“Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This verse fairly well serves as the theme for the whole second half of chapter 7 here.  Paul’s point over the course of a number of different examples is that we can serve God in whatever state in which we currently find ourselves.  God can and will take us wherever we are.  There are no circumstances in which we cannot advance His kingdom into the world around us in ways both big and small.  

Many followers of Jesus today are under the false belief that in order to really serve God well they need to change their situation somehow.  Perhaps they don’t need to go all the way to the place of becoming a full-time minister, but they are at least in need of a different work schedule or a different boss or a different neighborhood or a different pattern when it comes to reading the Scriptures or a different whatever.  They cannot serve as effectively where they are as they could in another situation.  They convince themselves that they are stuck and in need of a new set of circumstances.

Let’s call this what it is: A lie of the enemy.  Our enemy delights in whispering this kind of thing in our ear, seeing us get discouraged, and essentially giving up effective ministry.  Yet nothing could be further from the truth.  Think about it: Is there any situation into which God cannot come and transform it and all the people involved in it for the better?  Is His power limited somehow by our circumstances?  No follower of Jesus would make such a claim.  Yet when we hold that we cannot minister as effectively where we are as we could somewhere else, this is exactly the claim we are making.  Instead, unleash the Spirit into your situation, be faithful to the commands of Christ to love your neighbors, and watch the transformations take place.

Now, this does not mean we need to stay forever in a bad situation.  If we are in a situation that is genuinely draining the life out of us, we can and should seek God’s help to get out of it.  But until He provides an exit, we can serve Him well right where we are.  What God values most is faithfulness, and we can give Him that in whatever our circumstances happen to be.