And now I have a word for you who brashly announce,
“Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year….”
You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of
fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit
to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”
(James 4:13-15, MSG)
I wish I had gone to California will the humble attitude
that James encouraged in the passage above.
I should have used my time in California to ask God what He wanted for
my life. But instead I went to Arrow Springs, the 1940s era resort that served
for many years as the headquarters for Campus Crusade, full of myself, my plans
and an overinflated assessment of my gifts and abilities. In the year and a
half that I lived and worked in California, God taught me many valuable lessons
which did not lead me to China as I had thought. My love for the Chinese people would be
expressed at a later time in a way so much better suited for the person God
made me.
In retrospect, I can see that in California I discovered
four important truths about myself that have shaped the rest of my life. First, I found that God used my talents to
glorify Him. As a history major in
college, I had loved doing research but I could not imagine that God would ever
use this skill as it did not seem “spiritual” enough. But at Arrow Springs, I was assigned to the Strategy
Resource Network office that provided information and technology to support
the international ministries. My job involved
being in charge of several research projects to help our organization decide on
where to expand our ministries in the future.
This was a foreshadowing of my later life career as a librarian.
Secondly, I learned that I really needed to be a part
of a local church. In college and my
first years on staff, I always attended church but my real fellowship, teaching
and growth came within the context of Campus Crusade. But while in California,
I joined a wonderful unique fellowship, Highland Evangelical Free Church. For the first time I became a part of a
church-based home group. The singles
group at the church developed into a forever family. For the first time, I began to believe that “local
church is the hope of the world.”[1] Ever
since, I have had the joy and privilege of not just being a member but being a
partner with various local churches.
Next, I learned that I loved meeting people from different
cultures, learning about our differences and similarities and showing God’s
love to them. Office staff at
headquarters were encouraged to get involved in outreach to the San Bernardino community. My co-worker, Rochelle Haywood[2] invited
me to join the ministry to international students on the local college
campuses. This experience would prove a
pivotal link in God fulfilling my dream of Chinese ministry.
Lastly, I learned that I was not cut out for pioneer
missions. Ironically, I discovered this
through taking Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, a course
designed to encourage believers to get involved in missions. The course gave a
realistic appraisal of the qualities needed to be a good pioneering
missionary. One crucial ability, which I
don’t have, is an aptitude with languages. I was able to pass French but I was
never really fluent in it!
At the end of my year at headquarters I began to think
about what was next for me, since going to China was out. I decided to get a master’s degree in church
history with the hope of teaching in a Bible School. However, that plan did not work out
either. In the year after I graduated
from Trinity, all I got was a big pile of rejection letters from schools across
the country. I began to broaden my horizons
and took a job with Christian Aid Mission in Charlottesville,
Virginia. According to their website, “Christian
Aid Mission seeks to establish a witness for Christ in every nation by
assisting indigenous ministries in lands of poverty, where Christians are a
persecuted minority, and where foreign missionaries are not allowed.” My job would be twofold: to oversee the
guesthouse where leaders from the indigenous ministries we assisted would come
to visit and to reach out to international students.
Learning the Lesson:
The in between time that you spend
waiting for God to answer your prayer can be a real test of faith. Sometimes you will have doubts, as I did,
whether God will ever grant what you are requesting. Sometimes the waiting will seem interminable. In that year between graduating from Trinity
and getting a job at Christian Aid, I had a friend who liked to tell me, “this
too shall pass.” I am sure she was trying to be helpful but every time she said
it, I cringed. Instead of just twiddling our thumbs and getting aggravated
while we wait, we need to look for the lesson God is trying to teach us.
Pastor Jeff Manion wrote a
wonderful book, The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions, in
which he uses Israel’s time in the wilderness as a metaphor for our period of
transition or waiting. In the introduction
he says:
My prayer for you as you read this
book is that God will visit you with grace in your season of transition. I pray
that the barren landscape of trial will become the fertile soil for new growth.
May our gracious God revive your spirit and restore your laughter. May you find
Him in your pain and trust Him in your waiting. May the One who redeems all
things meet you powerfully as you journey through the Land Between…. Our
response to God while in the Land Between is what will determine whether our
journey through this desert will result in deep, positive growth or spiritual
decline.[3]
Psalm
37 was written by David to give us advice on what to do while waiting out our
in between period. Read the passage and
note below and write down every attitude or action he encourages us to have or
do. Include ones that are repeated every
time you see them in your list. I have
done the first few to get you started.
Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious
toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like
the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate
faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of
your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the
noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of
him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will
inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And
you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble
will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. (Psalm
37:1-11, NASB)
1. Do not fret
because of evildoers
2. Be not
envious toward wrongdoers
3. Trust in the
Lord
4. Do good
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
[1] A phrase coined by Bill Hybels, retired pastor of
Willow Creek Church. He often used this
saying to inspire those attending the Global Leadership Summits.
[2] Rochelle served for many years with Campus Crusade in
Japan, where she met her husband Steve Clark.
As of this writing Rochelle and Steve are still serving with Cru in the
headquarters now located in Orlando, FL.
[3]
Manion, J. (2010). The land between: Finding God in difficult transitions.
Zondervan [Kindle edition].
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