Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
People are 100 times more likely to listen to your message if they feel like you love them. Think about it. Do you listen more to the people you know like you? Don’t you tend to discard the input of those you know don’t enjoy being around you very much?
We need to courageously and honestly take stock and realign ourselves to God’s missional purposes for our lives. Ministry jobs to do, and families to care for, are a given. If we want to live faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field, however, we must daily choose to live a missional lifestyle. It isn’t automatic and it’s easy to drift from this path.
“Tradition! Tradition!” sang Tevye, in the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof. It’s one of my favorite old movies. The other day I found myself singing “Transition! Transition!” Can you hear the line from the movie’s theme song? It seems to be my missionary life theme song. 🙂
Missionaries who handle transitions well not only survive. They enjoy their lives as cross-cultural Kingdom workers. Those who don’t learn to navigate it well, struggle greatly. Most often, they will eventually leave the world of missions.
How do we learn to navigate transitions well?
A few years ago when I first wrote this article, I was living in the basement of my daughter’s house. The week prior, we were in my husband’s sister’s basement. In the coming week, we would go to visit supporters in another state and experience yet another living situation. Now, as I revise and update this article, I am preparing to pack again. An unexpected family emergency means we are getting on a plane to go back to the USA tomorrow night. We don’t yet know for sure where we will stay. Not much has changed. Transition is the constant.
The nagging uncertainty can be unsettling if I let it be. At times like this, I turn to Jesus, my stability and solid rock. Apart from the security I find in Him, I could not survive the constant changes of my missionary life.
Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about that help me in times of transition.
You can choose to embrace or fight transitions. What do I mean by that?
There’s a choice to make. You can accept or resist the changes you are facing. In my life, it’s a conscious choice I need to make, sometimes several times a day. “This is my life. I’ve chosen this life. Transition is part of it. I accept and embrace this,” I tell myself.
When I’m washing cloth diapers in a bucket in a cheap Indian hotel, I choose acceptance. If I am packing up the suitcase yet again, I refuse to voice complaints that arise in my mind. Instead, I pray, “God, thank you for allowing me to be where I am today. Let me be a blessing. Help me to receive what You want to give me in this place and situation. Allow me to bless my family and those around me here as well.”
That is what it means to embrace transition. Fighting it? That’s when you allow the internal struggle (that inevitably will be there) to dominate your thoughts.
In times of transition, our natural routines are disturbed. We are creatures of habit. This is part of what keeps us stable and sane. When you throw out all your routines for an extended period of time, life will feel like it’s in shambles.
I’ve found it helpful to choose a few key routines that I can do anywhere. These, I refuse to give up, no matter what my circumstances. My times with the Lord are one of those routines. In any new place I find myself, I quickly establish my “quiet time spot” – the place where I connect with God. It may be in a field under a tree. Or in a bathroom or corner of the hotel room, but I’ve got my spot. I go there the same time each day to talk to Jesus and receive His strength.
Other less “spiritual” routines matter too. Morning coffee is one of mine. No matter where I am, I have my morning coffee routine. Prayer with my husband before we sleep is another. What routines do you take on the road and do anywhere you happen to be?
At a funeral service l once attended, they said of the amazing woman who had passed away, “She never complained.” I wish I could say that of myself. I’ll be honest. I’m not quite that disciplined. There are times when I let my frustration out and like Job, complain heavily to God. Sometimes to others too. Honestly, sometimes I think it’s okay to complain. The Biblical term for this is lamenting.
Transitions often involve an element of grief and loss. You are moving on from one thing, and into something else. It’s okay to let yourself feel that loss. Even to complain to a safe person and to God. Getting stuck in complaining mode is not helpful, however. It will destroy your joy and that of those around you.
Times of change carry hidden blessings if we look for them. Focus on those. Remind yourself of them.
Keep a thankfulness journal. Speak out what you are grateful for to those around you. Appreciate the people around you by telling them what you like about them. Gratefulness is a powerful tool in our arsenal. It helps us to fight the discontentment that looms when we are in transition.
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thess 5:18 NLT
Think back to the last transition you went through. What did you do well? What could you improve on next time?
Do you have other keys to navigating transitions you’d like to share?
We’d love to hear about them in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook group.
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Significance. It’s a human need. Sometimes even greater than food and shelter, our souls long for significance. We want our lives to make a difference…to count for something. People search for meaning in all kinds of unhealthy places. Fame, money, power, status…all promise to fill the significance void. Even missionaries struggle in this area. We wonder if the work we do has eternal purpose or not. The question looms large. Am I making any difference at all?
