Matthew 25:18-31

Matthew 25:18-31

My favorite passage that applies to a lot of things in my life.

When you sign up to go on a mission’s trip, there is a list of Reasons to go Provided  in the packet:

• Enhance personal spiritual growth
• Cultivate a servant’s heart as you minister physically and spiritually to needy people
• Bonding with team members & the locals
• Exercise faith and increase your faith
• Give “hands on” help to the mission
• Be a witness of Christ’s love
• Increase mission awareness and involvement
• Experience a “foreign” culture
• Worship God with the locals
• Encourage others
• Builds and strengthens home church
• Open oneself to possible full-time Christian service
• Obey the Great Commission

These are all good reasons to go on a short term mission’s trip. However, for me it was a very small yet distinct tug in my heart that said “Just GO’

Listening to the whispers of God as you go about your everyday is not an easy task. He has given us so much, yet he asks so little. When John and I were in Arizona the entire experience was amazing. God kept whispering and we kept going.

 **When His servants are  flexible, God is provisional.

** when our materials were not ready for pick up for  a planned project- we met another need, and we kept going.

**We had rain on the day we were going out for the Least of These Ministry- so we stopped and purchased ponchos for the homeless we would meet that day, and we kept going.

**Our lodging changed the week before our trip, so we had some uncertainty. Turns out God had a great plan for us, so we kept going.

Comfort zones are tough to step out of, yet you are never stepping out alone. On this trip there were 24 of us, and each of our skills and experiences were used in a way that only God could use them, put together like a puzzle, and used to reach out and touch the lives of everyone around us, those we were serving and those serving alongside.   

I guess after giving it some thought and a tremendous amount of prayer, I would like to challenge and encourage each of you to listen to your still small voice. Listen when you have that tug in your heart to GO.

John and I are heading out with a team to Arizona to the Red Sands Church and School on June 13 , 2015.  We have room for 28 more people to go with us. I would extend a personal invitation to join us for this trip. Aside from joining us , there are other things we need.

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We need financial donations to help defray the costs of the trip for some.

We need physical donations for programs like Least of These and VBS.

Most of all we need continuous prayer for our preparation and our travelers for safety and discernment in all of the things we hope to accomplish this year at Red Sands.

Isaiah 30:18-21

There are some verses in Isaiah that I have learned to depend on when I feel like I have lost my way. 
The entire passage fills me with hope and conviction to trust God and obey His word...It also bring some peace on those days when I just feel directionless.
 
Isaiah 30:18-21

         "So the Lord must wait for you to come to him, so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help. Oh people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. Tough the Lord gave you adversity for food, and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear him, Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go,whether to the left or to the right." Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags saying to them "Good riddance"."

There is a certain peace that comes with hearing a promise written by God that is applicable to me in this very harsh world. In my lifetime I have seen wars, I have seen terrorism, I have seen domestic violence and other crimes against seemingly innocent people.  Personally I take these things really hard, though I have never had a personal relationship with any victims. I turn off the news to curb my anxiety. I listen to Christian Radio (K-LOVE shameless plug) . I spend my time with the tv on, not really watching, just background noise. I study. I write. At the end of the day the still small voice that urges me to pray urges me to simplify, to write, to worship.

I turn off the tv and wonder why on earth I made the choice to make the Lord, the Creator of the entire universe, wait for me.
 Vs18 tells me its not the first time. He waits to show me his love, his compassion. Things  I live to see. 
 Vs19 promises me no more weeping,no more crying. A simple request and God is gracious to me. Through all of my personal suffering and adversity, he brings me peace. 
Vs 21 tells me I do not listen very well.
 Lets address this last most important verse:
If you want to hear what God has to say to you, first you must ask him, then you must stop and listen.

Stop.
Listen.
Pray.
Listen.

Seems so simple. Seems so easy. Seems very directive. Hmmm...
Then why do I find it so hard to just stop moving and listen?
Be still he says. 
Be still.

So I read this scripture each day before bed and pray over my family and friends, that I may be a blessing to them. Then I pray for my own procrastination, and that I can learn to stop and listen to that still small voice that speaks to me ever so clearly when I choose to hear it.