following

Following
6/1/2010

God calls each of us to something that gives us great satisfaction. Something that fills our hearts cry, that echo’s in our deepest being – this is what I am created for. There is one thing for all of us that is the same: to worship Jesus; deeply fulfilling, what we do everything for. Giving our lives for Him, being reckless in how we run to Him and follow him. This I what we were all created for.
Go one step beneath that: He has given us each personal missions, a personal heart cry. There are specific things mandated in the word about what All followers of Jesus must do, but then there are the specifics, the path He leads each individual’s life on.
God gives us each separate passions and journeys we must follow. And how blessed we are when we are walking along and we begin to recognize others who are walking the same path. We join together to become stronger, to learn from each other, to work together and find support from.
This is the call I am talking about now – the call to a mission.
J and My specific call to mission are to the vulnerable, the weak, and the orphan. God does say over and over in scripture that this call is for all followers of Jesus, but it can look different for different people. Some are called to college students, who will equip so many others in the ways of Jesus. Some are called to love and serve Jesus in their own community, to teach, support and send out those who will go to the world. Some are called to investigate and up root evil and corruption that for too long has oppressed God’s children – through implementing justice, and standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Lawyers who can represent; doctors who can heal and fix; pilots who can fly to remote places, mothers who raise up Godly children who change the world. Orphans who become warriors for God’s kingdom, who can travel and love those in tribes and languages that are remote.
The list goes on and on. We are not presumptuous enough to believe that our calling is any better than anyone else’s. God inspires us and lets His peace rest on us when we are in the exact place He wants us, where He can mold and shape us, where He can use our lives to be the greatest witness possible, even if that means through the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom.
We are here.
The weight of forfeiting out own culture and comforts weighs heavy on us. But this weight is bearable because of the deep Peace we feel. The deep sense of fulfillment from God that fulfills what we (j & I) were created for: to uphold the cause of the pour and needy, to hear and soothe the cry of the orphan. This has always felt like a very illusive dream and calling. We have done practical things, but it has always felt like we were just touching it through intercession and crying out to God on their behalf. Through starting a program that was carried on and expanded by others. But now, it feels like God is using us in longer term, practical ways. He is fulfilling His calling on our life.
During the last few weeks, we began to remember and recount the places we have been and the words God has spoken. The times we have shared and spoken about the dreams God has given us, specifically for the orphan. I remember one time, a few years ago, speaking in front of church and sharing our heart for Africa’s orphans, “that they are an army, blank slates that God has prepared for those who will walk with them, parent them and raise up to follow Jesus.” At the time we passionately believed what we spoke, and now we are putting it into practice! What a gift! God is fulfilling those prophetic words He gave us. He is putting things before us and He has prepared us just as He prepared Esther.
In Esther chapter 4:12 –
Mordecai says to Esther who has been put in the position of Queen by God “Do not think that because you are in the kings house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your family will perish. And who knows that you have come to this royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther was an Orphan.
And these words strike me deep. If I remain silent, and do nothing, relief will come for these children, but I will perish because of my awareness of the problem, and saying and doing nothing. The awareness of my calling… I can not deny it, no matter how hard things get, how many obstacles are put in my path, if I don’t try, and die doing so, then my life is only worth salvation for myself and those few around me. God will not abandon those who follow Him, but what if I was put on this earth, for such a time as this? For deliverance of my people, for the specific calling God has on my life. My people are the one’s He has called me to. These orphans and vulnerable children in Kazungula territory, and the world beyond. God is faithful to show us each step. For the next few years it is to these children I am impressed upon to serve and my own people. God will move us from there, to show us where He is expanding our calling and our people to, but this is now. And we will walk in this way, trusting to be made from stones into soft sand along the way. Ground to nothing, so our lives are no longer our own. It is painful and hard. But where else could we go? Can I deny it?