I am often privileged to hear the amazing stories of missionaries who follow God’s call to different parts of the world where many would never want to go. This week, the prayer group that prays for missionaries and I spoke to two ladies who are getting ready to answer God’s call to go to a country that many are surprised that they would want to go. They seem joyful instead of scared and were happy to share how God has been guiding them every step of the way and He was doing what they thought was impossible. Both their faith and their faithfulness inspired me.
I love hearing the testimonies of missionaries as I am usually encouraged to have an even closer walk with God. They leave loved ones behind to go on lonely, dangerous journeys to obey God’s call. They believe that God is not a man that He should lie, so they trust Him to lead them through whatever difficulties they may face. And they do encounter many challenges and discouraging situations, but many of them don’t give up. They continue persevering with childlike faith.
And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-4
These missionaries have humbled themselves knowing that they may suffer and face uncomfortable circumstances, but they have counted the cost and they are ready to pay the price of obedience to Christ. It is not easy to be a Christian in many areas. Shaman sorcerers try to stop Christian missionaries from evangelizing in the mountains of Costa Rica. And missionaries in many countries in Asia have to act in secrecy because they could be deported, arrested or even lose their lives. Throughout the world there are many opposing forces to the Gospel and a number of dangers for missionaries including diseases, encounters with wild animals and even hunger because of lack of funding. However, many remain undeterred and fight discouragement to bring the light of Christ to a dark world.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12
The world is indeed dark, and it appears that this darkness has penetrated the Church. It seems the church is battling itself as it tries to figure out if the Old Testament should be unhitched from the New Testament, or whether Paul’s epistles should have been excluded from the Bible because he may have been a false prophet, among all the other doctrinal debates. Many of these are the devil’s divisive devises to weaken the church by bringing about confusion and division as he knows there is strength in unity. Yet, we fall prey to this predator’s perilous plan. We need to go back to basics and ask God for humility, wisdom and a mustard seed of faith because these mountains of controversy seem insurmountable.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6
In these times it is important to petition God for His divine wisdom and ask Him to increase our faith so that we do not surrender to doubt. We must trust Him to help us navigate through the rough dark terrain of our culture just as so many missionaries do. We must also have faith that where He calls us, He will guide us, so we must wait on His timing and His way, so that we don’t go outside of His will. We must have the faith of a child.
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