It's just after 11 pm, my family is asleep . . . in the peace and quiet I've had some time to reflect on what God has asked us to do. I tried to go to sleep but I felt the Lord wanted me to share with you tonight.
I remember so clearly the night two years ago when Laura and I were able to get away and have supper . . . just the two of us. A night out which would change our lives forever . . . and forever change the way we thought about others. It was during this meal that Laura and I had a really good heart to heart. Our conversation became more and more intense as we began to discuss God's will for our lives. In our hearts we both knew that God wanted us to succeed at something, we knew His desire was to see us grow. As we talked and hashed things through, we began to see what God was ready to reveal to us. I remember saying this to Laura, "We should lay it all down . . . leave it all behind." At the time we were not sure what that meant, but it didn't take long until the Lord revealed to us His call on our lives . . .
We both looked at each other and said, "I believe God is calling us into overseas missions!!!" Surprised? Most definitely!!!! Yet at that moment the weight of the world came off our shoulders . . . at that moment we knew in our hearts that we had found God's will for our lives.
I often refer to this as "stumbling" across His will for our lives. You see it would be so easy if we just knew . . . if we just walked right into His will for us. As for us, it just seemed like we stumbled across the path He has chosen for us. Did we see it coming? Yes and no . . . when Laura and I were first married we felt the call on our lives to serve in the mission field. We went through the application process (with a different sending organization) but decided we would rather move back home. I often refer to this part of our life as the "Jonah Years", simply because we spent many years in the belly of a whale after walking away from what God asked us to do. Just so you know, we won't be walking away from the call again!!!!!
Over the last two years we've had some growing up to do, we've had some maturing to do as indivduals and as a couple. We also needed time to figure things out . . . for example, why has God called us? It took us a while to figure this out but we finally understand. God has commanded us to reach the lost . . . to go to the ends of the earth to tell everyone about Jesus, until everyone has heard. We had to suck up our pride . . . we had to come to the understanding that we are not going for ourselves, for personal satisfaction or to make ourselves look good. We are going because God has commanded us to go. Missions . . . God's mandate for us . . . we've chosen not to sit and wait for His return. Everyone needs to hear . . . everyone has to have the opportunity to make that decision, whether or not he or she will accept Jesus as their personal saviour. When this has been accomplished, He will return.
God has done an amazing work . . . He has given us amazing lives. All He asks is that we reach . . . all He asks is that we try. The call is there . . . its on all of our lives . . . lets reach and bring the lost to Christ.
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