But when he saw the multitudes ...
He was moved with compassion.
Matt 9:36
There are many core foundations and motivations to mission. All legitimate motivations stem from the heart of a hurting, loving God. The way we view our lives and those around us is so important. It is foundational to our identity and purpose. We could even go as far as to say that it will be a critical factor on the day we face God face-to-face.
A tale of two sights.
On March 5th, 18.9 million voters in the beautiful country of Nepal will go to the polling stations with a great desire for their future. Amongst the 6,619 candidates they will choose from are those who have been well used by God to protect our friends in that country. When we think of a biblical mandate for any political governance, key issues of keeping the country safe and our freedom/ability to live under God in a way which pleases him are at the forefront.
Please pray...
1) That elections will be peaceful and that this will be a good stepping stone for the future of the country.
2) That those elected will be people of integrity, care for the precious people of Nepal, and honour God in their care for all peoples from all backgrounds.
3) That those who seek to administer a higher calling of love, grace, relief aid, and training in righteousness will have the freedom to do so for the good of the country.
4) Pray for the next generation growing up in Nepal. Those who may have once been disaffected, gone abroad, given up on the future of the country, would pray for their country, see a new way forward in the providence of God to be a great blessing to that country.
All of us who are children of God face a daily, brutal, spiritual battle. Ignoring or diminishing this as something manageable on our own is a fatal mistake. The enemy's tactics for all foot soldiers of Christ are to take us out of the fire, far away from being hot coals passionate for Christ and equipped with gospel weapons with His community. He desires us to be disaffected with the church, local and global, to resent other believers (thus disobey the key command of the Commander in chief) John 13:34-35. The enemy desires to get us out of the warm fire of platoon fellowship to the point, a passion for brothers in arms, whereby we have long become self-serving, introspective, away from any spiritual heat and have grown cold, quelled our affections for Christ, His people, and the lost. He picks off the lonely and vulnerable, those who easily become lukewarm, unfocused, distracted and isolated. Not being in fellowship with a local church, not being accountable to other believers, thinking we can do all things through ourselves, our abilities which live within us, will only end in catastrophe; it is not God's ordained way. The predictable paths of temptation and fall are the same time immemorial: power, pride, sex, money.
Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thess 5:18)
Further reflecting on Job, I was encouraged by these three thoughts. So many in ministry, and particularly those who work in hard (unreached, frontier) places, will know what it is to be enduring a protracted season of intense opposition from the enemy, and ongoing 360 issues of heartbreak in a broken world. There seems to be an exceptional season of suffering for many of God's faithful currently. I don't think that is my interpretation alone, or unique to us as believers, but it is widespread and intense for those at the missional coalface. We need to keep the bigger perspective of God's eternal goodness in view when there are so many immediate stresses. What should we focus on to maintain a spirit of thankfulness?
