Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
Some contemplatives live in a monastery cloistered far away from a broken world. Others engage with it believing that God’s transformation is not only for us but for many. Rich Villodas and his co-author Peter Scazzero live into this tension well. The Deeply Formed Life: …
Borders closing. Food shelves bare. Churches unable to meet. Never in history have we encountered anything quite like what our world is facing. How we respond as Jesus followers says a lot about who we are. As missionaries, will we seize this opportunity to share …
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” NKJV
“Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Have you ever read Matt. 5:48 and thought, “Does God really expect me to be perfect?” He does have a high standard of holiness. Our Father wants us to become like Him. This can feel heavy …
“I’ve told him how I feel so many times. It’s like I am talking to a brick wall. Nothing I say sinks in!” These thoughts circled through my mind, making me feel miserable. My husband and I were talking, but definitely not communicating. It was …
“Hope is hard sometimes,” I thought, contemplating the impossible situation before me. “I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment. Is it worth hoping things can change?” Semi-hopeless thoughts ran through my mind. It is important not to put our hope in the wrong things. or we will indeed face deep discouragement. Where can we safely place our trust? Is it always right to hope? Or do we sometimes need to let go of hope and surrender in faith to God’s sovereign plan?
There is a time to fight and a time to stop fighting. There is a time to hope and a time to release hope. Sounding like Solomon in Lamentations? I’m not sure if he would have said it quite that way, but I think he would have agreed.
Hope can disappoint. It says in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” We need to figure out how to do hope right if we want to be fulfilled and joyful in our missionary lives.
One of my greatest moments of supernatural joy was during a season of intense trial. I’d been evacuated to Thailand due to back problems. I was facing possible surgery. Every dream I’d been dreaming for the ministry was now on hold.
Getting sick was not part of my plan! Leaving our two small children behind, flown on a stretcher to another country for medical care…nope. This was not what I had envisioned when I set my goals for the year!
“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior, my God will hear me.”
Micah 7:7 NIV
In the midst of pain and confusion, I decided to let go. I surrendered. “God, you be in charge here. Your will, not mine,” I prayed.
A peace from Heaven descended on my soul. I released my future to the One I knew would be good to me. I had no idea what He would do. Would He heal me? Would things change? All I knew at that moment was that the best way to “fight” this was to submit myself and choose to trust.
As I did this, a deep joy filled my heart. A song of joy rose within me. It was going to be okay. No matter what happened, I was going to be alright. My family and the ministry were in His loving hands. I could rest. I could place my hope in God and be safe.
Hopelessness is a dangerous thing. In fact, the very definition of depression is “a severe sense of hopelessness.” We must hold tightly to hope. How do we do that?
God’s goodness is the foundation of our hope. We know God is good, and will always be good, to us. He will never act in any other way than out of goodness, generosity, and a heart of love for us. A steadfast assurance of His character, who He is, and who He will be is the bedrock of true hope. Apart from that deep experiential knowledge that God is good, we would be fools to hope for real change in many situations we face.
But God is good! He is powerful. He is loving. Our trust is in Him, not in a particular vision of the future. Will we be healed? Maybe, maybe not. Will that relationship be restored? Maybe, maybe not.
We know, however, that God will be good. We know He will act. We know He hears our prayers and cares for us. In this, we place our hope.
It is easy to feel I have the right to a particular future. Do I? Do we deserve anything more than judgment? Every good thing in our lives is because of His grace and mercy.
I must let go of my human (and somewhat tainted) sense of justice. I tend to believe I deserve to have an easy life, to have a perfect family, to see great fruit in ministry for all my efforts. Do I?
Actually, no. I don’t deserve any of that. If I got what I deserved, it would be a sad day indeed. I am incredibly blessed. Choose to be thankful that you don’t get justice, you don’t actually want it. We deserve death and punishment, instead, we’ve been given grace. Count your many blessings. None of them are deserved and few are earned.
You have the power to choose. Where do you focus your thoughts? On imaginary negative scenarios in the future? I sometimes do. Then I remember Philippians 4:8. I quote it to myself, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
Choose faith over fear. Trust over worry.
I don’t imagine what it will be like when I pull my kids out of school because I can’t pay their fees. Instead, I praise God for the ways He has provided over and over again through the years. Instead of conjuring up pictures of going home a failure with no stories to tell of anyone coming to Christ, I thank God for how He has helped me persevere.
Praise Him for how He’s helped you keep going in spite of the challenges and spiritual warfare you’ve faced.
Intentionally focus on the good. Think about those things. Discipline your mind. Control your thoughts. It’s possible to do. God is standing by, ready to help you.
He promises His peace when we focus our attention on Him. Like the verse above says, “He will hear us.” Rest in that. God always hears. It’s even one of His names- the God Who Hears (El Shama). And when He does, He acts. He is not ignoring you. Angels are on assignment, responding to your prayers today. Let the peace of God fill your heart. I’m letting it fill mine. I’m choosing to let it come and wash over my anxious soul. Won’t you join me?
What would you add to the 4 ways to hold on to hope mentioned above? How has God helped you be steadfast in hope? Let me know in the comments below or share on the Missionary Life Facebook page or group.
“The police are raiding our offices,” said the Whatsapp message. “I got a phone call yesterday. We are under investigation,” another leader fearfully announced. The same day, a different leader sent me pictures. They were distributing thousands of gospel books at a religious festival in …
“Soon I will be going home. I am excited to see family, but I am dreading the support-raising part of it. I really need God’s help to get into the right mindset.” These words flowed out of my friend’s mouth a month or so ago. …
Hardship is not a popular topic. “Three Reasons You Should Embrace Suffering,” is probably not going to make a list of best-selling book titles.
