right where you are
My daughter asked me once if I ever had a burning desire to go somewhere else and share the Gospel. I got to share with her that we are right where God has put us, He has made the people we minister to our people. In fact I get a little offended inside when someone talks bad about our area. Yes it is full of corruption, drugs and crime, but God loves these people and so do I. I have a love for the folks He has put us in front of because this is His choice for us. So I am content. It starts in our own backyard.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ~ Acts 1:8
I do not have to look for “hungry folks” somewhere else. Yes I live in a land of spoiled rotten greedy Americans yet there is a needy person on every corner. The contentment from God is realized when I ask Him to point me to the ones He has prepared. Casting pearls before swine just makes the one casting bitter and angry. Yet it is not the swine’s fault. Their time will come. It is our job to seek God and follow His leading. He knows where to cast the net, sometimes He chooses to catch folks one at a time and some days is by the handfuls. And other days it is crowds. I am thankful it is not crowds daily, although if it was His choice I suppose He would give us the stamina to deal with it.
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. ~ Matthew 7:6
One of the most precious women at our church is one who probably doesn’t think of herself as an evangelist, yet she is. She is also a prayer warrior and she probably does as much or more for the Kingdom of Heaven as any preacher in town. She simply obeys what the Lord puts in front of her daily. She shares with her neighbors, her grown children’s friends, her husbands co-workers. She is diligent and persistent. She doesn’t shout from the rooftops but she lives it and speaks to whomever the Lord leads and He leads her to the ones that are ripe harvest fields.
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ~ Luke 10:2-3
What would happen if we tried to harvest apples before they were ripe? We would frustrate ourselves and waste the entire crop. So it goes with those the Lord has us minister to. Look for His leading. Seek Him. Listen carefully. And He will cover you and even protect you from the wolves.
