The title of this blog is one of those phrases that bounce around Christian circles and that just is not true. In the past seven years of being a missionary, various members of our family have experienced the following:
• Robbery
• Mugging
• Typhoid
• Dengue Fever
• Stranded between striking workers
• Political upheaval
• Threats
• Emergency Surgeries
• Salmonella poisoning
• Being run over by a taxi
• Attending the funeral of a 15 year old who contracted a disease while serving God
Now, I am not trying to look for pity or discourage people from making a mission trip or becoming missionaries. I believe that we have been in the center of God’s will but that does not mean that we have some sort of Clark Kent superpower. We may have been protected from worse, but mostly we have seen God’s hand in the trials. Through all that we have experienced and seen with others, our faith has been strengthened and grown.
The four people who were shot near Denver on Sunday were Youth With A Mission veterans. They had no reason to believe that their lives were in danger. The ones who strike me in particular were the two mission leaders at YWAM. They had completed training and a 12 week mission assignment. Probably, their parents had prayed and agonized over their assignment and were now relieved that they were “safe.”
These kids were not safe but they were, almost assuredly, following God and being obedient to His call. When God calls me home, that is where I want to be found. Being in the center of God’s will is not necessarily safe, but it is best.
2 comments:
Good post, Frank. I could add our own list of things we have been through to reinforce your point. What I have learned through all the "trials" is that God in his sovereignty permits them to happen. Satan has one purpose (evil), but God causes all things to work together for good--even the bad.
My fiance' and I are trying to discern whether God is calling us to Quito. Out of the blue, I typed in "Quito God's Will" into the google search engine, looking for some answers, and lo and behold, your post. Thank you.
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