Plan for the Future

Where did you picture yourself when you dreamed about life in the year 2020? I (Allison) don't remember any of my daydreams of the future looking like my life does right now. Is God not gracious to us in this unique way? I appreciate God's wisdom and sovereign control over the broad and complex details of my life and the world he created. I marvel at how patient God is when I worry about the future or try to have control over what my life experiences are or will be.
This past year, I have continued to learn a very important lesson. My future is not going to look like I expected or planned. My role in God's kingdom expansion is not going to look like I anticipated. Our four months of training last spring involved several transitions and interviews that were hard for me. My anxious and angry responses revealed I was not accepting God's control over my future. I was not responding with a submissive and respectful heart despite my efforts to have the outward appearance of obedience. I was willing to move forward without understanding what God was requiring of me, but I was not happy about it.

David and I struggled with taking another year to make our decision when we know how desperately the aviation team needs maintenance personnel overseas. We struggled with questions of whether the urgency of people dying without hearing the gospel required we move forward with a decision more quickly.  Were we being selfish?  The additional time we have spent making a decision about future ministry has been worth every minute. We are growing in faith, knowledge, patience, unity, and confidence in God's leading and his sovereignty.  This decade, I am learning how to be ok with God's will and actually enjoy trusting in who God is and his promise to be with me whatever he calls me to do. David and I have also been learning how to approach God with our requests and show respect for his control over our future. Maybe I can explain it like this: when we train our children, we expect young children to obey our authority without questioning our direction first. In our parenting, David and I hope to establish the grace and permission for a respectful question to come after immediate obedience. We believe it is healthy for our daughter to understand why we make decisions and how to discern what choices are best. Ultimately, we need her to obey first and ask questions second for two reasons: we believe this demonstrates trust rather than resentment of our authority, and we know that there are instances in which slow responses could mean imminent or immediate danger.
When checking both ways before you cross the street, situations arise when you don't see what others see and you need to act quickly when warned by someone you trust. We know that there will be many opportunities for traffic, snakes, coconuts or any number of situations that will put our lives in danger if we do not see and avoid those dangers. Our responsibility is to watch for and warn our children of danger; if they obey our instruction quickly, dangers are no longer a threat to their lives. Disobedience creates a very different result. David and I realize we are the children learning to obey God's commands like our children are learning to trust and respect our authority. God directs our lives to provide what is best for us whether we see impending danger or understand why we need to "Move!" immediately. God also desires to train us to make wise decisions according to his wisdom; he is teaching us how to understand what really matters in life and how to value the things that have eternal value.  This is counter cultural, foreign to our self-centered, temporal nature. We have also gained a lot of practice making significant decisions as a team rather than two individuals.

We are so grateful for the grace and patience God has shown us. We are confident that this journey is as much about our lives becoming a reflection of his glory as it is about the lives of those yet to hear God's truth in their own language. Thank you all for praying with us and trusting God to draw our hearts closer to his.

What's My Motivation?

What is the number one thing that would prompt you to die on behalf of another person? What motivation does it take to make such a significant personal sacrifice?

Don't be confused that I'm going to lump the corona virus into a group with Ebola and the Bubonic Plague. But I do want you to watch this video and think about what the motivation for heroic sacrifice was in the story this Vietnam veteran shares:
Leadership and Responsibility- Richard Pimentel

My husband, David, asked me to sit down and watch this documentary with him last month. I had posed the question to David, "What is your motivation for the career you are pursuing?" I'll be honest, I wasn't asking nicely. I've been wrestling with this question as I ponder my own answer. Our family is facing a lot of change, a lot of transition, a lot of goodbyes. We are giving up close ties with family, milestone moments we want to be a part of, friendships and relationship with people we have loved, an "American dream" or idyllic life, possessions, familiarity, even just knowing how to ask where the bathroom is....

