Something that I have come to realize recently, is how easily we can be guilty of a “light switch” faith. We have times where we are equipped to to do anything and everything for the Lord and can’t wait to share His love with everyone we come across. From telling your friends and family about your walk with Christ, to sharing the gospel with a complete stranger who has little to no knowledge of God- this passion should be in every Christian’s heart. We are called to make disciples. We should be working toward this every single day, but do we?
In my life on the race, I’ve realized that this is a bit harder than I expected. 2 months have passed and I know that I take advantage of the smallest glimpse of rest and not always in the best ways. In between counties, we are so privileged to have just a few days of rest before going back onto the field. I would have to say, I totally took advantage of these days and I’m guilty of turning my ” faith switch” off. Ministry does get exhausting, but that does not allow us to choose when we want to share the gospel, “feel God”, or invest in stranger’s lives.
People would ask us where we are from and what we are doing there, and we would explain that we are missionaries. Because we were not technically on the field and given mission work to do, I would not think about going deeper than that. My switch was off. We had opportunities all around us and we ignored them.
I look back now and can’t believe that my rest could possibly be more important than a stranger’s future and salvation. (My heart is ripping).
I did not notice this until we were on our 35 hour travel to our ministry here in Botswana. We were at a bus station in Maun, waiting patiently on our last and final bus. As you could imagine, we didn’t really “fit in”. We were 12 tired Americans that could probably use a shower, surrounded by huge backpacks. I don’t even think we would fit in in the states. As expected, we were overwhelmingly exhausted and just ready to get to our ministry. Like other experiences, we slowly got swarmed with locals asking if we wanted to ride their bus and if we needed help. (very very sweet people).
A group of 3 men approached us and were simply interested in why we were sitting at a bus stop in Botswana. Like usual, we tiredly said we were missionaries from America and went back to our own conversations. The men continued to stand there, waiting for us to say more. The words that came out of his mouth next were simple, but have hit me incredibly hard. “So, what can you teach us?”
It’s hard to say, but in this moment I realized my switch was off. I was caught off guard and didn’t understand why because THIS is what I’m here for. This is what I have committed my life to. I realized how important it is to live out the life of a Christian because even nonbelievers, like this man, hold us to a higher standard and expect us to spread the gospel.
Even though I was not focused on God in any way, He had total grace on me and allowed the Holy Spirit to lead the conversation with this man about Christ. God did not let me down, but He did convict me in this moment. God is working in my heart by revealing the difference between REST and LAZINESS. Because I’ve been more aware of the missional living I need to have, I have been able to grow and allow Him to call me higher.
