Even before I was a Christian, I felt called to go do humanitarian work in Africa and possibly Eastern Europe. I applied and was accepted into the Peace Corps and it seemed like that was the path I was destined for. Then this past May, I accepted Christ and everything changed (I know…duh!). But I still felt like God was calling me to do work in Africa.
So I started applying to all different kinds of organizations, both missionary and secular. I wasn’t convinced that I was supposed to be a full time MISSIONARY though. To me, a MISSIONARY was someone very serious and intense and a Super Christian! That wasn’t me! I still had so much to learn! I wasn’t good enough for that! But all through the summer, the idea of doing straight up missions kept coming up. In fact, looking through my Bible, you’ll see tons of “missions?” scribbled throughout all the books I was reading.
In the meantime, I wasn’t having any luck with getting to Africa. I wasn’t hearing back from places, or they didn’t feel right. Or I was accepted and then they couldn’t send any volunteers for security reasons (yeah, that happened), and I was getting so frustrated!!! And I started to question God. “I thought you said I was supposed to go to Africa??? I thought that was Your plan for me??? So why isn’t it working??? Is it still Africa???” And all I was getting in response was a “You’ll see.” Needless to say, I was confused and honestly, a little hurt! I thought I knew what God had asked of me and I was trying to do it! In reality, though, I was acting like my plan was better than God’s.
Although I was still convinced Africa was my calling, I applied to World Race. I had applied to World Race on a total whim, not even really thinking about it or thinking they would want me. When I was accepted into the program I still wasn’t sure if this was God’s plan, but then He lead me to Jonah. If you get to know me, you will probably learn that I LOVE the book of Jonah. I have no idea why but God has repeatedly used this book to teach me all kinds of things. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the end of the book has Jonah sitting under a God-given vine, but then God sends a worm to eat it and wind and it gets destroyed. And Jonah gets MAD, so angry that he says he could die. The last verse says:
“But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Ninevah has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?'” (Jonah 4:10-11)
And God said to me, “But you, Sarah, have been concerned about Africa though you did not give yourself that passion or that dream. I gave it to you. It sprang up overnight. But the world has billions who don’t know Me. Should I not be concerned with all of them?”
It was one of those DANNNNNG moments!
And then I remembered something I once heard Steven Furtick say. He said that we ask God for an Atari, but He wants to give us Nintendo. This is us limiting God, and we do it all the time. The truth is He wants more for us than the first attempt at a video gaming system that is now completely obsolete. He wants to give us a revolutionary sytem that gave us the classic partnership of Mario and Luigi! THAT is exactly what God just did. I had prayed for months about Africa. I had been desperate to go to Africa. That’s what I had told everyone I was gonna do with my life, what God has asked me to do with my life. And God just looked at me and smiled and said “Aww you wanna help the African orphans? That’s cute, because you’re gonna do that for Me, but I’m also gonna send you to the Roma in Eastern Europe and have you tell prostitutes in Thailand about Me, and aboriginese in Australia, and basically demolish any perception you ever had of Me and completely change you all at the same time.” And I’m just like, “Ummm…ok? Are you sure? You want me? Ok, if You’re sure.” Ephesians 3:20 says it this way, “(He) is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” This is definitely more than all I could ask or imagine!
Yup, I was asking God for Atari and He gave me Nintendo. No, check that. He gave me a Wii. 🙂