Missionary life, with its inherent challenge, turns up the volume on a soul crying out, “I want my life to matter!”
Our enemy, Satan, uses this natural desire for significance against us. He wants to turn our longings in the wrong direction. He spews forth lies, saying, “You are worthless. What you are doing on the mission field is having no impact. You might as well get a ‘normal’ job.” Or, he pushes us toward ministry opportunities that build our ego, but aren’t what God is asking us to do.
The need and the longing for significance were put within us by God. Because it comes from Him, it’s a wonderful, sacred desire to embrace. The Creator designed us to want to live purposefully. He wants His follower’s lives to have a deeply significant impact on others.
Significance in the Kingdom, however, looks nothing like the picture the enemy would want us to desire.
Living a purposeful life is not about fame, money, or status. Nor does it look like the somewhat disguised “Christian version” of the same. It’s not about developing a well-known ministry. It’s not about becoming a sought-after speaker, having a huge team, or property for your ministry. Big does not equal significance in God’s perspective.
Kingdom impact comes when ordinary people live day-after-day in obedience and faith. Every step of obedience you take has a great impact. It is significant. Much more than you realize.
It was a weird experience. I’d been asked to speak at a conference in a Christian state of India. We arrived at the venue where the meetings were taking place. Thousands had gathered in a big tent that was set up in an open field. As we got out of the car, we were escorted to special seats in a little tent beside the stage.
As my time to speak approached, I tried to focus on what God had put in my heart to share. “Use me, Lord!” I prayed.
When I walked up the stairs to the platform and stood behind the pulpit, a rush of people came running to the front. Cameras flashed from below. Afterward, as I was escorted back to my car to leave, people asked for my autograph, or for special prayer. It made me feel important…sort of. I felt the attraction, the pull of false significance.
Was I important now?
It would have been easy at that point to shift my ministry toward those kinds of opportunities…the ones that made me feel so very important. It was a temptation to give my time to these things.
Jesus spoke about the Pharisees who sought fame and status – the false significance the world offers.
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries a wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” Matt 23:5-7
At a foundational level, we must remember that nothing we do can make us more valuable and more significant in God’s eyes. His perspective on us is the one that matters!
You were already significant enough that Jesus died for you. You were important enough that He chose you. He called you to be His follower and to embrace His call to service in His Kingdom.
No more striving is needed! You are already significant and incredibly important to God.
Our significance in the Kingdom is not an issue. We just established that. But our Kingdom impact is designed by God to increase day by day. How does that happen? Through consistent. faithful obedience. As we listen to God and do what He says, day after day, year after year…our impact grows.
God designed His Kingdom to grow in organic, natural ways. Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed and the yeast in Matthew 13. Those stories illustrate how it isn’t big things, but small, simple (and often hidden) things that multiply His Kingdom. These have the greatest impact.
One small step of obedience, like going over and having tea with your neighbor who doesn’t know the Lord yet. Taking time to show kindness to the widow who lost her husband. Meeting once again with that staff person who needs encouragement. Ordinary people obeying God, making disciples who make disciples…that is how the Kingdom grows and multiplies.
A desire for significance, when embraced in a healthy way, pushes us toward faith for greater things. God desires to release them through us. Our longing for significance makes us want more. It’s from God. He too wants more for us! He wants to do greater things through us!
Lean into the desire for significance. When questions come up in your mind? What doubts? Let God use them for good. He made you for more than you currently are seeing happen through your life. The Father does have bigger plans for you…plans for greater impact than you are currently seeing.
Check out our free course where I talk more about how He chose us for great fruitfulness and other key identities. Just click the image below to sign up!
Take a few extra minutes this week to meditate further on the parables mentioned above. They are found in Matthew 13 verses 31-33. How are you like the yeast in the dough? Like the mustard seed?
I’d love to hear any insights you have about this! Feel free to share in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Insiders Facebook page.
The desires and needs of husbands and wives are often quite different. Learning to value one another’s marriage desires is necessary for maintaining a healthy marriage. Doing a marriage desires exercise can help.
It’s been said that the only constant in the life of a missionary is constant change. Transition. Probably true for most people, not only missionaries though we do have a higher degree of change to deal with. It begs the question – how do we approach our continual transitions with grace? We need to look for the hidden treasures of our transition seasons.
