BUILDING THE BLOCKS...

I received an email the other day from a sweet girl who is in the process of adopting right now. She had written about how this adoption was such a huge step of faith for her family- how coming up with the money was so terrifying because in the past they had gotten ‘burned’. She went on to explain that a few years back she had gone on a missions trip with her church and how she had worked and worked to fund raise. As the trip approached, people kept telling her not to worry- God would provide. And yet when the time came for them to leave for the trip- she was still short on part of the money she needed to go. The church she attended let her go anyway because they had witnessed how hard she had worked- and yet to this day, remembering how that had happened, left her feeling disappointed and hurt. Her faith had been shaken to the very core.

So what happens when God doesn’t come through and why doesn’t He sometimes? I know I, for one, have had those exact thoughts in the past-especially as we embarked on this new adoption journey. And I know of others who are afraid to take that first step of faith as well. So this got me to thinking... where was God when this happened? Why did this happened?

This is what I discovered…

God didn’t fail her. He never fails us.

And she didn't fail either.

She did indeed go on the missions trip just as God had called her to do. He saw her heart and He saw her willingness and that is all that truly matters. She heard God calling her, had a heart to serve Him, and a heart to serve others. She worked hard, she stepped out of her comfort zone. She spend time and energy on something other than her own personal ‘needs’. She was willing. She told God she would go- and she did.

So what did happened? What went wrong?

We did.

You see, I believe we are all called to sometimes be ‘goers’ and sometimes be ‘senders’. In this instance- the ‘senders’ failed her. The failed to do their job- they failed to support her. This is why I believe it is so important that we are all in this together. Being a sender if every bit as important as being a goer. We can't all go on every missions trip- some of us will never be able to go at all. We cannot all adopt every child- some of us will never be able to adopt at all. But we all play a very important part. We are all called.

I am going to be honest and admit that there have been times when I saw a need- saw a chance to be a part of something God was involved in- and didn’t act. Perhaps I was preoccupied with my own ‘missions work’. Perhaps I forgot, or got busy. Perhaps I just thought someone else would do it- or I just chose, out of my own selfishness, to ignore the need. Perhaps I chose not to make God’s priorities my priorities- and simply focused on ME.

Ugly huh?

When we claim Jesus as our personal savior we become a part of the body and we are to work together in all areas. And yet often we don’t. Often times we look out of our own little window of life and become caught up in our desires, our plans and our dreams-and we missing being a part of the bigger picture. We miss the blessing of being a part of something BIG for God’s kingdom because we are too consumed with our own world. One of my all time favorite lyrics in a song is from In the Blink of an Eye, By MercyMe . It goes like this (sing it with me now) "How can I further your Kingdom when I’m so wrapped up in mine?” That one line says it all.

We can’t further His kingdom when all we care about is ours. We need to be willing to invest ourselves and our lives into others whether Gods asks us to do that through prayers, words of support, giving of our time, or financially

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God asked our family to be 'goers'. We are blessed to get to ‘go’ to Africa and bring home a child and adopt them as our own. But I also know God wants our family to be a ‘senders’. We are giving all that we can to be a ‘part’ of the bigger picture- a part of His plan.

What about you? Where does God have you right now- and are you listening?

Remember just investing one dollar, one prayer, or one word of encouragement truly does make a difference in the life of someone else.

God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you... may provide in abundance for every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8