“Here am I Lord… but if you want my honest opinion, I’m pretty sure that person, or that one or even that one might be more qualified to be sent than me!”
How many times I’ve thought that since we moved down to Missouri for our next phase of training to be cross-cultural missionaries. During our Foundational Bible Teaching class… teaching was terrifying with a capital T! My thoughts? “Ok Lord, no teaching for me.”
When we took Form and Meaning and got an overview of the incredibly complex issues you can face while translating, my first thought was, “Alright, translation is out too!”
Then came Stewardship and Teamwork, pointing out the various areas that we need to learn to be faithful in as individuals, how we manage our time, how we work in groups, potential difficulties that can arise on missionary teams, the importance of goal-setting and strategizing, ministering with families, women in ministry, singles in ministry and many different dynamics that can affect our effectiveness in ministry. Can you say, “inadequate”?!
It’s already almost the end of our first semester here. Time has flown! My head is chock full of valuable information. But one phrase keeps swimming around my mind. I think pretty much every teacher we had in almost every class touched on this thought. I’m very thankful to them for it.
“I will never be able to take this on and succeed, apart from dependence on the Lord.”
When I dwell on this truth, I can say with confidence, “Here am I Lord, send me.” Because He’s going with me! Teaching? Still scary… Translation? Majorly intimidating! But it’s not my work alone, it’s His. I’m not stepping out on my own, I’m following Him.
Knowing that, I’m freed from so much of the ridiculous pressure I can put on myself to be the “great and wonderful” missionary. God wants me to walk in fellowship with Him, to lean on Him, to admit my need of Him, and He will work through me in the process. I’m grateful that He chooses to use us in reaching out to the world. And I’m so thankful that He never never sends us out alone! He leads, we follow.
Stacy