Discovering God's "Plan A"

This year of 2013 is closing and 2014 is about to be born. When it comes to crossing over from one year to the next, I get to thinking about what needs to change in my life. You know, the traditional "New Year resolutions"? ;)

However, rather than my usual too-lofty ambitions, I want to return to the basics this coming year. Primarily, loving God and loving others and doing them well.

I recently finished what has become a new favorite book of mine - "You Are God's Plan A: and there is no plan b," by Dwight Robertson.

I downloaded the Kindle version awhile back, not knowing what it was about, but just because it was free at the time. And then I started it during my personal retreat last week, when I was seeking God for, among other things, what should be my next step in ministry. Though it was kind of by "accident" that I downloaded and then began reading the book...within the first few pages, I knew God wanted me to read it and it was His perfect timing.

Though I would love to tell you all that I gleaned, I really want you to read the book for yourself. Thus, I will share just a few highlights.

What is God's "Plan A" for reaching the world?

It is you and me - loving people up close, in the mainstream of our own lives, as they are interwoven among others' paths. Evangelism, the Great Commission, and reaching the world for Jesus is a task not just for the pastor, the missionary, the worship leader, the Billy Grahams, but for every child of God who has experienced His love and grace.

God's plan to reach your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, the people around you - is you. We are co-laborers with Jesus, following His pattern of loving others.

"If you've avoided involving yourself in the work of God's Kingdom because you don't think you have anything significant to contribute, then I have good news for you: God wants to work through you, He chooses you."

Robertson uses the example of the disciples - unlearned, ordinary and even despised men - whom God used to perform an extraordinary work, sparking a revolutionary world-wide movement that continues strong today. Because it's not about the vessel, it's about the One who chooses, empowers and equips the vessel.

"God does extraordinary things through ordinary (and even lowly) people and circumstances. He always has...and He still does." 

Think you lack what it takes? God has already gifted each of us with certain talents and passions. This is for a purpose. How can you use what you already have (interests, talents, background, experiences) to show God's love to those nearest to you? Whether you are a mom, dad, sister, brother, neighbor, friend, teacher, grandparent, artist, volunteer, bus driver, musician, artist, athlete, etc., each day you interact with others who may never enter a church, but who do interact with you - the real "church."

"You don't need to imitate anyone else. God has designed you like no other, and His design is perfect for the ministry He's called you to. In a sense, He's given each of us a ministry fingerprint."

(A fingerprint meaning God has a "unique and distinct ministry role" just as your physical fingerprints are unique.)

But, it's not all about us, it's all about our God. We want people to see Him, not us. We want them to experience His love, peace, grace.

"We impress people from a distance, but we impact them when we're up close. Because when we're up close to others...we bring God close to them as well." 

This means we must remain close to God - so we can be "connectors" for others to the true Power Source - our Heavenly Father.

"The greatest gift you'll ever give the world is your intimacy with God."

The above quote may be my most favorite in the entire book. Want God to use you to impact your world to the greatest degree? Then let Him fill you, empower you, lead you. What we have to offer to others is limited, but God's supply is limitless.

"The closer to God you get, the more of God you'll give. But the further away from God you get, the less of God (and the more of you) you'll give to others."

I love the way Robertson shows how Jesus' very relational method of investing in a few people at a time is the best "method" to reach the world. If every year for 20 years you invested in the lives of two people, and they did the same for 20 years, and those they touched did the same for 20 years, eventually more than 3.48 billion people would be impacted. He contrasted this to a public speaker reaching 100,000 people every year for 20 years - eventually impacting only 2 million in that time. See the difference?

I want my time in Uganda to be effective and I so much want to eternally impact the lives of those around me, but it's not through great teaching methods, charismatic sermons, or mesmerizing miracles. It is by bringing God's love up close to others.
 
Okay, I could go on and on, but I really want you to read the book. So, I will close with this final quote for you to chew on.

"How do you become God's Plan A? Simply get up close to people, hang out with them, love them in practical ways, and share the God who lives in you with them. Everyone can do that."

Photo credit: By Brett Jordan on Unsplash

The Blessings of Not Fitting In

"It's like entering a different world," I commented to a recent short-term visitor as she prepared to fly back home to the U.S., following a three-month stay in Uganda.

Leaving Africa and re-entering the western realm is more like going from one planet to another and not just crossing the globe. Life is so, so different between these two worlds.

There is also the challenge of not fully belonging to either place. I love Uganda and so much about it - the people, the beautiful landscape, the ministry, the food - but no matter how long I spend here, I will never be fully "Ugandan."

I also love my home country - the U.S. -and my dear family and friends, as well as familiar comforts and conveniences that are there. But after spending several years away from it, I don't feel I quite fit, even when I visit home for weeks or months at a time.

Many missionaries feel that in light of these realities, a "third culture" is created - a mix of both worlds. We are not fully American anymore, but we are not fully of our host country either. It's not that we don't try to adapt, but we have changed and are changing.

I find this to be a frequent challenge - wondering where I "fit." However, this may not necessarily a bad predicament.

I think shifting back and forth between two cultures has helped me to value what is truly important - people and God's work or even more simply - lovin' God and lovin' others.

I have realized I need little to live on to be fully content. With food, clothes...and coffee be content. Okay, just joking about the coffee part. :)

Indeed, joy is not rooted in circumstances or possessions or even who is near you, but is grounded in a living and growing relationship with your God. This divine love fills and overflows us in a desire to share it with others, building relationships with them and serving as bridges so they may be introduced to our Awesome and Loving God and begin building their own relationships with Him.

If we are consumed with other things, we may be wasting our precious time, energy and resources. We may be missing multiple opportunities presented to us daily in a myriad of places.

I don't feel entirely "at home" in either my home or host culture, which makes me long for my eternal home even more. As I mourn separation on this earth, my heart yearns for an eternity of being together - with my God and with the many people I already love and others who I look forward to meeting and loving.

As we face challenges, pain, sorrow, grief, etc. here on this earth, our hearts should eagerly await the day when our Savior returns and takes us all to the "Home" He has been preparing for us for a long, long time.

As we become more and more uncomfortable and dissatisfied and less "at home," let us look more eagerly to that day when we will be finally headed for our "True Home."

And let's make sure we take as many people with us as we can.

"I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." - John 17:14-18

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