In one week I leave for Papua New Guinea, where I'll be speaking at two back-to-back retreats for Thrive, an organization whose goal is to spoil missionary women. This will be my sixth retreat. I love volunteering, mostly because there is much I relate to having lived and served overseas. It is a JOY for me to get to go (even though I do not like travel....at all!).
Before any event, I mull over, and over, and over, the talks I will be giving.
I teach them to myself...on walks...in bed in the middle of the night...while I'm driving into town...(I think you get the picture).
I live with each session I'm going to bring to these ladies.
I look constantly for edits...for better illustrations...for additional passages of Scripture...
The theme for these upcoming retreats is Lost in the Middle of Mission.
The idea behind it is that there are times in the midst of our calling, when we can feel "stuck"...and, yes, sometimes lost. Truth is we never run out of need for God's Grace. His salvation isn't just a one time, past tense, thing; but, a very present and personal need.
Sometimes, when I feel lost...I tend to just work harder. I doubt I'm alone in that.
The problem with this is that in correlation to how hard I'm working, the deeper I dig the hole in which I'm stuck.
This isn't just true for missionary women.
It's true for all of us.
We can often find ourselves "lost" in the middle of a plethora of life-situations.
David wrote a Psalm (143), when I think he was in a place of lost.
He uses the language of lost throughout the whole Psalm:
The enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground.
He has made me sit in darkness...
...my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
...my soul thirsts...
...my spirit fails...
Once again, I love David's honesty.
I love his willingness to be vulnerable; to own his pain.
The whole Psalm is David's way of facing his fear, of working "smarter, not harder."
David's bottom line prayer is this:
Destroy my soul's adversaries, O God!
Obliterate those things which are hindering and getting in the way of my relationship with You, God...please, hear my prayer!
It is a healthy prayer! One we can sit up and take notice of during times of lost...
Why does David want this so badly? There's one reason:
When we are saved from those things that keep our soul's in a place of stuck, we are able to press on as the Lord's servant!
God doesn't need us, but He has chosen to serve this world through us, using us as His hands and feet...
An overloaded to-do-list
Demanding, needy people
Finances
Divisiveness
Spiritual dryness
Health issues
Weather-related problems (praying still for those affected by the recent hurricanes and fires)
Family problems
These just tip the iceberg.
However, David turns a corner in verse 5 of Psalm 143.
As David prays and pours out his heart like water before the presence of the Lord, he:
1) ...Remembers God's faithfulness, His mighty works, and David meditates on them. When we have a history with God, we walk boldly into the future minus fear.
2) ..."Spreads out his hands." This terminology, combined with "thirsting for God as a parched land" is a picture of brokenness, surrender (returning to a place of trust), of letting go and receiving. Hasn't God promised, that He who hungers and thirsts receives...YES! And, I've always found Him faithful.
3) ...Starts listening for God's direction for next steps.
Sometimes stopping to remember, surrender, & listen is the key we need to finding our way out of being lost in the middle of....whatever!
Working smarter (rather than harder) involves STOPPING to regain perspective.
When we do...we can continue to do what God has called all of us to do.....................SERVE.
But remember this, as well:
Another reason for STOPPING. Maybe God just wants time with us!
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