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perspective

Oct 26
Love0

My Part, God’s Part

By Envision, Headfirst, Personal

A hinge can only function with two engaged and matching halves

There are many theological dynamics to the concept of “My Part / God’s Part” –  after all, if God the Father planned salvation, God the Son accomplished salvation and God the Spirit applied salvation, then my part is simply to receive salvation.  Easy enough?

So once I’m saved – by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone – what’s the division of labor between me and God as I step into the good works created beforehand for me to walk in? (see Ephesians 2:8-10.)

I’ve been thinking about this for a very practical reason – trusting God to provide for our family’s financial needs.  That’s something pretty much anyone can relate to, especially right now in the world economy.  For our family, the nuance is that all of our funding comes from God through His people contributing to our ministry.  I have a job, and it doesn’t matter how many hours I work – if people don’t give to the ministry, there’s nothing for me to be paid.  So fundraising becomes a spiritual endeavor, much like evangelism: it’s my part to initiate with people and tell them the news (e.g. God loves them, Christ died and rose again to forgive sin, you can be our partner in bringing the Gospel to those who’ve never heard) and it’s God part to move in their hearts and reveal who responds.  I have no control over who receives Christ, nor over who chooses to join with us and give back to the Lord through our ministry.

Here’s where I recognized a rebuke from the Holy Spirit – I decided that God wasn’t providing adequately for our needs, and I became frustrated and angry with Him.  After all, wasn’t I doing my part?  I’d been inviting people to join us as ministry partners.  So if I was doing my part, and we still had such a significant need – that meant that God wasn’t doing His part.  (My guess is that you can relate to getting frustrated or mad at God for your circumstances.)  After all, Moses raised his staff and the sea parted, right?  Elijah called down fire from heaven and the offering was burned up.  Hey God, in case You hadn’t noticed, I’ve been sitting here and praying and I’d like to see some supernatural action, okay?

The truth is that I wasn’t doing my part.  As my heart was convicted, I asked myself: have you truly done everything in your power or ability?  Or have you only done what you were willing to do, and then blamed God for not responding?  Could He be waiting for you to step out in faith, to go beyond your comfort zone, to truly trust in Him alone for your needs?

So it became much clearer who I should be frustrated and angry with – me.  I haven’t been doing my part.  Once I’ve done everything within my power, everything humanly possible, I can go back and seek Him out and…  give thanks for the ways He has answered and provided.

P.S.  Your equation of “My Part, God’s Part” may not be financial, it may be something else.  I expect that the principle still holds true in your circumstances.

Apr 12
Love0

Not my will

By Headfirst, Personal

Why am I going back to Haiti again?  A third time?  Sometimes people assume that because of my heart for God or my heart for the lost, I’m just not like other people.  After all, everyone knows that missionaries aren’t normal.  We can’t relate to them because they’re just wired differently.  Maybe so.  Maybe not.  But I’m not going back because I would like to.  Actually, part of me wants to never go back. So Why Go?

Mar 02
Love0

Shell shock

By Headfirst

As the church leadership team gathered for a meal, planning and prayer, someone asked about my recent return from Haiti.  I’d been having a bit of trouble knowing how to answer some of the questions this past week.  Joe turned to me and asked, “Do you have PTSD?  I fought in Vietnam and I know what you’re going through.”  I thought a little bit and nodded my head.  Joe continued, “Seeing death, seeing the casualties – we can talk, okay?”  The confirmation was helpful – why I’ve resisted looking at my photos and have felt awkward summarizing the mission.  Joe fought in a real war – with bombs and shelling and shrapnel.  It didn’t seem like my experience with the devastation in Haiti was on the same level.

I was on a different battlefield – no question about that.  But we were also at war.  The spiritual battle and oppression, the Haitian practices of voodoo and the occult, the political corruption, and yes, the death and destruction.  Port-au-Prince is a war zone, with every other structure reduced to rubble, and refugees clamoring for aid – seeking shelter under tarps in every open space in the city.

I am grateful that Joe had the insight and the openness to connect with me, and help me step out of the mental fog of war.  When we run headfirst, we must be cognizant of the cost of battle.  It’s not an excuse to escape from doing what God calls us to do.  But it’s the recognition that fatigue, heartbreak and trauma come from being at war.  I am taking time to mourn, to process, and to re-gear.  Because we know the battle is won, but the fighting isn’t over.

Feb 16
Love0

In the streets of Port-au-Prince

By Envision
Collapse of the Haitian Presidential Palace

Before and after the earthquake

The sun was still overhead, but the sensation of spiritual oppression was all around us.  We walked from the presidential palace, whole floors collapsed, past the piles of rubble which had been the Haitian treasury building.  A caravan of military vehicles made its way through the recently plowed streets. More than three weeks after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, very little had changed.  Broken cinder blocks and twisted rebar still covered city blocks, and a look upward revealed rooflines at every angle to the sky – but none of them as they should be.  These buildings, businesses and homes were now unintended mausoleums, housing the bodies of thousands of children and adults.  The living were still wandering in the streets, Read More

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