Wednesday 14 Apr
Where is God at work in your world in the here and now?
I was chatting recently with a young couple considering service with Global Interaction and they shared this challenging life lesson, relevant for all of us.
“We were so future focused. We were looking ahead to where God would use us. We were exploring opportunities for the future, which was exciting, but we suddenly realised that we were missing out on serving God in the here and now. We were missing present, everyday opportunities.”
The young couple went on to tell me how they were now actively serving in their local community, engaging with people from other cultural backgrounds – immersing themselves in a new, stretching context and learning so much more about God, mission and themselves.
Clyde Meador in the final chapter of
Discovering the Mission of God – Best Missional Practices for the 21st Century writes:
“It’s not unusual for believers to see their current place in life simply as preparation for the future, without realising how God wants to use them now. Your current situation, however, is never solely preparation for some other time yet to come. God has a purpose and a plan for each of us at every moment.
“[Mission] is God’s task. The most important task for you is whatever he calls and directs you to do. Every element, every place, every act of service and every witness is important and is service to him.”
I was challenged afresh as I sat with this young couple – as they respond to where God is at work in their lives in their local community. I am encouraged by Meador’s reminder that God is graciously inviting us to participate in his redemptive activity in our current, unique context. And often this can be in small, but Kingdom-ushering ways.
Yes, at Global Interaction we take discernment and preparation seriously. We journey with people as they respond to God’s call and prepare for intercultural service around the globe. And we are forward looking, as we pursue our Strategic Roadmap – what we see is God’s preferred future for our mission community.
But we also live with the exciting, life-giving reality that God is at work in our world right now – in the ordinary and extraordinary – in individual lives, in our local communities, in the places we live, work, study, eat, move, play and share in.
Our first core value at Global Interaction is:
We participate in God’s mission, being prayerfully attentive to God’s leading.
That’s just what this young couple I had the privilege of connecting with are doing. It’s what our workers around the world seek to do, in their local communities, where living as good neighbours they’re seeking to be open to Spirit-led opportunities to share the hope of Jesus in practical, relevant ways – by word and deed.
They do this over a meal, through simple hospitality, in the marketplace, walking and talking, as they teach others’ new life skills, as they come alongside and tell stories, laugh and cry.
I love that the young couple I was chatting with are now making friends with people who are newly arrived in Australia - people who the Spirit has led them to in their hometown. They are building relationships, rolling up their sleeves in serving, practicing hospitality, praying, making mistakes, trusting, questioning, celebrating and seeing God at work in new ways!
They may one day end up on one of our intercultural teams. They haven’t lost sight of long-term learning and preparedness – but they are also seizing the moment now! They are as Meador writes, giving a “resounding affirmative” yes to what God wants to do in this season of their life.
As you consider this young couple’s story and learning, what may be God’s gracious invitation and challenge to you today?
Where is God at work in your world in the here and now?
Where may God’s Spirit be calling you to be present and available in your community?
Together we celebrate the mission of God in the hands of ordinary people.
Grace and peace.
Scott
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