I sat in a fast food restaurant inside a mall here in Sungai Petani, Malaysia and read the words of my squad leader who is back in the US. Those words hit home in a way that made me want to cry over the people who really believe that he’s lying.
“I hear it all the time when I come home from trips… “Well, God bless you. I just could never do what you do and leave my home and family and go to another country. It takes a special person.”
What a bunch of garbage.
I’m not anymore special than anybody else, nor have I any “special calling” that He didn’t call every one of us to. It’s a matter of whether or not you’re willing to lay down your own comforts and wants to be “inconvenienced” to share the love of Jesus.
Maybe this is a bit rabbit-trailed, but my heart breaks for this world. Yes, because of sin and depravity, but even more so because we’ve become a bunch of followers of Jesus who are willing to follow Him, but are unwilling to do the one thing He asked of us…
GO LOVE PEOPLE LIKE JESUS.
It made me want to sit down with Dustin, share a cup of coffee and tears over the depravity. I wanted to sit with him and tell him that I find myself broken because I don’t know how to explain it. I wanted to sit down because Dustin has sat with me and let me cry on his shoulder when I didn’t understand what God was doing. I wanted to sit with him because he has “tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Dustin gets it. He gets the idea that missions isn’t just for missionaries. The irony? I am a “missionary” and most days I don’t feel like one. I didn’t want to leave home; there are days of the race that make me want to go home. I want to watch my “kids” grow up. I want to go to the pool with my best friend; I want to be spending the 4th of July with her. I want to be talking about Jesus with the girl who works in the coffee shop near my house instead of the girl who doesn’t speak English at the “Marrybrown” near our house.
But instead, for today, I am in Malaysia. Jesus asked me to live out my calling RIGHT HERE IN MALAYSIA. Tonight, I will sleep in Sungai Petani, Malaysia and wake up tomorrow to live out the things he asked me to do here.
Missions isn’t something for “Super Christians.” I promise that the 6 women that live in the same room as me would tell you that we are anything but. They see when I get mad or stub my toe. They are the ones who hear me complain when I should be thankful, and the ones that remind me why I came to Malaysia. They are the ones who push me to Jesus when I want to turn somewhere else. And they are the ones who are also seen by so many as “Super Christians”.
If I don’t tell the girl about Jesus, will anyone? If I don’t mention the one who saved my soul to the man who made my coffee, will he ever know him? Or will he go to hell because I didn’t do anything about it? What about the girl that’s ringing up your groceries this afternoon? What about the guy who is your lifeguard at the pool this week?
I just want you to see Jesus. I want you to taste his goodness in the land of the living. And I want you to KNOW HIM. Because, the truth is, when you KNOW HIM, you’ll do anything to share him with everyone you meet.