I'm not complaining. I'm contemplating. It is complete and utter foolishness to embark on a journey or set a goal without counting the cost. You can't run a marathon without training for it.
Jesus Christ said this to his disciples in the Bible. I think this hit a chord with these men too since it is recorded in more than one account of Jesus' life.  {Here is a link to the NET Bible where you can read Luke 14:25-35 (NET Bible Luke 14) or you can pull out your favorite version and read the paper copy. I like the way the pages feel; I especially enjoy the notes I've written in the margins from previous "aha" moments of reading a passage of God's word.}
Jesus uses two illustrations of major events that bear significant cost to those who undertake them. First, he captures the audience's attention with an idea they most closely relate to... beginning a building project. How many of us have driven by a partially erected building only to shake our heads at the company that ran out of budget to complete their project. "Foolishness..." we think to ourselves.
I think the next illustration hit pretty close to home in Jesus' day also. So many of these simple working people would have been among the 10,000 men numbered in this king's army. They were the ones who would face the onslaught of the enemy army. They are the ones who would suffer the casualties and defeat. They are the families who would lose their provider, their home, their ability to have necessities to survive if their men died in battle. Notice the king's response when he weighs the odds of his army against a much stronger opponent. He decides the best course of action is not to undertake the offensive and instead to make an attempt to negotiate peace. He may still face a situation that is against the odds if his offer of peace is rejected, but he is going to make the wisest decision he can in the situation and hope that it resolves the conflict without as great a cost.

Jesus doesn't use these illustrations to set aside the risk of entrepreneurship or emphasis there is a better way to negotiate than battle. Look at his parting comment in verse 33, "So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own." That comment reveals my true issue with the cost I am counting: greed, self-preservation, my worship of possessions, comfort, people, happiness...

Jesus used these illustrations to make a clear, simple point. Don't start something you can't finish.

That is exactly what I am questioning these days. Can we see this career choice through to the finish? Can we expend our lives in the cause we believe Jesus Christ has set before us? How will our choices affect our children, our marriage, our sanity, our faith, our health, etc? What if we set out to begin this journey and can't complete it? What then?

The veteran, Richard Pimentel, stated three "C"s from Aristotle's teaching that define a leader: Content, Competence, Character. Those three words describe the kind of leader who is worth following: one you can trust. The reason you trust this leader: because he cares about you.
Those three "C" words describe the leader I'm following, even to the point of death on the cross. I believe Jesus Christ, both God and man, is the only person in the entire world who could truly be ascribed these three qualities in absolute perfection. Wouldn't that be someone worthy of devoted obedience? Is this not the kind of person you want to follow into battle regardless of the terrors you might face? Is this the person who is worth dying for?

Richard Pimentel quotes his Sergeant from a particular situation in the war in Vietnam, "Responsibility is a word made up of two words, the word response and the word ability....
We all find ourselves looking at situations, we all find ourselves with abilities. What we have to ask is given my abilities, what then will be my response to those abilities?"

Romans 5:1-11 puts this another way that describes the deep joy that prompts those who believe in Jesus to endure suffering with a hope that does not disappoint. Please, please read the verses in the entire passage. I'll only include the last two.
"10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."

There are more passages in Scripture that add to the clear picture that Jesus Christ, whom God the Father sent to die on our behalf and raised to life, is the ONLY person worthy of complete obedience and surrender.  (Parables-treasure of God's Kingdom)

Revelation 5: 4-11
"4 Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. 5 But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 

9 And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 And you have caused them to become
a Kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.
13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
14 And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb."

What did David want me to remember from watching this inspirational speech? How did this speaker capture the motivation that drives him to lead our family toward great sacrifice?
"It's our responsibility..."

The theme that has been ringing with truth in my heart and mind for the past year has been,
"He alone is worthy..."
Maybe this is what God has been teaching me through all the stress and the transition and the unknown about the future. It is good that we remind ourselves of this truth.
Is He Worthy by Andrew Peterson

Does our family have the ability to do what Jesus has called us to do?
Only by his grace and through his power (2 Corinthians 3:4-6a; 3:18-5:21 NET Bible)

What will our response be? to follow him to the ends of the earth
(Matthew 28:16-20 NLT, Acts 1:8 NET Bible)

"What abilities do you have and, more importantly, what is your response to those abilities?" Richard Pimentel