Fresh starts and new beginnings, it’s why so many of us enjoy the celebration of New Years. It’s a chance to let go of the past and start afresh. Sometimes that is a relief. At other times it’s difficult. Will you start this new year with fresh hope?
It’s definitely not guaranteed. Hope can be scary…really quite terrifying. Hope can disappoint. As scripture says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov 13:12).
Why consider hoping again if there is a chance you will be disappointed? I’ve definitely asked that question before!
Whether our dreams have to do with marriage, ministry, family, weight-loss, or relationships, God wants us to start the new year with a fresh download of hope. He wants to release into our hearts a hope that has no limit, a hope that just won’t quit.
Fresh experiences of our Lord’s perfect love cast out every fear. Knowing His goodness enables us to hope, dream, and trust for the release of His promises. Our deepest God-inspired longings are given the freedom to fly. We can hope again.
Have you ever really wanted something badly? As a child, it may have been a particular toy you hoped would be under the Christmas tree. You opened the gift, thinking it would be one thing, and then found it was not. It was not easy to disguise your disappointment. You got a book when you wanted a bike. Or something like that.
Children don’t try to hide their grief. When they are delighted, they show it. My neighbor’s daughter got a plastic tea set for Christmas. She jumped up and down, squealing with delight. But when kids are disappointed, they wail. Their sadness is loudly expressed. Covering our emotions is something we learn to do a bit later in life.
As adults, though we may not let ourselves wail, we experience deep disappointments. We hope for relationships restored, but instead experience anger, withdrawal, or verbal thrashings. We hope for healing, but find we are sicker than ever.
Maybe you prayed for something faithfully and consistently throughout the past year. Today, you feel no closer to seeing it become a reality than when you started. Or the ministry progress you dreamed would happen last year fell far short of what you anticipated. “Maybe this year I need to make more realistic goals,” you think to yourself.
Don’t give in to hopelessness. It’s not what God has for you. He wants you to dream with Him for the New Year.
Instead of looking to the past to decide if you can hope again, look up. God alone is the source of our hope. When His love fills our hearts, we can hope again. As tempting as it is to base our decisions on circumstances, we need to base them on His Word and character. Look up, not back as you think about the New Year.
When we have been disappointed, it is not easy to let ourselves risk again. So often, our past experiences dictate our willingness to hope for something different in the New Year. Being “realistic” leaves God out of the picture. It puts the God of the impossible on the shelf, the God who loves you and is able to do what you can not do. Take a risk and hope again.
I’m not sure if hope is a choice, but I know love is. It is a decision we make. We choose to love. The love chapter in 1st Corinthians speaks of this. I am struck this year, by a phrase from the International Standard Version- there is no limit to her hope.
“She bears up under everything; believes the best in all; there is no limit to her hope, and never will she fall.”
1 Cor 13:7 ISV
Over the next few days, I am setting aside time to prayerfully set goals for the New Year. Goals are different from the typical New Year’s resolutions…the ones we keep for about a week, or a month, then forget. That does little good.
Instead, look to God and listen. Ask Him what He desires to do in your life and ministry this year. When the goals come from listening to Him, they become achievable, hopeful goals you can go after with all your heart.
Do this for both personal and ministry areas. Reflect back on what happened last year. Think through the books you read, experiences gained, lessons learned and opportunities you were given.
As you look forward, listen to God. Ask Him to guide you as the New Year begins.
As is my habit each year, I will ask God, “What is one thing I can do this year that would make the biggest difference in seeing Your Kingdom advance?” I will be prayerfully charting out my year, making plans and decisions about where to invest my time and energy.
As you start the year, adopt a posture of hope with a heart full of faith. Put your hope in God and His goodness. His character, His promises, and His love are the foundation from which we can dream with Him about the new year.
If you are struggling to hope again this year, you are not alone. God wants to meet you there. Be honest and real about your emotions. Take time to get away for a few hours or days if you can. Invite God to meet you where you are. He longs to fill your heart with hope again.
What God is asking you to believe Him for in the New Year? Let me know in the comments. Or join the Missionary Life Facebook Group and post your goals there.
Happy New Year! May this year be your best year ever!
“What are you waiting for?” The phrase conjures up negative thoughts. In my mind’s eye, I see angry, hurried people, pushing, and prodding. Hurry up! Get a move on! Delays can be miserable. Waiting isn’t all bad though. There is both joy and pain in …