See Something More

This is what the LORD says:  "Stand at the crossroads and look;  ask for the ancient paths,  ask where the good way is, and walk in it,  and you will find rest for your souls.   Jeremiah 6:16 A picture of a crossroads covered the entire page. One dirt walking path diverged into two in the middle of a forest, one headed uphill and around a bend, the other headed downhill and taking a sharp corner that you couldn’t see around. We as a group at Abide (a re-entry retreat for returning missionaries) were prompted to imagination identify where on the photo we were standing in our current phase of life.  I found myself standing right on the spot where the two roads split. I had been traveling full speed ahead on one path in west Africa for five years, and now the future before me offered several paths, and I found myself stopped at the crossroads, out of breath from the sprint.  That’s an unusual position for me. Stopped still, that is. No...

At times, I still grew restless like a whining child in the back seat of the car. “God, are we there yet? Where are we going?”  I was convicted by how repetitive my prayers had become. I was learning to  trust that he is taking me somewhere, that it’s going to be a surprise, but that it’s going to be good. So I just changed the wording of my prayer ever so subtly, but with a great change of heart.  “Lord,” I remind him every now and then from the back seat, although the reminder is more for me than for him. “I’m excited for where we are going. It’s going to be a great surprise!”

There is a surprising lack of a response to this question when you look at the life of Jesus. He never taught specifically on discernment. And we don’t really have much evidence of how he discerned where to go and what to do throughout his life. Or do we? Here is what we do know about Jesus. He was in close friendship and intimacy with God the Father, and he regularly retreated to be alone with him. These quiet moments undoubtedly empowered and directed Jesus’ ministry.  We also know that Jesus had a very clear understanding of his purpose on earth. A deep conviction and understanding of who he was and what he came to do guided his every step. He knew he came to proclaim the kingdom of God, to seek and to save the lost, and to die as a ransom for sinful mankind. So wherever he went and in whatever he did (which was actually quite normal - visiting friends, attending weddings, funerals, and feasts; walking from place to place, harvesting, going to the synagogue), he accompl...

For the longest time, I’ve tried to figure out how I stand on the subject of God’s will.  Growing up, I heard two different types of teaching. On one side, God’s will is a very specific plan for your life, which can be supported Biblically. “I know the plans I have for you.” (Jeremiah 29:11) “He determined the times set for them, and the exact places where they should live.” (Acts 17:26) On the other side is the idea that God’s will is already entirely revealed in the word of God, and we can choose where and how and with whom we want to carry that out. (Check out The Will of God as a Way of Life . It’s a great book.) So which is it? Does he care or does he not? Does God know where I am going to serve him next? Or does he allow me to choose?   Yes.  I used to think about those two ways of thinking as dichotomies on opposing sides of a spectrum. And I found myself somewhere in the middle, which really meant I had one foot in one camp, one foot in the other, ...

An excerpt from a longer essay on “The Discipleship of Discernment”, insights from a year of prayer and fasting about decision-making, God’s will, and living in obedience to the mission of Jesus Christ.  His destiny-plan for the earth stands sure. His forever-plan remains in place and will never fail .  Psalm 33:11  When I started researching sending agencies and organizations, I put all of my information on index cards. When the index cards filled up, the information overflowed onto loose leaf sheets. The more I learned, the more I started to draw arrows, put boxes around things, and make diagrams. I’m a big time visual processor, I suppose. At first my processing sheets looked organized and inspirational, but as the year drew on, they became messier and cluttered. Too much information crammed into every margin and crevice. Looking at my processing artwork made me both impressed and stressed.  Inspired by Hezekiah who, when he received a threatening letter...

At the beginning of the year of fasting, I studied the book of Acts, asking my old questions about how to know where to go, but this time looking at my mentor missionary, Paul. How did Paul know where to go? Here is what I saw. The second missionary journey stood out to me the most, starting in Acts 15:36. It seems that Paul didn’t fret or agonize about where to go. He just went. And as he went, the Spirit opened doors and closed them. It was even as he went that he received the Macedonian call. He didn’t wait for a call; he got the call as he went.   Just because a door closes later down the path doesn’t mean you chose the wrong path. Paul didn’t see it that way. He interpreted doors opening and closing as God’s continual guidance, and he walked in obedience, unbothered by detours, preaching the gospel everywhere he went along the way.  Later in the year, upon returning to the States, I studied Acts again with Bible Study Fellowship. This time, the first missionary...

An excerpt from a longer essay on “The Discipleship of Discernment”: insights from a year of prayer and fasting about decision-making, God’s will, and living in obedience to the mission of Jesus Christ. “Do you think I’m making too big a deal out of this?” I asked God on one of my prayer walks. I don’t know if you can tell when God nods, but I knew my spirit within me was nodding. This was only my six hundredth time to pray about this subject this year.  By the spring of 2019, I had three open doors in front of me. Knowing that I was headed to an unreached people group (UPG), I knew of three opportunities that would put me on the ground with teams doing work with UPGs - in Marseille, Athens, and East Africa. I had touched base with each of the teams, and they were all open to my coming for a vision trip to explore and learn for a few weeks. Now I just had to choose which one and when to do it.  Do I tend to make a big deal out of decisions? Yes, definitely.  D...