Sometimes a person can feel in his heart the right thing to do…the right place to go…the right words to say. This is especially true of mission trips. When your hearts pulls you, and
you know where you are suppose to go, and with those two pieces in place the words start to flow.
As I have said for a while now, I struggle with the thought of going on a mission trip. I really don’t know why other than to say I don’t feel I am capable. And there lies the problem – I will never be capable unless I trust God 100%.
So, as I continue to look down this road, I came across a couple of pieces from stories I have seen or blogged about that I wanted to relay to you.
My Mission Trip (July 2007):
Quick background for you – this piece “My Mission Trip” is related to a friend of mine who went on a mission trip and had his blackberry stolen – which, as it turned out, was what he needed to stay focused on the trip and its purpose:
“…Now to finish the story (or start it). ….”T” asked me this weekend if I was going on a mission trip. I told him that I need to lose MY “blackberry” first before I am ready. For me, my “blackberry” is a couple of things that I feel I must do before I go. If I don’t do these, I will be tethered to those thoughts the entire time I am on the trip and not be able to fully commit myself to the mission trip. I need to lose my “blackberry.” Once I do, there won’t be anything left standing in the way…”
Challenges of following your faith (I liberally adapted this from something I read once)
Think of your faith like riding a downward escalator. Think of it like this… In order to grow in our faith, we have to turn around and sprint up the escalator, putting up with the perturbed looks from everyone else who is gradually moving downward. We have to put up with the strain on our legs, our arms, and our mind. The constant questioning about why we are running up when it is so much easier to ride down.
With that in mind, pursuing Christ requires climbing up those stairs that are constantly moving the other direction. Perseverance like this takes work and sweat. It is not easy. The stairs are pushing us down. Pushing away. When we stop, we automatically begin to be swept down – slowly drifting away from Christ and His love – slowly drifting. All the while we still see the top and more specifically we still see what we left behind.
This is hard for me as well. There are times when I struggle. I am not sure if there is an answer better than to say – with believing comes struggles – with believing comes doubt. While I know that God is far from absent, I still miss “that feeling” I got sometimes.
I also realize that in this moment I accept that He is God and I am not. I don’t have to have an answer to why; I just need to know that He is here with us.
That is really hard for my analytical mind to get wrapped around.
Conclusion
So here I am stumbling along life and generally missing the small things He is placing along my path – heck missing the large things. There are times when I want to see Him so bad that I imagine in my mind what that should look like…How I should feel. What life events I should learn from…Looking only for God moments, only to realize that they are all God moments. As I move along this self-imposed path, I start to realize that the very nature of trying to identify these moments are just one of many reasons I am missing Him walk right by.
Today I am trying to refocus. I am feeling His gentle nudges. The world is a wrecked place, and that includes my own backyard. Now the question that I face is – “will I be willing to listen. Will I step out and making a difference in the life of someone by showing them Christ.”
Will I do it locally?
Will I do it nationally?
Will I do it globally?
Today I pray for direction and guidance. Today I pray that my decisions are ones that will glorify God. Today I pray that I hear with my heart. Today I pray that the skills I have been blessed with will be used to further the kingdom.
Just Another Minute 
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