What am willing to do for the kingdom?
I’ve been surrounded by mold.
Covered in mud.
Lived in a tent.
Used only porta johns for months.
Went to Georgia with no idea what to expect.
Fundraised a scary amount of money.
Left my family.
Done lots of hard manual labor.
Got dengue.
Got second degree burns on my hand.
And got a handful of other illnesses.
That list of things is also accompanied by a list of blessing the Lord has given me that is to long to write out. But even if the the only things I experienced as a missionary were on this list, it would be worth it. Because even though those things were not easy to walk through, they would have been harder or even unbearable to walk through alone.
2 Corinthians 12:10 says “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Noone said following Jesus and sharing the Gospel would be easy, actually we are told it’s going to be hard. Luke 10:3 says “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” We know we are not strong enough to walk our faith out alone, we are weak. But 2 Corinthians 12:9 says “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” When I say I’m a follower of Jesus, I’m say there’s nothing I’m not willing to walk through. I know that whatever it is God has gone behind and before me, and will go beside me.