Lately, I find that my eyes have opened even wider to the life of mission. Often times have I subconsciously familiarized the works with mission, and often times have I had to remind myself that mission begins with relationships.
Without relationships, mission would not exist. It has been so long that I had been comfortable where I was that the comfort became something I did not even realize. I always thought that “being comfortable” referred to the comforts of service and my roles and responsibilities, but that comfort also lied within my current relationships. I realized that the people I often hang out with are people that I have become very comfortable with, so I decided to challenge myself. I sacrificed time with them in order to build on new and/ or existing relationships. Lo and behold, I had discovered a mine of hidden treasures.
When I challenged myself to step out of my comfortable relationships and deeper into those that were “uncomfortable” or unknown, I realized that there are things about people that truly show the victory of His love. Treasures that can only be discovered if you choose to look beyond the surface. Behind every person lies a love story with the Lord and if we decide to come out of our comforts, we will discover pieces of one great victory; a victory known as God. Each person is a piece of God waiting to be discovered and it is in treading in these new relationships that I am seeing how each one of us relates more and more with one another. It is in these relationships that I have seen that without knowing these people, there would be no mission.
To be a missionary is to serve those around us. But if we don’t know those around us, then how do we know our mission? This is where I realized that mission begins with relationships. We must understand those we serve to help understand what they need to help bring God to their hearts, but more importantly, we must come to know God (and God in them). Mission is sharing, and it isn’t just sharing logic, but sharing the presence and love of the Lord through personal victories and trials. If we remain with what is comfortable, we will be more tempted to sit back and relax and miss out on whatever opportunities and treasures are around us. That’s why I challenge myself (and yourself) to see what areas in our lives are uncomfortable? Dive deeper in those areas and I can guarantee that beyond all of those things lie treasures we have yet to discover. As Aerosmith sang,
“I don’t wanna close my eyes,
I don’t wanna fall asleep ’cause I’d miss you, baby,
And I don’t wanna miss a thing.”
Don’t miss out on more opportunities grow and love.
Don’t miss out on God.
AMDG.