Following God

I am blessed with a number of friends that are serving overseas in the missions field. Some of my favorite mail and email is the letters that I receive from people abroad. Although they are people, plain and simple, being in the stretching situation of living in a country where everything is foreign to them brings forth some amazing insights.

I got this from a friend overseas (I can’t give name or location because I don’t want to jeopardize any of their ministry efforts). It is a testimony about how amazing God is and how God works when we allow him to lead us:

“I have been challenged to follow Jesus above all ministry demands and rewards. In this process, I have seen more clearly that the One I follow is going before me. He is taking me places that the “Christian crowds� might not initially see. They are quiet places. They are lonely places. They are deep places. They are holy places. As I follow Him, my enjoyment of Him increases, my marriage becomes stronger, my love for my children deeper, my sense of contentment fuller, my response to situations more Christ-filled. Surely, “He is with us always.��

I hope, someday that I will be able to follow God recklessly. Often, I am so comfortable and afraid to venture where God is really working. I am seeing that the places he works aren’t usually filled with smiling, singing people as much as they are filled with people hurting and seeking something new. I am beginning to think that His work doesn’t involve big worship services and well planned technical cues as much as it involves a listening ear and some words of hope.

I think that is why I have been down lately. I am so caught up in silly, busy things that I have forgotten to spend time with people. I have been spending all my energy trying to change a church that doesn’t want to change but have been forgetting that the crowd won’t move in a direction, unless the individuals start moving in a direction.

Well, anyway, it is late and I better get some sleep. Some good things to ponder though…

Mike