We are constantly learning to let go of expectations on the race. This month we are doing manual labor on a palm oil plantation in the Malaysian jungle. We have a ton of simultaneous projects from cleaning up the land, to fertilizing the trees, to building a shed out of well-worn materials. Along the way we get to battle leeches that live out of water, 5 evil dogs, mice and rats everywhere, thorns and thistles, and 5 million mosquitoes each clamoring for an inch of my exposed skin…all the while being careful to watch out for snakes. Not to mention the torrential rain that is currently refusing to let us do laundry.
In the middle of all of the muck, mess, and frustrating circumstances, we often wonder what we are doing here and if we are making a difference at all. Sometimes ministry doesn’t look like we think it should. It’s easy to look at manual labor by ourselves out here in the jungle and assume we could be somewhere else doing something more meaningful for the kingdom of God. It’s easy to take a small thought like this and let negativity in and grow.
It’s not often easy to see how the little things we do for others make a difference. We all want huge, instantaneous, earth shattering moments and revelations that let us know that our lives have purpose, but sometimes we end up trekking through the jungle marsh fertilizing trees. That’s when the thought crosses your mind… “What’s the point of this in the grand scheme of things? Why does this matter?” It’s a legitimate question. But I love the lesson in it and how it reveals the character of God. These are the things God has been teaching me this month:
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God works in the small and insignificant things. Yes, He is a God of huge power and can do awesome acts, but He is a God of the little stuff too and He likes to use unexpected things and people to glorify His name.
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God wants us to learn to seek Him, while we want everything to be easy and obvious. In times when it’s harder to see God moving and see the purpose of what you are doing, you really start to crave Him and His presence and guidance. God says in Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Just like God pursues us, He wants us to pursue Him.
- Solomon often talked about how meaningful it was to have work. Colossians 3:17 instructs us to do whatever we do in word or deed to do it for the glory of God. Whether you are sitting in an air conditioned office doing paperwork, harvesting rice, scrubbing toilets, flipping burgers, or moving rocks to fill endless mud holes in Malaysia, do everything to the very best of your ability and use it to honor and worship Jesus. Nothing can be devoid of purpose if Jesus is in it and if He is being worshipped.
God also loves and notices every one of His unique creations. We are privileged to be here in Malaysia blessing this family in any way we can. And we have no idea how much the people we meet and the little things we do impact lives and then how that impact on their lives impacts people they meet. Jesus sat down by a well one day and asked a promiscuous Samaritan woman for a drink of water. All He did was sit and talk to her and from this one conversation the woman believed in Him and she was so excited that she introduced the whole town to Him. One conversation with one ostracized woman changed and entire community. There are opportunities of purpose and impact all around all of us every day, we just need to be close enough to Jesus to recognize them, interruptible enough to stop for people, and caring enough to show them God’s love.
