Take Two

Well...I promise, I had an entire post typed up. But sadly, something happened and I lost every bit of it. So I'm just choosing to believe that what I had wasn't what I was supposed to share with you :)

Take two.

It’s hard to talk about everything, but at the same time it’s hard to narrow things down as well. I’ve been up at the hospital a great deal since my past post and that, of course, has been right up my alley. To see medicine and mission put together, working in such a beautiful way is truly inspiring. Here at the hospital you have the widow, the orphan, the unclean, the outcast, the “least of these”. And it’s here that God is teaching me so much about ministry and about missions. I haven’t hopped up on a platform and given a “come to Jesus” message. I haven’t swooped in and changed the way these people believe in a matter of a month. God has placed me in such a way that I am literally living life with these people. All of them. Christian and unchristian alike. I’ve been saying since the first week that I feel as if I have been impacted by the people ten times more than I have impacted them. But, I know God’s hand is orchestrating every single thing. There are people who have already come and gone, people I may never see again…but I know that God has used the essence of who I am (in Him) to reach them in some way. I may never see the fruit in some of these peoples’ lives, but the beauty of it is, I don’t have to. The fruit is not for me, it’s for Him. Every single bit is for Him and His use. He has placed me here in this time with these people on purpose and I know that it’s for His glory.

So, I want to encourage you today. Whoever you are and wherever you find yourself, be all there. Being in a different country doesn’t classify what mission is. Mission is the heart of God and it is everywhere. All the time. Location is simply an external factor.

A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans. -Chambers

When Jesus appeared before the disciples in John 20 (encounter with Thomas) several things stick out to me.

So saying, He showed them His hands and His side. And when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy (delight, exultation, ecstasy, rapture). Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! [Just] as the Father has sent Me forth, so I am sending you. John 20:20-21

The first is the focal point, His hands and His side. To see Jesus, the Love of God displayed in the Cross, and the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Him from the dead. This is the life giving key to living mission-minded, wherever you are. When we look to Jesus and only Jesus we become filled with joy, regardless of where He places us or the fruit we may or may not be seeing. It’s only about Him and His glory being made manifest in this earth through His children. This joy can be replaced by nothing, because it’s His joy that comes only from His hand. His Joy is followed by His peace. And His peace is followed by His sending. In the same way that the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends us. And remember, when the Father sent Jesus, He sent him on earth and people knew him as the son of a carpenter. A carpenter’s son is such a common everyday thing, but it’s where the Father chose to place him. You may be a businessman, a stay at home mother, a student, a world traveler, a grandparent...wherever you are, He placed you there on purpose, His purpose. God has placed you right where He wants you, so don’t look to be somewhere else. 

Where has He sent you?

Look to Him and allow your eyes to see your surroundings through His. To see the widow, the orphan, the unclean, the outcast, the "least of these" where you are. They are there. May you look to Jesus, be filled with His joy and peace, and experience His faithfulness as He sends you out!

Pictures are coming soon!