This weekend Julia and I had the opportunity to attend a missions expo in North Carolina. The missions expo was designed to introduce us to the numerous "jobs" which were available around the world. We were given a list of over a hundred jobs and told to determine our top three within forty eight hours. This was not an easy task, and very over-whelming (yes, we broke down a time or two or maybe ten), however, in the end we had to make a decision. People have begun to ask how we were able to make any sort of a decision, and below, are four guiding principles which help us to determine every decision which we make whether big (jobs to do for two years) or small (part-time job to take).
1) Gifting and qualification are significant. If you tell a mission organization God has called you to a particular country, they're not going to send you based on that alone. You'll have to meet other qualifications (lot's of other qualifications). And rightfully so. What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? Which jobs have you had in the past to give you certain skills?
2) Obedience to Scripture is also of utmost importance. In general, we know that Christ wants to reach the nations for his name sake (Hosea 2:23, Acts 28:28). We can confidently say that missions work is a good and noble thing. Scripture commands it (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8) so it's got to be the right thing to do, in most cases. Christians in the U.S. saying God hasn't called them to missions are mistaken. Unless uncontrollable circumstances prevail, like a sick spouse or rebellious child, etc, no Christian has a right to say that cross-cultural missions isn't for him. He can at least take a two-week trip into another culture before concluding he's not gifted for cross-cultural living. We trust that going over-seas for two years is in God's will and therefore, we trust He will send us.
3) Desire is also a key player here. Psalm 37:4 says to "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." I take this to mean that when you are delighting in God, he will give you what you are desiring to have (also see Psalm 20:4, 145:19, Pro 10:24). These passages lead me to believe that wanting to do something, while not the most important thing is nonetheless important. Yes, sometimes we need to do some things whether we want to or not. And God doesn't say that he will always give us what we want, but God is not against us wanting to be where we're going to serve.
4) Faith really is the bottom line of where we live every day. It doesn't matter how sure we are of a decision to go to a particular people group, or to marry a certain godly person, it's still a step of faith. We have the promise that Christ will never leave us or forsake us on this life's journey, but there's no guarantee that it will always be an easy journey.
Julia and I are nervous for the future and whether or not our decisions we made were the right ones, however, we trust in God and the missions organization trusting that the missions organization will place us in the right job which matches our skills, gifts, and experience.
1) Gifting and qualification are significant. If you tell a mission organization God has called you to a particular country, they're not going to send you based on that alone. You'll have to meet other qualifications (lot's of other qualifications). And rightfully so. What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? Which jobs have you had in the past to give you certain skills?
2) Obedience to Scripture is also of utmost importance. In general, we know that Christ wants to reach the nations for his name sake (Hosea 2:23, Acts 28:28). We can confidently say that missions work is a good and noble thing. Scripture commands it (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8) so it's got to be the right thing to do, in most cases. Christians in the U.S. saying God hasn't called them to missions are mistaken. Unless uncontrollable circumstances prevail, like a sick spouse or rebellious child, etc, no Christian has a right to say that cross-cultural missions isn't for him. He can at least take a two-week trip into another culture before concluding he's not gifted for cross-cultural living. We trust that going over-seas for two years is in God's will and therefore, we trust He will send us.
3) Desire is also a key player here. Psalm 37:4 says to "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." I take this to mean that when you are delighting in God, he will give you what you are desiring to have (also see Psalm 20:4, 145:19, Pro 10:24). These passages lead me to believe that wanting to do something, while not the most important thing is nonetheless important. Yes, sometimes we need to do some things whether we want to or not. And God doesn't say that he will always give us what we want, but God is not against us wanting to be where we're going to serve.
4) Faith really is the bottom line of where we live every day. It doesn't matter how sure we are of a decision to go to a particular people group, or to marry a certain godly person, it's still a step of faith. We have the promise that Christ will never leave us or forsake us on this life's journey, but there's no guarantee that it will always be an easy journey.
Julia and I are nervous for the future and whether or not our decisions we made were the right ones, however, we trust in God and the missions organization trusting that the missions organization will place us in the right job which matches our skills, gifts, and experience.
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