Do you ever find yourself wondering why you do what you do?
Does the garbage man ever wonder why he rides around on the back of a truck
inhaling the discards of others? Do doctors ever wonder why they work
exhaustingly long hours, or why they have to be the ones to deliver the worst
news in the world to families at times?
Does the garbage man ever wonder why he rides around on the back of a truck
inhaling the discards of others? Do doctors ever wonder why they work
exhaustingly long hours, or why they have to be the ones to deliver the worst
news in the world to families at times?
Since being back in the field, I have had numerous adult
leaders of the youth groups on our Adventures Youth trips, as well as our AY
participants themselves ask me a series of ‘Why?’s and ‘How?’s.
leaders of the youth groups on our Adventures Youth trips, as well as our AY
participants themselves ask me a series of ‘Why?’s and ‘How?’s.
“Why do you travel from place to place? How do you make a
living? How can you live in conditions like this for extended periods of time? Why
would your parents let you do that? How do you stay close to those you love and
vice versa?”.
living? How can you live in conditions like this for extended periods of time? Why
would your parents let you do that? How do you stay close to those you love and
vice versa?”.
Some of these questions were easy to answer, some offended
me, but ALL of them lead to a testimony of how God is working in my life, and brought
me to the revelation of why I do what I do.
me, but ALL of them lead to a testimony of how God is working in my life, and brought
me to the revelation of why I do what I do.
The Fall was not an easy season for me. I was on the road a
lot, working alone, usually at things I had never done before, nor had the
slightest idea how to do. There came a point where I was not necessarily ready
to give up, I just was not exactly sure why I was doing what I was doing. Since
the beginning of June, this question has been answered daily.
lot, working alone, usually at things I had never done before, nor had the
slightest idea how to do. There came a point where I was not necessarily ready
to give up, I just was not exactly sure why I was doing what I was doing. Since
the beginning of June, this question has been answered daily.
I do what I do for the unfamiliarity of foreign languages,
sights and smells all around me, for the tiny fingers of a small child
intertwined with mine while we walk down a dirt road, trying to understand what
the other wants to communicate in their own language. I do what I do so I can
join a team of my staff in prayer over their day first thing in the morning,
followed by time with just me and God atop a roof staring at a volcano. I do
what I do to see the next generation pushed to a point of brokenness and stark
revelation that there is so much more going on in this world than the hubbub of
Suburban Life USA. I do what I do so I can be reminded daily that ‘God does not
call the equipped, but rather equips the called’.
sights and smells all around me, for the tiny fingers of a small child
intertwined with mine while we walk down a dirt road, trying to understand what
the other wants to communicate in their own language. I do what I do so I can
join a team of my staff in prayer over their day first thing in the morning,
followed by time with just me and God atop a roof staring at a volcano. I do
what I do to see the next generation pushed to a point of brokenness and stark
revelation that there is so much more going on in this world than the hubbub of
Suburban Life USA. I do what I do so I can be reminded daily that ‘God does not
call the equipped, but rather equips the called’.
Ultimately, I do what I do because I know it is impossible
to outrun God. Jonah, anyone? It took a few years of short-term international
missions, combined with the tug of a calling before I fully committed my job
title to ‘full-time missionary’. It is usually not easy, but one truth I can
share with you is that the blessings and rewards God has chosen to lavish upon
me for saying, ‘Yes, God’, far outweigh anything I could procure through my own
strength and provision.
to outrun God. Jonah, anyone? It took a few years of short-term international
missions, combined with the tug of a calling before I fully committed my job
title to ‘full-time missionary’. It is usually not easy, but one truth I can
share with you is that the blessings and rewards God has chosen to lavish upon
me for saying, ‘Yes, God’, far outweigh anything I could procure through my own
strength and provision.
One night during the Fall, when I was desperate to know why I was
doing what I was doing, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night with this verse from Deuteronomy:
doing what I was doing, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night with this verse from Deuteronomy:
‘Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them,
that you may prosper in all that you do.’ – Deuteronomy
29:9
that you may prosper in all that you do.’ – Deuteronomy
29:9
I remember having a very hard time going back to sleep after I read that verse. I knew that there would be trials ahead, but only so I could fully appreciate the truly prosperous road God was going to lead me down.
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