpful to think of Lent as a kind of spring cleaning for the heart. It is a time when believers intentionally make space for God through prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness toward others. The purpose is not punishment or deprivation. It is simply learning to say no to some distractions so that we can say yes more fully to Christ.
There is an old question that illustrates this idea. People sometimes ask, “How do you remove the air from an empty glass?” The answer is simple: you fill the glass with water. As the water pours in, the air is naturally pushed out. Our lives often work the same way. When we fill our time and our hearts with prayer, service, and the presence of God, many of the world’s distractions and false promises begin to lose their hold on us. We become clearer vessels for the light God wants to shine through us.
Let me leave you with a small story. Many years ago, a village lost all of its electricity during a terrible storm. The entire town was suddenly swallowed in darkness. No streetlights, no porch lights, no glow from the windows of homes—just a quiet blackness across the whole community. One man stepped outside with a small lantern in his hand. It wasn’t a powerful light; it was just a simple flame behind glass. But when his neighbor saw that light glowing, she brought out a lantern of her own. Then another neighbor did the same, and then another. Before long, the entire street was glowing again—not because the power had returned, but because one person was willing to light the first lantern.
That is often how God works in the world. He is not asking us to light the entire world on our own. He is simply asking each of us to light the lantern He has placed in our hands. When one life begins to shine with the love of Christ, others begin to remember that they were created to shine too.
So wherever your relationship with God may be today, remember this truth. You were known before you were born, created with purpose, and placed in this moment of history for a reason. God still has a divine plan for your life, and He is inviting you to step into it. When you do, the light He placed within you will begin to guide others out of darkness and toward the hope found in Jesus Christ ALONE.
Finally, think about someone in your life who might feel like that “empty shell” we talked about tonight—someone who may be hurting, discouraged, or feeling forgotten. What would it look like this week for you to come alongside them in friendship and simply let the light of Christ in you be seen?
Do you know someone who needs to hear this? Pass this lesson and future devotions to someone, with this Signup link: http://eepurl.com/i_nlb2 My website to view past devotions is https://fearlesslycourageous.com
I host an Online Discovering Jesus class again on Tuesday night through March 17th
at 7pm – 8:30 ONLINE for people of all ages. Here is your link to join us on Tuesday.
If you desire to invite someone send them this email and just have them join us. https://meet.google.com/cfm-udos-iks
Jamal Roberts HEAL
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