To be His hands and feet.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19)

This is always so powerful to me, for several reasons, but there are two words that strike me as important within that verse. The first:

Go. 

It's a simple word with SO much power.

We're called to GO into the world to love, to serve, to bring hope, to encourage, to strengthen, and ultimately be a light for Christ on this earth. 

We are being commissioned. 

It's not a question of whether or not we are called into missions... We are ALL called into the mission field; each and every one of us.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). 

We live in a world where too many are lost, so many are broken, and far too many are without hope.

We can't be okay with that. 

We HAVE to GO to them. We HAVE to REACH out. 

We don't have a choice. We can't wait.

All.

We're to make disciples of ALL nations. 

This goes back to the fact that everyone is called to missions. Everyone is called to make disciples. Everyone is called to go. 

This looks different for every person, however.

We're supposed to reach out wherever we are, whenever we can, and in whatever ways we can. We don't have to be on a designated missions trip to shine the light of Christ into our world. Just looking around in our cities, we're constantly surrounded by people who are broken, and who are searching for something MORE in life.

What keeps us from stretching out a hand in their direction?

Why do we think we have to be on a planned missions trip in order to reach people?

I definitely think that God can and does call people to go and further His Kingdom overseas or in other countries, other cities, other states. I think short and long term missions work is an astounding way to reach an incredible amount of people in different stages of life. The impact on so many lives is beyond my comprehension. (Which I love, by the way). And at the same time, I believe that He can and does call people to be His hands and His feet within their own cities. 

There is no rule book that tells us where we have to go, what specific group of people we have to impact, or tells us we can't lead people to Christ near our own homes and in our everyday lives. 

Preaching the Gospel to ALL nations does include America too...

We can't get so wrapped up in the idea that missions work has to be in a foreign country that we ignore the fact that we walk by people everyday who don't know the love of Christ. The people in our workplace, people we bump into at the grocery store, the people that break our hearts as they sit holding a 'Poor and broken' sign on the side of the road; ALL includes these people too. 

We can feel called to go to another country to carry the name of Jesus, and that's SO stinking awesome... but until we get there, we're constantly standing amidst a missions field so close to home.

Just because we may be called to a specific location in the future, doesn't mean we have to neglect the need right in front of our eyes where we live.

SO. 

We're called to go into the world and carry the name of Jesus.

And we're to go to all nations, even the one in which we live. 

We are to pray for those who have gone to serve in different countries, and we are to pray for those who are serving right here in our own cities. 

God can and will use anybody in a foreign country, or in their own families to increase His Kingdom. We just have to be willing and ready to listen when He says to go at any minute of our lives.

First Priority.

My plans, are not final.

My life's dreams, are not permanent.

My future, I have not set in stone.

If I'm being honest... I have NO idea what I'm doing with my life. 

I don't know.

A little background.... 

At the beginning of this summer, I bravely decided that I would surrender my everything to God; my plans, my desires, my dreams, my future, all of me, for His sake. 

I didn't realize exactly what that would entail... But regardless, I don't regret it for a single second. 

With that said: 

I've been wondering lately, according to the world's standards, what does it mean to really live? 

The typical person would strive to graduate high school, go straight to college, and upon graduation begin a steady career. The American Dream, then, is to get married, start a family, work one's way up to a higher and better paying position within their career. The idea is to get a well paying job, buy a larger, upscale house, drive nice vehicles, and work hard to live the best among others within the community. 

Just a quick glance at our society today, and that's something that's extremely clear to me... That success, social standing, money, and our own desires have engulfed our focus as a nation.

On the flip side of that though, as Christians, what does it mean for us to really live?

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

It's important for us to understand, that the world may have their own ideas about how each person should live, but we aren't to be like the world. 

We are not of this world. 

We're created for a greater purpose other than glorifying ourselves within the short time we have on Earth.

We were not placed on this Earth to satisfy our own desires. 

We're called to live a life completely dedicated to increasing the Kingdom (Matthew 28:19) and to continually seek after the God who in all His righteousness, set us apart from the world to be the representation on Earth of Himself (Matthew 6:33). We were created with a purpose; to be the hands, and the feet of Christ, in the directions in which God has called us (Ephesians 2:10).

Our goal on Earth shouldn't be to obtain as much wealth and security as we can (Hebrews 13:5). Our lives shouldn't become competitions among others to see who followed through with the plan to accomplish the American Dream. We so desperately need to turn our focus from earthly standards, solely to God's standards. Wealth and success mean nothing in the light of eternity. 

Really, they don't. 

I would want to see God's face as someone stands before Him and explains how their life on Earth was successful because of their monetary or materialistic accomplishments. If it sounds ridiculous, that's because it is. What we get done on Earth for ourselves ultimately means nothing, considering the fact that we're commanded to reach people in all nations, and to be willing to give up our everything to follow Him. 

Following Christ to the ends of the Earth and with everything we have and everything we are? 

THAT is success. THAT is what I think a truly prosperous life looks like (Joshua 1:8).

