I don’t know about you, but waiting is not my strong suit; I’d rather being doing something and seeing results. I enjoy writing because it’s concrete and allows me to see my thoughts unfolding, literally. I like working with tools because I have the satisfaction of seeing something broken become workable again. It’s tangible.

 

Waiting … for the unknown, for God’s sweeping intervention, for things to happen that are out of our control, to have to rely on someone else’s decision-making … is much more difficult.

 

Have you ever planted a garden? As we were reading the seed  packets for our vegetable garden, we noticed that the length of time necessary for each plant to mature varied dramatically. Some took just a few weeks and needed little effort, while others required more time and a lot more attentive care.

 

Aren’t trials like that? We whine about how lonnnnng things seem to take to resolve. There are things we want to hurry up and fix, push along, get moving, take care of—yet, they are out of our control. Just as we are completely and utterly incapable of making plants grow, we have to wait and watch expectantly as God allows other areas in our lives to take root and mature.

 

On the other hand, simply waiting around and watching the grass grow isn’t good enough. We can’t force the plants to grow, but if we  neglect to water and fertilize them, we can be sure to thwart their growth or kill them all together. We can do the same thing to the gospel: we can spread it enthusiastically around the world or keep it   to ourselves and pretend like mission work is for missionaries and   pastors. Let’s see what the apostle Mark had to say about missions:

 

“Then he said, ‘Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce

the Message of God’s good news to one and all.’”

—Mark 16:15 (The Message)

 

Does that mean ME? Yes, me! Whether it is in our own hometown or halfway across the world, there are opportunities for you to get    involved in missions. What’s stopping you?

 

We will use the phrase GO WORLD as a prayer guide this week. (In case you aren’t familiar with it from earlier posts, C4 is our inner city mission at a public housing project.):

 

(Sunday) G – Grades. Pray for our C4 kids who attend tutoring and the volunteers who work with them. Pray for our local schools and teachers.