Yet in our lives as believers, hardship is something we must embrace. Popular Christian preachers tell us God doesn’t want suffering in our lives. They say that we should always be healed instantly, and were created to be healthy, wealthy, and happy.
We call this teaching a prosperity doctrine. There are real dangers in this teaching as it does not line up with the whole counsel of God in Scripture. In my last blog, I wrote about the ten most important things that must develop in a cross-cultural worker’s life. Willingness to suffer made the list.
Unless we are willing to embrace a life of difficulty, we will not become effective ministers. This begins with a deep, heart-felt, surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. We also need a firmly held, foundational belief, in the goodness of God, no matter what happens.
We can not choose to accept blessing from God, but get angry when hardship comes. We must learn to trust His divine plan, and hold tightly to Him in the midst of suffering. He longs to comfort and hold us when hardship hits, yet so often we push Him away.
As we bow to His Lordship in worship, we experience supernatural peace and are filled with hope. As we surrender to a God we trust, He is released to use suffering in our lives. God prunes, refines, and makes us into fruit-bearing disciples that bring Him glory. Ultimately, it is in surrender that we find fulfillment, depth of intimacy with Him, and unexplainable joy.
As I write this, I sit in a special chair designed to take the pressure off my back. Over the past few months, I’ve suffered from an injury that caused a lot of pain. It’s been hard to function. I improve a bit, then have a setback. The pain returns. On top of that, these past few months I have had serious dental problems. I got sick with COVID 19, fell and twisted my ankle and knee as well. Let’s just say, I’ve had my share of physical challenges lately.
Those things may be nothing compared to what you are facing. You might suffer from chronic pain that has lasted for years. You may have lost a loved one this past month, or struggle to have enough food to eat. While my challenges may not be as bad as yours, they are real for me. I need God’s help and grace.
Your challenges are real for you too, be they great or small. Life can be hard, very hard, sometimes. When we face difficulty though, God wants to reveal Himself to us in new ways. He longs to hold and be there for us.
By God’s grace, I’ve learned a few things about suffering over the past thirty years in missions. Though these past few months haven’t been easy, I’m drawing on those lessons. I’m still learning, but I hope what I have to share will bring encouragement to your heart.
You, therefore, must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2 Tim 2:3 NKJV
Many world religions have a theology that says suffering is to be avoided. Buddhists talk about the removal of desire. If you don’t want anything, you can’t suffer. Hindus blame hardship on bad karma and say that it is caused by sin in a previous life.
Our theology is different. The Word of God is clear. The cause of suffering is living in a sinful, dying world in need of a Savior and Redeemer. Though personal sin does have it’s consequences in our lives, suffering isn’t always caused by our own sin. The simple fact that we live in a broken world means we will get sick and experience hardship.
Jesus wants to walk with us through difficulties, to sustain, and empower us to live in victory. We draw close to Him, crying out for His help (sometimes on a minute by minute basis.) He doesn’t ask us to pretend things aren’t hard. He promises to help! God longs to give courage and strength to face difficulties with grace, our confidence in His goodness and love. When we live like this, it speaks louder to the world around us then any sermon we could preach.
Romans 5:3-5 teaches that difficulty and trials grow perseverance in us. This leads to character and hope. It is not easy to hold on to hope during times of intense trial. Despair and hopelessness threaten to overwhelm our troubled hearts. We have need of endurance.
As a long-distance runner, I know that to complete a marathon you must endure many painful training runs. You push through the pain so you can run a bit further the next day. It’s part of the process of increasing your strength. It’s not enjoyable at the moment, but on race day, when you cross the finish line, it’s all worth it.
Today we endure, so tomorrow we cross the finish line having lived faithful and fruitful lives for the Kingdom.
In a recent broadcast, Darlene Cunningham, one of the founders of Youth With A Mission, spoke about pruning. It’s not pleasant to be pruned. In India, where we lived for so long, there were many tea estates. The tea farmers regularly prune the tea bushes. After pruning, they are quite ugly. Pruning is necessary for them to produce new leaves in the next season.
Pruning means loss of the old. We liked those old branches! They were comfortable and we were used to them. When we lose something dear, we mourn and grieve that loss. This is appropriate. At the same time, we embrace the loss and ask God to sustain us in that time of ugliness until the new life begins to grow. We can be confident, that as we abide in Him, the new will come. And with it, an increase in fruit from our lives.
Paul wrote that he wanted to know Christ and have fellowship with Him in suffering (Phil. 3:10). Jesus suffered both in His life and in His death. He was persecuted, beaten, wrongly accused and ultimately murdered. Jesus understands what we are going through. As we hold tightly to Him in hardship, we meet Him in a way we never could had we not suffered. We grow in intimacy and closeness to Him as we go through a tiny taste of what He experienced here on earth.
Let me be clear. God isn’t a cruel, vindictive God who brings pain into our lives to punish us, nor because He enjoys watching us struggle. He is a good Father who wants us to be free, happy, full of life, and for His Kingdom to come in our lives and on this planet. His future Kingdom is one where there are no more tears, pain, sickness, death, or difficulty!
But we aren’t there yet. The path forward involves hardship as we are formed into His image, as His Kingdom comes on earth through us. So we endure. We pray and cry, and draw close to the Comforter, asking that His glory be made manifest in our lives, especially in our hardest days.
How has suffering shaped your character or increased the fruitfulness of your life? We’d love to hear your stories, comments, or questions in the comments below or in our Missionary Life Facebook Group.
My husband stopped counting. Not me. This was the seventh time we’d rebooked our flights. I felt angry and a bit depressed. Would we never get to return home? Living in exile isn’t easy. Whether physical or other, I often find myself not quite where …