excuse #8
continuing with the keith green "why you should go to the mission field" article - here's excuse #8 he lists:
"I'd go to the mission field, but...."
"But I have a family to support. God doesn't want me to neglect them, does He?"
Keith's answer...
The Word of God says, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." (Matt.6:33) If you can trust God for your needs, you can certainly trust Him for your family's needs. You would never be foolishly "neglecting" your family's needs by obeying God's call to go. God will show you the way. I know of so many families - some with many children - who are on the field right now, trusting God for their needs while they minister in His name. I have never heard of ONE occurrence where God didn't meet the needs of one of His servants and their families. As King David said...
"I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing." (Psalm 37:25-26)
my thoughts:
i can testify from first-hand experience growing up in a missionary's home that i never once was short-changed by God by being raised like i was. i've talked about it before, but the perspecitve my parents gave me had a lot to do with it, but they made sure i never saw it as a "poor me, poor us - we suffer so much and miss out on so much because we're sacrificing to serve overseas..."
quite the contrary. i felt very special growing up. i got to live where napoleon lost the battle at waterloo. i saw where macarthur told the filipino people "i shall return" and i got to go to 20 countries before i was 20 years old. sure, i didn't have a neighborhood i grew up in for 18 years then went to college with the same kids i went to elementary school, junior high and high school with and all.... and i had to wait to drive until i was 18 because of the laws of the country we lived in, but you know what? i'd trade it all away 100 times over to be able to grow up how i did.
thanks dad and mom for not buying into excuse #8, and for never letting us kids feel cheated for being missionary kids. we aren't kids without a home - we are kids who grew up feeling at home anywhere we went in the world.
frankly, i think i got the better end of the stick by being an MK. those of you who aren't MK's - i'm sorry.
3 comments:
I really LOVE all the excuses! =)
I came across your blog today. I cannot say it was "by chance" because I trully belive God led me to it. I'd just like to thank you for posting on the "excuses" Keith Green talks of. This has clarrified some important issues for me.
After finnishing high school, I spent a year working at a christian
orphanage in South Africa. I made the decission to go despite the horrified reactions and warnings of teachers, family, friends, just about everyone,actually. I followed what I then believed was my "gut instinct" and now know to have been God's call on my life.
Six years on, with a degree in paediatric nursing under my belt, I feel that call to return to the developing world and minister to God's most disadvantaged children. However, many of the "excuses" you write about have confused the issue. All this time I've prayed for a "sign" to "confirm" the call !!!!
Your blog made me see the simple truth. I now realise I
subconsciously knew and understood God's will better as an
unbelieving teen than I ever have since. I also know that while more experience/education may help me servebetter, I have enough to send out into the field now. This totally changed the way I think and pray. Thankyou!
Hey Dan! I love this blog!.. Not only because I wanted to marry Kieth Green when I was in High School because of his heart for the lost, but especially because how you explained you life as a missionary kid. We have 4 small kids (ages 5 and under) and I have often been concerned that they will feel like misfits in a world where they don't know where they belong. Your blog has sqelched alot of those fears. I think I need to talk to your parents and see how they did it. :-)
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