We sometimes use words and phrases that give off the feel of spirituality.
"I'm not called to go."
But really, we need to think of the flip side of that statement: Are we called to stay?
We sometimes equate the lack of a specific calling as evidence that missions service is outside of God's plan for us. But have we become confused by the idea of some pre-packaged blueprint that we imagine God has outlined for us without the larger understanding of God's overriding purpose for our lives? Someone wiser than me once said, "God doesn't have a plan for your life, he has a purpose for it."
When we begin to think of God's purpose for our lives, we understand that his purpose is to draw us ever nearer to himself and to enable others to do the same.
There was a time certainly when missions was a calling. It meant the dedication of one's life and career to serving God in some far flung country and saying good-bye to family and friends. A short term missions trip of three to four weeks is not the same thing, and we should really rethink short term missions, not in terms of whether it is God's plan for us, but whether it might be included in God's purpose for us.
On the mission field, even in small doses, one learns much about one's own character and perhaps as important, about the character of God.
If God's purpose is to create men and women of character, integrity, compassion and unselfishness, what better place to learn than in a ministry context where we are stretched to discover that we are far from where we could be in our walk with God.
How humbling to work with children who are excited to receive pencils as gifts when we grumble about not having the latest smartphone. What a test of our servant's heart when we are handed a mop and bucket with twenty bathroom stalls to be cleaned. How blessed are we with whole and healthy bodies when kneeling next to a child whose legs were vaporized by an undetected mine or a mother who is slowly dying of AIDS.
When we stay relatively isolated in our day-to-day cocoons, it's possible that we can miss the aching heart of God who yearns to see many others come to himself.
- He wants us to learn something about his character.
- To learn that he is present in the remotest of locations and humblest of circumstances.
- That he has the power and authority to bring forgiveness and cleansing to lives and hearts scarred by abuse and sin.
- That his grace can restore broken people.
How did YOU spend your summer vacation?
"I hung out at the beach, went to lots of parties, did some shopping."
Is this the purpose-filled, abundant life that we've all read about? I don't think so.
Remember: We are God's plan. There is no plan B.
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