Go

 1/19/2022

I live in New England, and have for most of my adult life. Some people love the winters here, but I am not one of those people. Today, as I was driving- no, crawling- home from work as it was 15 degrees and snowing (which was falling on already icy roads), I thought to myself, "Why do we live here again?" I ask myself that a lot, although I know Who brought us here and Who keeps us here. God obviously still has things for us to do. 

A little over five years ago, my husband was looking for another job. He needed to do so for his health. We were trying to get back to our home state of New Jersey, but nothing was coming through for him there. He did have a promising prospect in Pennsylvania, but that did not pan out. So, after living in rural New Hampshire for 19 years, God sent us all the way up to Maine. I thought we were being asked to go too far. I can be such a bratty child kicking the dirt sometimes. 

I recently started reading The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected by Nik Ripkin. Now, he was a man who was asked to really go far, and experience some truly awful things in war torn and famine ravaged Somalia during the '90's. The pictures he paints through his words are unthinkable and heartbreaking. He and his wife were called to go to a place that not many people dared. He mentions that some secular relief organizations and for-profit companies were beginning to enter at that time, but that the faith-based community was afraid it was to dangerous for them to enter. The following is a very challenging and upsetting quote from the book. "How is it, I wondered, that so many people are willing to die for financial or humanitarian reasons while many Christian groups insist on waiting until it is safe to obey Jesus' command to "Go" unto all the world?" Oh my heart. This man and his wife saw nothing but need, and they could not get the people of God motivated or even challenged to help. Sigh.

This got me thinking about how I have largely cloistered myself away during Covid. I am still open to any opportunity God sends my way to share His Word, but I am certainly not seeking out those opportunities. My reason is exactly the same as those faith-based organizations that refused to help Nik and his mission; it isn't safe. BAM! Another truth smacking me right in the kisser. 

Could I still be out in the world while taking the needed precautions to protect my family and those around me? Aren't there people still doing that every day as well as throughout the pandemic? Am I ready to trust God in all things and venture back out into the world for those in need? He clearly is speaking to me, and I am getting that familiar Holy Spirit tap. 

Again, what if God's people collectively did not walk in fear of anything that is happening in our world right now, and we were ready and willing to "GO"? What if?