Strangers and Pilgrims
As many of you may know, we are now in our 6th
month on deputation as USA Church Planters – missionaries to America! Before we began this adventurous journey the
Lord worked mightily in my heart to prepare me and to confirm in my heart that
this is what He wants for us to do.
My husband and I are not your typical missionaries on
deputation – we are grandparents! Some
would even venture to call us “old!” My
husband often sites Caleb’s spirit as one he shares “…and Caleb the son of
Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me
alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this
word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and
now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in
the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength
now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this
mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day…” Joshua 14:6, 10, 11, 12; and it
is true – my husband is full of energy and faith, and willingly puts forth
every effort to do the work God has called him to do.
For a woman, this is a different decision than it is for a
man that has a vision. For me it truly
has been a matter of realizing that my love for the Lord and the lost souls He
died to save are worth leaving my family, my home, and my church family. You know – if it was up to me I would have
moved into one house, stayed at one church, and been happy all my days…but God
indeed has a different plan.
He began by showing me the state of our nation and just how
far we have moved from the country that proudly printed “In God We Trust” on
our currency. He broke my heart for the
next generation that is being trained to be secular humanists and faithless beings
not realizing a need for our Saviour. Of
course that next generation includes my precious 15 grandchildren…what will
they face? The Lord showed me the depth
of the burden that the Lord placed on my husband’s heart. As the Lord showed me these truths and placed
this burden on my heart, I knew beyond any shadow of doubt that He wants us to
be USA missionaries, church planters, doing all we can to reach this lost and
dying world.
As He began moving my heart in this way, He moved my heart
to be in tune with Mary in Luke 1:38, “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word…”
As I read that verse and already knew that God was leading us to begin
this journey I replied as Mary did and surrendered to do what He has called us to to do, knowing it
was not going to be easy, but definitely a privilege and the right thing to do!
And so, here we are on deputation. We are in our 6th month and we
have been in nearly 70 churches, better than half have verbally stated they
will support us, and a good number of those have actually begun supporting us,
for which we are thankful, humbled, and earnestly desirous to be a worthy
investment. As we are traveling the Lord
is teaching me and showing me many new things and allowing me to see ministry
and life as a Christian, a missionary from a different perspective.
Strangers and Pilgrims.
That is how the Christians in the Bible saw themselves. “These all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and
were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews
11:13 And now that we are on deputation I understand that verse so much more clearly
than before. Everywhere we go we are
visitors. Every church we attend, though
we definitely experience the sense of unity in the Spirit, we also know that we
are not a part of that family. Every
mission home we are privileged to sojourn becomes a temporary home for us – a
place where we “live” for a few days at a time.
My husband and I have determined that we are at home when we’re together
– and we enjoy the time we spend at a guest home, a hotel, a mission’s home –
but we know that none of these is our actual home. We are simply pilgrims passing through. We are strangers everywhere we go – but we
have a reason and a purpose for every place we go!
As I have grasped that truth, I realize also that Peter
“beseeched” or begged us (Christians – those that are born again having
received Christ as their Saviour) to be strangers and pilgrims – to not feel at
home with the fleshly lusts that war against our soul. This present generation is at home with their
fleshly lusts – in fact – they embrace them and are not only persuaded to
accept them, they are persuading others as well! For every “weakness” (sin), there is an
advocacy group encouraging acceptance! “Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul” 1 Peter 2:11
“Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that,
whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by [your] good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s
sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them
that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of
them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put
to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty
for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” I Peter 2:12-16
And he sums it all up here…
“Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the
king.” I Peter 2:17
And the way we get there is to realize that we are strangers
and pilgrims here, and for now we are to abide in Christ, dwell in Him – and
not count this world that is at enmity with God as our home…we are strangers
and pilgrims.
Lord, thank you for allowing me to serve You on deputation and
to experience being a stranger and a pilgrim in this world; and Lord, help me to
never lose sight of the fact that this world is not my home, I’m just passing
through.
Christian, I hope that you too
will realize that this world is not our home – we’re strangers and pilgrims.
Have a wonderful day!
Comments
Post a Comment