Last month we celebrated women in missions, and this month we’re giving it up for our guys! We’re having fun with images of mustaches, muscles, pipes and the iconic World Race beard. We’ve poured over blogs from men on the field along with those of the thankful ladies serving beside them. They’re stories of fun and freedom, challenge and compassion, honor and humility. And the lasting impression we’re left with is a man who looks like Jesus.
As I reflect on your situation in life as it relates to mine at your age, I am struck by what a good place you are in. When I was your age, I was not yet saved much less living for the Lord.
Your steps are being ordered by the Lord because of relationship and the communication you have with Him.
My steps, at your age, were ordered by me. I remember knowing there must be more to life than this, and most of you know exactly where that more begins and ends. Many of you have been saved from a young age, raised in a good church, surrounded by believers. Don’t take that for granted. Embrace it for the real blessing it is.
This is your launching pad for the future.
Now, here is the strange part of my journey. I was actually raised in a church. But my church, as a child, was a church without power. There was no real mention of the Holy Spirit, they did not believe in present day healing, Worship was three hymns to the organ and done. My first glimpse of something more was at a multi church retreat weekend. The first night of worship, I saw young men, hands raised, and lost in worship.
I was drawn to something I did not yet understand.
God says He knows the plans He has for you. To prosper and not to harm you. He is always ready to walk beside you on the narrow path He has laid out. I wasted part of my youth, where wide was the way. I don’t recommend it. This world you have inherited is broken, and it needs a Savior.
It needs an army of courageous young men like you to share the truth.
Embrace that, and not the world with all its instant gratification. You are a part of the Race because you are drawn to something greater than yourself. You are searching for your identity in Christ and His perfect will for your life. I spent 40 years in the wilderness to find it, and I thank God you can avoid those wasted years.
Let your lives, as well as your words, reach out to the young men like me who were still searching at your age. Grow the army that will prepare the way for His return.
I found a truth for me that I would like to share and pass on to you. I found that I cannot thrive or really even survive outside of the Word. I need it daily. I set up all kinds of fail safes to make sure I read from the Word daily. I have Bible apps on my phone, BibleGateway on my computer. I follow twitter feeds that post passages multiple times daily.
Most nights I try and cleanse my mind from the world, by having the Word as the last thing before I close the computer for the day. I started this many years ago after reading where Smith Wigglesworth felt the same way. He carried his Bible with him everywhere he went, all day long everyday. Here is a man that raised the dead, healed the sick, and had an amazing ministry, but felt he had to have the Word daily to remain strong.
I want you to walk in the power of the Spirit.
We are all sinners saved by Grace. But cling to Him, and His power will be made manifest through you. Jesus says, “He who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to my Father.
If Gods calling you to the mission field, we have routes in July available! Click here to apply.
Photos via Bruce Dawson