And I'm not at all saying that going to college, getting a steady job, or having a nice house are bad things. Because they definitely aren't. I'll be going to go to school eventually, I'll have a steady career (I hope). And I also hope to get married one day and have a house of my own to start a family in. But I don't want my focus to be drifted by my human desire to want the 'stuff' of life. I want my life to be constantly seeking after Him that everything else becomes second rate. 

So, like I said before... I have NO idea what I'm doing in my future. I mean, I know what I'd like to happen in the future, but clearly I keep deciding what I want, and God changes it all up. SO, I want to daily surrender my everything to follow Christ wherever he leads, regardless of the cost, regardless of the risks, and as I put aside the earthly want of the typical American Dream. 

I want to live my life in such a way that people will see the light of Christ in my life, wherever I am and in whatever I'm doing, and that they will begin to earnestly seek Him with all that they have in turn (Matthew 5:16).

Unusual. Unexpected. Exceptional.

Typical. Ordinary. Common. Average. CONTENT.

Why have these become the words to describe our lives, 

or worse yet, our faith? 

We've decided that it's easier to 'go with the flow', to become typical, and to be content in our walk with the Lord. We've chosen to 'fly under the radar', stand up for our faith only when it's convenient, and to claim the 'Christian title' but only live it out when it makes us look good. 

We're comfortable.

But our wake up call needs to be that we aren't by any means called to be comfortable!

Wherever we got that idea, I don't know, but I don't recall Jesus telling us to sit back and simply enjoy the essence of believing in him (John 16:33)... I don't remember him saying that following him would be easy, or that we wouldn't have to sacrifice anything or everything to serve his Kingdom. (Luke14:25-35). And I'm positive that He didn't call us to be timid or reserved or ordinary in our faith in him. (Ephesians 6:19-20). 

I remember that the Savior of the world boldly preached and boldly taught of the Kingdom of Heaven. He sacrificed his everything so that we could be saved. He was the Son of God... He was the entirety of that essence we bask in, and even he didn't sit back and enjoy an easy, comfortable life... 

So, why do we think we deserve it...?

Of all people... Think about it. If the Son of God wasn't ordinary, or typical, or common; why are we? 

 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

Jesus suffered the worst of anything we could or will ever endure, because of his love for us, and because he sought to bring the utmost glory to his Father.

He suffered because he was bold. Because he wasn't about to be typical. 

Jesus suffered because he was unusual, and even though he was EXCEPTIONAL.

And as a child of the most incredible Father of the universe; as a believer, 

I want to join in that suffering.

I don't want to live one more day allowing myself to be content in my relationship with Christ. 

I WILL be unusual, and unexpected in my generation. 

I won't fear the uncomfortable.

We have to be bold. We have to step up.

There are hearts untouched, nations unreached....

We don't have the time to be ordinary.

Throwing Out the Logic.

We are going to go through struggles in our lives. That's a simple fact. 

Some will be more difficult than others, but it's going to happen, whether we like it or not.

Of course, we don't look forward to them... We don't wake up in the morning and think, "Hmm I wonder what crazy difficult things I'm going to go through today!" It just does not happen.

When they are among us, it's only logical for us to get frustrated, scared, disappointed, doubtful, or stressed. It's only logical for us to think that the journey with Him may not be worth it. And it's only logical for us to think that we've lost the foundation on which we had been standing, and things are beginning to fall apart. When we're caught in the middle of trials, let's face it, most of the time we become logically thinking pessimists.

We analyze what went wrong. We worry that our plan has fallen apart. We stress about not being able to get back up after we have fallen. And we begin to consider what we can do to begin to fix what has happened. That's our logic.

But why do we have to think so logically? Why do we let ourselves decide that because the world says our faith isn't logical, it must not be as real as God says it is? Just because things don't go exactly how we wanted them, God must not be present in the situation...?

I'm definitely talking to myself when I say this too, but how absurd is that thinking? How selfish have we become if we completely ignore the fact that Jesus endured the worst of struggles, the worst of circumstances for the sake of every single person that was to walk the earth; including you and including me. 

Jesus paid the utmost sacrifice... And not only did he not once, for one minute, lose sight of his faith; God was with him, every step of the way, and he knew that. He was never abandoned, he never doubted. Jesus never thought as the world did. 

He threw logic out the window. 

While the world was mocking him, betraying him, hating him, and plotting to kill him, his focus was on enduring it all for the sake of the world he loved. Not on the pain and struggles themselves.

Why can't WE throw out the logic? Why can't we decided that we won't think as the world does; that our focus is on something far greater than any of the trials we have to endure while we're here? Why can't we know without a doubt that God is with us every second of every day, and He's never going to abandon us. 

When the world says to doubt, let's hope. When the world says we're weak, let's stand and show that our God is strong. When we face trials, let's rejoice in the fact that we serve a God who will never leave or forsake us. Let's put aside ourselves and our logic and trust fully in a God who is beyond any battle we will fight.

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2