Have you ever thought of applying to be a contestant on a reality TV show? I used to be an avid Survivor watcher! I loved the show and was always strategizing what decisions and moves that I would make if I were in the situation that the players were in on any given episode.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I were both off work for a week of vacation. He has wanted to take me to Grant’s Farm for the longest time, I think because he knows that I love animals and photography and this was a great place for both. I did find myself feeling like I was the tall kid in class as I stood in the goat petting area where you could bottle feed the babies. It felt a little awkward to be the only adult without a child next to me, but I shook that off pretty quickly because… well there were baby goats everywhere. I mean… My husband stood out in the walkway that was on the other side of the fence and smiled as I petted the sweet soft babies, I wonder if he knew that I was trying to figure out a way to tuck one away and take it home with me. :)
We rode the tram and saw the buffalo, deer, peacocks, and other various animals and then walked through the areas where you could either pet or get pretty close to the animals and admire them for their beauty, poise, and wonder. There were a couple of giant tortoises that I watched for a while. They walked face to face and then one changed direction after a brief stare down. I wondered what was said during that persuasive conversation that just sounded like silence to me.
We enjoyed walking through the beautiful area with the large trees that provided canopy after canopy linking over us to provide a cooling shade. There were gardens and pots of flowering bushes and plants that scented the gentle breeze blowing that day. At the end of our time in the main part of the park, we walked through a large arched door into a food court/ European village type of an area that hosted restaurants, a gift shop, and barn stalls which housed some of the Clydesdales and other work horses. The area had a door coming in and one on the other side going out, but mostly it was just one huge square and the center was open and filled with picnic tables and there were people everywhere eating lunch and milling about.
Now, back to the comment about reality shows, you knew I was going to make it back around to that, right?
Well, I stood there, after just picking up my mustard and ketchup and turning from the interior restaurant to face the picnic area. I had this thought almost shake me- “What if you were dropped here, like on a reality TV show, and told that this was your challenge. This is your mission field. You have a limited time to minister to as many people in front of you as you can before your time is up.”
It was a moment that has stuck with me, because this simple idea is exactly what we have been instructed to do, our time is limited and opportunities come and go like that gentle summer breeze. The word, touch, kindness, gospel that God gives us to share with a certain individual likely needs to happen when we are prompted because we may only have a one-time opportunity.
God has shown me in past how much He can work through a simple word to a stranger, both for them and me. I once spoke to a gentleman in the laundromat and by the time we were done with the wash, he had shared some concerns about his mother and we had prayed together. When we parted, I called him by name and told him that I would continue to pray for him and his mother. I never saw him again, but I felt so strongly that I should talk to him that day.
I was recently watching a show on Netflix and one of the characters said something that really hit me- “You will find that most people act out of one of two things: love or fear.” I am here to confess that most things that I don’t act on are because I allow fear to control me. This is something that I am praying to overcome, but I see that I allow it to keep me quiet when I know that I should speak.
The folks that I work with see me day in and day out, when I am in a bad mood or easily irritated or just get angry over something small. So when there comes as opportunity to be a witness, fear whispers in my ear- “Are you sure that you want to talk to them about your faith, I mean they saw how you acted yesterday for no good reason. Are you sure God wants you to stand as a representation for Him after you acted that way?”
Please let us stand together, lift each other in prayer, and dive into the Word to prepare and be confident. Let us laugh in the face of fear and walk boldly into our mission fields.
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 28: 19-20 (ASV)
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)