Called

A couple of my best friends arrived in Texas yesterday. It is the beginning of the end of one phase of their lives, and the end of the beginning of a journey that many people really don't understand. In fact, as supportive as I have been of them (because I love them) and as hard as I tried to understand (because I love Christ), it wasn't until recently that I really GOT it.

My friends are in Texas with their two small children because they need to buy a house. They need to buy a house because they have sold or given away most of what they own here in Wisconsin in order to follow the calling that God has clearly placed on them to go and share the gospel with the people in and near Monterrey, Mexico.

God called them, and they went.

It hasn't been easy. There have been many tears shed...their friends are here, their families are here. But God so clearly called them that they knew their only choice was complete obedience.

They go to join my friend's cousin, who is a pastor in a church that he has built with missions teams near Monterrey. I spent some time with him this weekend, as he is in the states for a few weeks. He is an amazing man. His wife stayed in Mexico, and twice when we were visiting with him, he got a phone call from her detailing an abduction near their church...it is dangerous territory.

My flesh says, "Leave! Go be safe somewhere....anywhere!" But where would that leave the people of these towns? How would that fulfill the commandment that God has give for us to go and make disciples of all the nations? (Matthew 28:19)

More than anything else, what sought me to look for answers was the overwhelming peace I see within my friends and my pastor friend. Are there concerns? Yes. Worries? Sinfully....sometimes. But peace....the underlying peace...the peace that surpasses all understanding...the peace is there. (Phil. 4:4-8)

Then I read this quote from an amazing book that is changing my life. I encourage everyone to read it. The name of the book is Radical: Taking Back your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt.

Your life is free to be radical when you see death as reward. This is the essence of what Jesus taught in Matthew 10, and I believe it is the key to taking back your faith from the American dream.
The key is realizing-and believing-that this world is not your home. If you and I ever hope to free our lives from worldly desires, worldly thinking, worldly pleasures, worldly dreams, worldly ideals, worldly values, worldly ambitions, and worldly acclaim, them we must focus our lives on another world. Though you and I live in the United States of America now, we must fix our attention on "a better country-a heavenly one." Though you and I find ourselves surrounded by the lure of temporary pleasure, we must fasten our affections on the one who promises eternal treasure that will never spoil or fade. If your life or my life is going to count on earth, we must start by concentrating on heaven. For then, and only then, will you and I be free to take radical risk, knowing that what awaits us is radical reward. (pg 179)

This speaks to me on so many levels. It makes me realize that I have spent the majority of my Christian life focusing on the benefits of my earthly life...and fearing death because it ends what I have here. But if, instead, I focus my eyes heavenward...not looking for death, but ceasing to be afraid of it...if I trust that my Heavenly Father will bring me home only in His perfect timing...what good can I do here for Him?

It is a scary thing, to truly say...."Here am I, send me." (Isaiah 6:8) To MEAN it when we say it. He might call us to our community. He might call us within our country. He might call us to give up everything and be a light to His people in a country we barely know exists. He might call us to die for His names sake.

My friends are called, and are being blessed because of their obedience. My prayer for myself and my family is that we are open to God's calling in our lives.

Radical seems to be the new "buzz word." But truly, Christ has been radical since the day He was conceived. Maybe what is actually "radical" is our obedience to His teachings.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you would make your will clear in our lives. I pray for the missionaries who have followed your calling, that you would place a hedge of protection around them as they seek to minister to others. Lord, I specifically pray for my friends and for the ministry in Mexico...I pray that you will use them mightily. Thank you, Lord, that we live in a country where we are free to pray and worship openly. Thank you for the countless blessings bestowed on us here...help us to see the needs elsewhere. Amen.

Ripples

"Dear Lord," I prayed, "help them to see that if they are feeling bitterness and anger, it isn't from You. For the fruits of the spirit are love, peace, gentleness..."

What about you?

"Huh? What about me? I'm praying about other people's problems, I'm not talking about myself! I don't have problems with bitterness and anger, look how forgiving I've been. See?"

What about this?

"Oh. That. Well. Yeah."

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

Sometimes I hate those verses.

But I have learned to take notice when God taps me on the shoulder.

It's hard to pray for an end to bitterness when I'm the problem. Bitterness is the love child of hurt and anger. You can't get rid of it without getting at the parents...and hurt and anger are stubborn tenants.

I'm a hypocrite if I pray for others to forgive if I won't.

So I prayed again, "Lord, I can't do this on my own. I shut myself down because rejection hurts so badly. But hiding the pain from myself and justifying the bitterness is still sin. I'm sorry, God. Help me love this person who has wounded me. Open my heart. I give my anger and bitterness to you, and I forgive this person for hurting me. Forgive me for waiting so long. Amen."

I opened one eye first as if the world was going to look a little different. Everything was still the same...no earth shattering result to a prayer I should have prayed years ago. But, deep inside, I felt it...a small sprout from the seed of peace.

It's going to take a while to heal. I might get wounded again. But my heart is clean and I am right with my Father. That's what matters.

So I reached out to the person who I'd crafted a bitter fortress around. "I care about you."

She responded. "Thank you."

Two hours later, I got a phone call from another friend who also had a fractured relationship with this person. This fracture was the subject of many of my most fervent prayers over the last couple months.

"I heard from her," my friend said. "Out of the blue she called and told me she cares about me."

Tears.

It's what grace does. It's what God does. Just like a stone thrown in the water causes ripples across the surface...touching areas you would never assume would be affected. God used my obedience in forgiving and reaching out to the person who hurt me to help her see who she needed to reach out to. And in doing so, one of my prayers was answered. Ripples.

Ripples of forgiveness; a circle of healing that started with a prayer and grew.

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7)


"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32)