What fears and excuses get in the way of you living on mission for Christ? What keeps you from living the life He created you to live? If Jesus was, at some point in your life, worth surrendering your life to Him, I’m going to assume you meant it. I will presume you do not wake every day contemplating ways to live in opposition to His Kingdom and His plan.
My guess is you want to live your life for Him. You want to be the person He created you to be, because you understand you will never find true peace, joy, and fulfillment any other way. If all this is true, what are the reasons you have for not living on mission?
One of the biggest obstacles many of us face revolves around money or provision. If we devote our lives to spreading His Word, caring for orphans, or living in remote places where the Gospel has not yet been heard, we wonder how we’ll be able to care for ourselves and our families. The good news is, Jesus let His followers know God is very aware of our needs. He’s even aware of the needs of the multitude of birds around the world (Luke 12:22-24). He has made a way to feed them each day. Do we not think He will do the same for us?
Another obstacle is fear. We are afraid to walk away from what we know, what is socially approved, or perhaps afraid we will fail. As we discussed in a previous post (see, “Equipped for the Job”), God has equipped you to do whatever work He gives you to do. If God sends you, don’t question whether you’re the right person. He’s already chosen you! If we insist on clinging to comfort and the approval of others, we will never experience the life He created us to live. We may well also be risking our eternity (Matthew 7:21-23). Our faith in God is proven by our devotion and obedience.
Regardless of what is keeping you from living on mission, I want to warn you. The longer you resist obedience, the harder your heart will become. You’ll grow numb to the very mission God has called you to on His behalf. We look at the Bible story of Pharaoh and the Israelite’s and marvel how Pharaoh continued to harden his heart and refuse to let the Israelite’s leave. The longer we resist obedience, the more like Pharaoh we become. Instead of a story we learned as children, we will find ourselves in the horrifying reality of playing the part of Pharaoh in our own lives.
Our lives should be devoted to living on mission. This means we’re going to have to put aside our fears. We’re going to have to trust God will provide what we need to live, and what we need to accomplish the work He has given us to do. If He’s the God we believe He is, He will. If He’s not, we wouldn’t be following Him anyway. God is all powerful. There is nothing beyond His reach. This same God loves you with an unsurpassable, unconditional love. He will provide. He will give you everything you need to accomplish His will in your life. He just asks we be a people living on mission. Trust Him with the details. When He calls, our job is simply to say, “yes”.