Well, we are only 6 days from leaving the States and things are getting hectic with last minute to-dos and we find ourselves stretched thin trying to see friends and yet still have some time for family. How do you plan for your last several days in the States, knowing you’re about to leave for years? We surely don’know.
But along with the physical and mental tiredness, there’s definitely the spiritual battle that is growing stronger – questions like “why are you doing this again?” and “is it worth it?” and thoughts like “you’re foolish to think you can make a difference in this messed up world” pop into my head at the most inconvenient times. Times when I feel like I should be putting on the “of course, we’re ready” and “yep, we can’t wait!” face. Good thing people can’t read my mind.
But it’s in these dark moments that God meets me with reminders of my call and reignites my passion for his mission field with verses from his Word.
“Why are we doing this?” Well, because the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few (no, seriously, this is not a joke!); because there are still people out there that have yet to hear the name of Jesus and how can they call on one of whom they have not heard? how can they hear without someone to preach? and how can someone preach without being sent?; because the last words of our Lord were, “Go to the ends of the earth, teach people all I have told you and let them know that reconciliation with a perfect God is now possible because of my sacrificial life and death”; and in the really dark moments, it comes down to the bottom line: we are going because he asked us to and he promises to be faithful to complete every work he’s started in those whom he loves and are called according to His purpose. How can you know that your God, your Creator and Savior, has asked you to do something and say “No” when he made you, he owns you, and he bought you with a price? YOU CAN’T. So no matter how crazy this world thinks we are, we live for an audience of one: the Living God.
“Is it worth it?” Well, was Christ’s death worth it? If we truly believe God’s Word and his promises of a future with Him for eternity then you can easily meet that doubt with the question, “what is worth anything except those things in which we participate for his Kingdom?” When people look at me like “you are nuts,” God whispers back to me “I died for you.” In light of that, how can we keep this treasure, this mystery now revealed, to ourselves? Paul said in Acts, “I consider my life worth nothing save to finish the work given to me, to testify to the good new of Christ Jesus.” May the depths of my heart reside in this truth.
“You’re foolish to think you can make a difference in this messed up world.” Sure, we’re foolish if we think we are the ones making the difference, but the truth of the matter is, it’s not about us and what we do, it’s about Christ and what he did. He commissions the church to be his hands and feet and last time I checked, hands and feet do not operate on their own accord. We are merely living sacrifices, here to walk in obedience to the Father awaiting the day that he calls us home; awaiting the day when we can hear, “well done, my good and faithful servant.” Jonathan Edwards said, “Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” If we live in such a manner that our feet are on the ground and our eyes are focused on eternity, God will do things through us because we will be actively walking and properly focused on the things that matter. In the surrender, we make all the difference in the world because we become an extension of our audience: the Living God.
And these truths are not just for us “missionaries.” You know, I hate that label because really we are all called to be living this way, with our eyeballs focused on eternity, in surrender to the One who made us and owns us and saves us. We are all his hands and feet – the Haberchaks are just getting to do it halfway across the world from where they grew up. Really, it’s just a matter of location, not vocation. We almost have the “advantage” as missionaries because we get reminders all the time about what’s important and when we’re on the front lines, it’s easier to remember that there is a struggle going on and a global church engaged in it. So as you think about us and pray for us, remember the same God who is working on the battlefield in PNG, is living in you and asking things of you that are just as radical as moving halfway around the world. “Be still (take time to listen) and know that I am God (remember your place as his child, and by extension, what really matters in our short time on earth).”
COME SAY GOODBYE: SUNDAY, JUNE 8TH we will be giving out free hugs and we’d love to give one to you! We will be at 28263 Isabella, Mission Viejo CA 92692 from 1pm-5pm. Light refreshments will be served ;-). Hope to see you there!