We're getting ready for Board Meetings here at LAM this Th. and Fri. That means I need to prepare to show what I've done over the past 6 months and project into the next 6 months to a year what I will be doing. Sometimes the work pause for these meetings twice a year appears to come at a very inconvenient time, and I'm tempted to think that I could better use my energy for the demands on my desk, in my inbox and that blinking light on my phone. However, I have found that the preparations this past week have forced me to remember what God has done, consider what He is doing and make sure that I and the things I am responsible for are ready to follow Him in the future. Israel often forgot what God had done, which made it nearly impossible to see what he was doing in their present. I'm reminded that one of the principal reasons I was drawn to missions in the first place is having a daily focus on ministry and a reminder of the Great Commission at hand. This still holds true, even if that ministry is an e-mail, a missionary contract or any one of a hundred mundane tasks I need to perform, and that must happen to lay the groundwork for more "fulfilling" conversations or events that I so enjoy. Those "that's why I'm here!" moments.
I wanted to share with you something that one Dr. Allen Yeh, one of our Spearhead attendees recently wrote regarding his missions experience. I found it very encouraging and I hope that you, wherever you happen to be or what the Lord has you doing, will find it encouraging as well:
"One reflection I had: without doing something meaningful in life, life seems pointless. Yes I enjoy entertainment, but if I were the richest person in the world and just had endless entertainment, I think I'd grow frustrated with the emptiness of it all. If I were a workaholic, there is definitely meaning to be had in one's work, but work is also necessary for money and as such sometimes feels mercenary. When I do ministry, especially when I do missions (fulfilling the Great Commission), I feel like I'm part of something greater, something more than just about me, something that is of God and for God and for others. May my life never just be work and vacation alone, that endless vicious cycle which is known as the rat race! When we do ministry for God and neighbor (otherwise known as the Two Great Commandments), that's where it's really at."
Dr. Allen Yeh
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and Missiology
Biola University's Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Founder & Chairman of the World Christianity consultation at the Evangelical Theological Society
I hope your day goes well and that you are able to serve wherever the Lord has you. God bless!
In His Hands / En Sus manos;
