For Such a Time as This

"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

I believe that we are eternal creatures, created by God, for His good work.  Not that God would not be able to accomplish it without our help, but that if we listen to God and follow His steps, using the gifts and abilities He has bestowed upon us, we may accomplish something amazing.  Something that however great or small is just a sliver of His great plan, His redemptive narrative.  It is by this that we accomplish that piece of the shorter catechism “The chief end of man is to glorify God and/by enjoying Him forever.” Whenever I began to think of this I think of Ester 4:13 and the part in her story where Mordecai is speaking a great truth to Ester.  That God will do what He wills, that it is a blessing to you that you get to be part of His great story.  He basically tells her, "Who knows if all the experiences and hardships in your life have not been leading up to this great moment where you may do something truly remarkable," leaving her with the words,  “For such a time as this”. 

I believe that God has instilled each of us with a set of God given desires and talents that may enable us to perform more adequately in some areas rather than others.  We all have different skill sets and passions and that’s what makes the body of Christ so incredible.  One part cannot function without the other, nor can it do all the functions by itself.  An eye cannot smell, and an ear cannot taste.  Without the Body, we miss out on many things that we may otherwise experience.  One of my favorite words in the Greek is a word Paul uses in his letter to the Romans - homothumadon - meaning of one accord.  Paul uses it to describe the unity of the body of Christ and the picture he presents is very musical, the blending of melodies and harmonies with the uniqueness of multiple voices blended together by the Holy Spirit to sing one song.  So while our root desires, or song, may be very similar, it is interesting how they manifest themselves in different venues and different ways, one might say we have our own voice.  I believe our desire is to “Glorify God and enjoy Him forever”, but how does that play out?  As a science brained person, it is my hypothesis that often our God given desire manifests itself in the ways in which we see God’s work overwhelm us in our daily lives.  It is in our personal experiences and encounters with others that God teaches us how he works, and invites us to join in as part of His story. 

In this I would say that I believe our passion, our desire, our calling, or whatever you may call it exhibits itself in two parts:  First of which, by those God given talents and desires laid on our hearts from the moment God knew us.   Secondly, by our encounters and individuals God has placed upon our lives to shape us into the ones he hopes for us to be.  This is one reason I believe that our ministry must be personal.  Now that can take shape in many ways, but I do not believe we can effectively and wholly minister to something that does not have a personal connection in our lives.   Let me explain with an example from my own life:

I believe that God has instilled in my heart from the very beginning a heart for missions and Africa.   Now whether I was born with that, or if it was “socialized” into me by my parents or somewhere along the line, I do not know.   However, for the sake of argument, I am going to say it was there from the start.  For I do not remember a beginning of it and if you knew my mother, she would have never tried to convince her son to move away to Africa, a snake ridden land.  Contrastingly, I do remember several encounters along the way that strengthened those feelings, if they did not have the place of initiating it,  from missions conferences at my church as a child to friends that were missionaries.  Yet, it was not until my first trip to Kenya, until worshiping with Maasai brothers and sisters in Christ,  living, eating and breathing the experience, that it became real to me.  It was then that the desire that had been instilled in me and slowly growing became a full fledged and contagious passion, that I realized my place in His great story. 

Just like Mordecai in the story of Ester, I firmly believe that all the experiences, the good and the bad, from those things that I thought were useless, to my greatest joys, have all been placed in my life to lead me to this point.  They have led me to this moment to take one step in the role that God has for me, however large or small that part may be.  He has created that desire in my heart, stirred it by experiences, and created a relationship with His people to create a calling that I cannot ignore.  Africa, the Maasai people, have become a piece of me and I am forever tied to them in whatever fashion that God chooses to use me.  

The point of this blog is to first share Audrey's and my heart as we pursue our call to Kenya in the upcoming year, and secondly invite you all to join in this adventure with us.  I would love for everyone to get the chance some day to taste personally, on the ground, what mission work is like whether in our own country or overseas, for I believe that when one experiences it, it makes the need all the more real and impossible to ignore. Although, I also know that not all of us are called to go.  The apostle Paul states clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:6- I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.  Somewhere before us, someone has planted a seed, that we will hopefully be faithful to water, and God will grow and raise up into something amazing.  There are so many parts to this journey, so many parts of the body of Christ, so many voices in the song, and we are only a part.  We need the body, we need you, we need goers, and doers, planters, sowers, senders, builders, listeners, and prayer partners.  As we embark on this journey we need our family.  Not just our immediate family, but our friends, colleagues, small group, church body near and far to support us in a variety of ways.  Whether that be by prayer, letters, or monetarily, we need support from you to do this, for we cannot do it alone.  And I firmly believe that God has placed each of you in a personal relationship with us in our lives and entangled us along the way for His work.  That we are intertwined, for such a time as this.