In preparation for an announcement / prayer request that I’m going to be posting soon, I wanted to share a summary of something that God has been teaching me in the last several years. I shared a very brief version of this with my church last Lord’s Day evening, and had some time today to write it down in a series of articles that I hope it will be an encouragement to you.

It all started with a globe.

My earliest memory of geography lessons as a child consisted of spinning a world globe around and watching the countries fly past my eyes. Sometimes, I would suddenly stop the globe and see where my finger landed. China… Brazil…Mozambique… England… they were nothing more than odd green shapes on a round ball. Yet, even my childish mind could grasp that it stood for something bigger – something that was outside the walls of my house and the paved sidewalks of my neighborhood.

The globe that started my wanderlust has long since gathered dust, but the feeling still remains. The stories of Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, Gladys Aylward, and Jim Elliot would play over and over in my mind. I knew that someday … someday, I wanted to travel too.

As I grew older, the questions began. Okay, God, where? When? How? As time went on, it was obvious that this was a desire that God was not going to answer right away. Doors would open and phone calls would come, but God would patiently and lovingly close the doors each time.

“Not yet, my child, not yet.”

Oswald Chambers once said “If our hopes are being disappointed right now, it means they are being purified … one of the greatest strains in life is the strain of waiting for God.” Waiting on God’s timing for our heart’s desires can sometimes be the most difficult of tasks… but also one of the most rewarding when our faith is strengthened and our hope placed more securely in the One who can fulfill His plans for us.

I wanted to travel. I wanted to see the places beyond the oceans, to look into the faces of people who were living and breathing around the world. I wanted to see the same God who was in my little neighborhood working in the farthest away country.

A few summers ago, I remember struggling particularly with this desire to go somewhere. God had been calling friends to do great things around the world. I would listen to their exciting adventures and how God used them to lead souls to Christ in other lands … and deep down, I would wonder if God had forgotten about me. Why would God have me stay home instead of doing something big for Him? Aren’t we supposed to be world-changers? How am I supposed to make a difference by staying here?

Looking back, I realized that God had several lessons in store for me to learn… several things that would prepare me to have a greater “ripple effect” later on. God just had to get my heart in the right place first.

I thought I would share a couple of those thoughts with ya’ll in the next few days. Hopefully it’ll give you encouragement to trust God with your dreams as well … and be encouraged that God isn’t finished with any of us yet. :)

[Coming soon…]
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Here and There ... - ... “Caution: God at Work” ...