WHEREVER WE ARE
- Key Verse
"It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.” (Acts 9:42 NASB)
READ THE PASSAGE
Central Truth
Missions is not about a place or a people, but about the expansion of belief in the gospel to the glory and praise of God.
Reflections
During my senior year of college I attended InterVarsity’s Urbana Missions conference ripe for a message about God’s love for the world. “There’s a compelling GO in the Gospel" resonated deep within me.
Prayerful consideration led me to campus ministry instead. After a couple of years I went to seminary. I believed that the time there would allow my new faith to mature before spending a lifetime overseas. Each fall, I filled out forms articulating increasingly developed goals. Then, my last semester, I got sick. And once again my plans to be a foreign missionary were derailed.
I felt guilty about living in Dallas, as if I had deceived the people who had so generously given to me. A friend of mine deep within an Islamic country managed to email me, “Missions is not about geography. It’s about availability to the gospel wherever we are. Be fully there.” I realized that I had exalted overseas missions above God. So much of the Bible is about taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, but I had lost sight of the "why" amidst my zeal. And I was too busy to be available. I needed to live more simply.
Dorcas ministered by doing what she knew (sewing), and God glorified Himself through her. Aeneas was healed, and those that saw turned to the Lord. Peter ended up staying in the house of a tanner even before he had a vision, in the next town down the road – not a two week strategic campaign of the disciples in the socio-political nexus of Rome. A transition to a missionary mindset is about availability and willingness to use whatever we have been given, wherever we are to expand the praise of God. More often than not, we are called to go to the next place that is right before us, like Peter’s journey from Jerusalem to Samaria to Joppa. Right now, mine looks like cubicle walls in corporate America. It’s one little step, and still I am praying for swifter feet.
Discussion Questions
1. What have you seen recently that has evoked greater faith in God within you? What would happen if you told a non-believing co-worker or friend what you had seen?
2. Have you ever had a season in your life where you felt like you shared the gospel more than you do now? If so, what changed? What would it take for you to be as excited about Jesus as you were during that time?
3. Is there anything simple in your life that others indicate is a blessing? What would it look like to begin seeing this as an opportunity/gift to reach out to others?
4. What gets in the way of being available to God?
5. Who are two non-believing people that you have contact with regularly? Please consider committing to pray for them on a daily basis.
Linda Knox
February 1, 2010 07:28 AM
Great devotional. A good reminder for us to "bloom where we are planted"!
Michael Popovici
February 1, 2010 07:36 AM
Dear Kerin, Thank you for your heartfelt journey you offered to us as an example of being in the "now" and present for God's directions. Great devotion.
Becky Venhaus
February 1, 2010 08:16 AM
Kerin, thank you for reminding us today what mission work can look like in our lives. I'm convicted this morning because I think "MY" agenda, "MY" plans, and "MY" desires get in the way of being totally available to God.
Bobby Stephens
February 1, 2010 08:42 AM
What a gift to have a friend who speaks clearly to us when we are engaged in the "shoulda, woulda, coulda"s, and we are even more blessed when we are able to hear him. Thanks for the reminder that we need to not only listen to those who speak to us ... at times we must be the speaker to our friends, as well.
Thad Harris
February 1, 2010 09:20 AM
Hello Karen: You have given our church great insight into this passage as it relates to the mission of God and the church. We will never know the far-reaching impact of our faithfulness to God right here, right now in whatever context we're placed. I really appreciate your statement...'A transition to a missionary mindset is about availability and willingness to use whatever we have been given, wherever we are to expand the praise of God'. Thank you for reminding us all to live on mission with God, even in our 'cubicle contexts'! And thank you for leading a small group of teenagers each week to know God and live for His glory - you are a blessing to our families.
Ryan Schwanke
February 1, 2010 10:49 AM
Karen, Thank you for your encouragement and challenge to look at our lives with an eye toward giving. And you're right, it doesn't have to be grand or expensive. God can use anything, even something simple, as an attention-grabbing gesture and expression of God's love. Good word!
Karen White
February 1, 2010 12:12 PM
I enjoyed your addition to the Journey--you have a wise friend who said “Missions is not about geography. It’s about availability to the gospel wherever we are. Be fully there.” I often forget that wisdom. I'm sure God will use you right where you are--know that just this little message resonated with me.
Gary Brandenburg
February 1, 2010 12:25 PM
I was reminded again that "missions isn't ultimate - worship is." Or as Kerin so aptly said, missions is about "expanding the praise of God." Thanks for your transparency.
Mike Heinz
February 1, 2010 04:55 PM
Kerin, Thanks for your devo! This is very challenging for me in my personal life. As a youth pastor, I can easily leave the sharing of my faith at work. Thanks for sharing this timely message.
Lisa Robinson
February 1, 2010 08:27 PM
What a compelling post! I recall when I took World Mission for my ThM program, and all semester there was something nagging at me. It wasn't until the end that I realized that we can get the impression that we're not doing mission unless we're overseas. But like you said, our mission field is wherever we are planted. Kerin, thank you for your challenge.
Angel2
February 2, 2010 02:06 PM
This is s true! May we be all there- aware of the opportunities to minister wherever God has placed us!