"You are an instrument to bring LIGHT into this world"
-Oscar Merlo
Part of My Story:
For the past 6 years I've attended missions conferences, but there was something about the conference in Spring of last year that God used to dig down deep & really do some work on my heart.
The Summer following, I helped fund a friend's missions trip. Being welcomed into the process touched my life in more ways than I ever expected. I was able to help financially, but being a prayer partner & seeing the ways in which the Lord moved, worked, & provided in perfect time was the most incredible thing to me. Though God has been working on my calling for years, these were the things that God used to finally spark my attention.
In late August I received a letter from the friend I helped send overseas. When it was slipped into my hand, I had no idea the power the words inside would hold, but God used that letter to impact my life forever. It was the final push I needed to respond to the call the Lord had been preparing me to answer. I could hardly sleep at night, playing back the words the Lord had spoken to me.
(a glimpse at what God showed me through the letter: click here)
So, in early September, I turned my "here i am Lord," into a "send me."
When God Calls You to Go
God is the God of missions.
He is constantly calling people to Himself & inviting us into relationship with Him.
One absolutely amazing fact is that God doesn't need us to do His work, but He wants us, & calls us into the ministry that He's doing all around the world. What an incredible gift & blessing that is!
The fact that God chooses us to be His image-bearers & Good News sharers absolutely blows my mind. What an incredible honor!
When God called me to do missions work, it was like all the puzzle pieces were coming together. Missions work is part of the Christian life, whether that's loving your next-door neighbor, serving those experiencing homelessness in your city, or traveling across the country or the world. Christ calls us to the least-of-these, and to the ends of the earth, and those are to be found everywhere, in all corners of the world.
Before God broke my heart for missions work, I was totally fine living my life & dreaming my dreams in the comfort of what I knew. Doing ministry within the walls of my church & through the internet, not jumping out into the deep-end & loving well on those in my city, my state, my country & parts of the world I have never been. The thought of leaving my comfort-zone terrified me, but that's when Jesus reminded me that He's worth it. He's worth leaving my comfort-zone, & so are the people around me & in all corners of the world. They deserve to be loved & to hear the Good News.
A quote from Michael Oh that totally WRECKS me in the best & most motivating way possible is this:
"Did Jesus die so we could be comfortable?"
Everything comes back to the Gospel. The Gospel calls us to be a witness. (Notes on Mickey Klink)
We've heard the Good News & it's not to be kept to ourselves!
God loves us more than we can love Him, & because of His love, we can then love others. (Notes on Michael Oh)
May we never normalize God's amazing, incredible, unconditional love for us. May we continually be reminded of the Gospel of Christ, and the work that Jesus did in this world & on the cross.
May that be what propels us forward with confidence to a world that needs so desperately to be reconciled to Christ.
Proclaiming Christ can be intimidating, but may we remember that all we need to do is be faithful. Be faithful to respond to the call.
Be faithful in showing up.
God will work in & through you.
All you need to do is be faithful. (Notes on Erik Thoennes)
If you're anything like me, you enjoy being comfortable. But if you're a follower of Christ, you will learn that following Jesus isn't always comfortable. But it is worth it! Hands down, it is worth it!
So that thing that God's calling you to do? Do it.
Do it scared.
Be all-in & sold-out.
If He's calling you to something or to go somewhere, you sure as heck better believe that He's already packed His bags & put on His sneakers!
He doesn't call us places He wouldn't go.
He's going with you & He's gonna be by your side the whole way through!
So what have you got to lose?
In my experience, you've got a whole lot to GAIN!
Because Jesus is more than enough.
So do it.
Do it scared.
God's got you.
You can trust Him.
It'll be worth it.
xoxo,
katie
