Have you ever done a puzzle before? When I think of doing missions, I think of doing a puzzle.
For short-term missions, we generally bring our puzzle box with all its pieces to a foreign country. Upon arriving, we quickly get to business to assemble whatever our “puzzle” may be (construction work, evangelism, English camps, etc.). We have all the pieces, and we know what the end result will be, so we work tirelessly to complete the puzzle before leaving. Every piece has its place; everyone knows what piece they lay down to make the puzzle work, and it just comes together so nicely! And when we leave, we go with an empty puzzle box in hand and a smile across our faces, feeling a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. We came, we worked, we conquered. Next puzzle, please!
Living in Thailand is not like that puzzle. When I arrived, I walked into a puzzle already started and I’m going to leave long before it is finished. I don’t have all the pieces, and I do not know what the end picture looks like. Some days, the thought of “I could be doing so much more at home” has plagued me as I have looked around and wondered if I’m standing in the middle of a puzzle without any pieces at all.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a beautiful parable. In it, a master gives his 3 servants talents: to one man, he gives 5 talents; to another, 2, and to the last, one talent. The servants with the 5 and 2 talents both multiply their gifts. The one with 5 returns to the master 10 talents, and the one given 2 returns 4.
At home, I feel as though I have been given ten thousand, thousand talents. I know the language and culture and have wonderful relationships rooted in years of memories, tears, laughter, and life lived together. I know where to get my best friend’s favorite coffee for her after a hard day, and I have a car with the freedom to go wherever at any time. Whether being poured into or for pouring out, I have opportunities like crazy. I feel as though the Lord has given me many “puzzle pieces” at home, and it’s honestly easier there to see the multiplication of the talents I’ve been given.
Here, I do not always feel that way. Practically speaking, I do not have as much to offer: I cannot speak Thai, nor do I have a way of transportation alone, and frankly, I feel like I just don’t have as many “talents” as I do at home. Through these challenges I faced though, I feel as though God was sweetly whispering to me, “Trust me, Kat. Wait on me. My plan is bigger than what you see and I have your ultimate good in mind.”
And He does.
Upon giving the master what each had earned, the master gives the same response to both servants: “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.”
Isn’t our God so interesting? He cares less for a number and more for a heart. Simply speaking, 10 is greater than 4. However, instead of looking at the total number of talents each brought, the master in the story instead concerns himself with his servants using well what he had given to each of them. He did not ask them to compete for who could return the largest number of talents; he simply asked them to use well what he had given to each of them, and to do it for him.
So here I am, across the globe, and I honestly cannot tell you how many talents I’ll return to God at the end of all this. And I’m okay with that, because this side of heaven I do not believe I will ever know. Instead of concerning myself wondering if I can do more in Thailand or at home, I choose to focus on using well what He has given me here. Because here, with however many pieces of the puzzle He has given me, is exactly where He wants me with exactly how much He intended to give me. Now I get the joy of daily offering it back to Him and asking Him to multiply it for His name’s sake!
Our God works with the long-term goal in mind, and His plan stretches infinitely beyond what meets the eye. I have NO IDEA what He will do through this time, through this trip, or through my life. I do believe it will be far more than anything I could think or ask or imagine, and I believe that through my offering to Him what He has given me-one puzzle piece or a thousand- He will use it to be known and glorified.
Therefore, I am content not to know. I am joyful to walk by faith and not by sight. I am excited to trust and to wait. Because, one day, I will enter into the joy of my Master! I will behold with my eyes the beautiful picture God was creating all along and glorify His name for His masterpiece.
And until then? I will find peace in the Puzzle Maker. I will give Him the pieces I have and not worry about the ones I don’t. He does not expect those of me anyway. Nor does He expect them of you. Please resist the urge to compare what you have to offer to what someone else does or even to what you might have been able to offer at another point in life. Because right now, you are where you are supposed to be with what you are supposed to have. Offer that to the Lord, and let Him blow your mind with what He has in store.
“What no eye has seen,
nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
