Our approach as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ must always begin with truth. However, some of us begin our Christian journeys with motives that are not always centered on the reality of who Jesus Christ is. Instead, our motives are centered on the desires we have and what we can receive from him. God will always take care of our needs according to His riches in glory. Jesus Christ invites us to open our mouths wide to receive Heavenly Father’s goodness. In Matthews 11:28-30(NLT), he extends an invitation to everyone. He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

We are all carrying pain in our hearts to some degree. Our Redeemer invites us to come to him in whatever shape we’re in and receive his rest. But we must be clear, when we come to Jesus Christ as we are, we will not remain that way. His love is transformative, and the work that he does in our hearts is not according to our agendas. Its according to the Father’s plan and purpose for our lives. Jesus must be in the driver’s seat. He tells us in Matthew 11:29 to take hold of his direction and allow him to steer us into the infinitive possibilities of his love. He will teach us, and make no mistake, lessons from the Master are those we desperately need to learn.

One of those lessons is that being a missionary can’t just be what we do, it must be who we are in the truest sense of the word. It is the Lord’s call, and it has no expiration date. Answering this call is the foundation of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Following his example is non-negotiable; it’s a must. Love must have a most perfect work, and that work is fully expressed through us, God’s children of light. On our own, we can think of many ways to express God’s love through our faith in Jesus Christ, and we can accomplish many wonderful things for God’s Kingdom. However, we must know that nothing we do will be as impactful and effective for God’s Kingdom as the specific assignments we receive directly from Him. Often, this is the missing piece from our lofty goals. It is the piece many think they can do without, and ultimately, they are severely disappointed because of this erroneous line of thinking.  

The pace of life seems to have sped up exponentially. One of the results is that we desire to move just as quickly in order to keep up with it. Lacking the spiritual maturity and tools to do this will set us further back rather than accomplish the goal we desire. Many of us no longer want to be patient as God prepares us for His purpose, but instead, we want revelation and heavenly blueprints on the double, even when our minds and hearts have not expanded to keep pace with the resources we want God to deliver.  

God is not wasteful. He provides where there is need, desire, and capacity to make use of what He provides. So, when our minds are full of our own agendas, and there is no intention to receive His divine directives and follow them, we are lost, because Proverbs 29:18(NIV) tells us, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” There must be on our behalf a confidence that God’s Holy Spirit will guide us into ALL truth, that the Spirit will tell us what he hears from Jesus Christ as John 16:13 says, and that he will also tell us about the future. It is abundantly clear that we cannot carry out missionary assignments and work without the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Truth does not hide. When we open ourselves to receive God’s revelation, He will supply it. Part of this ‘opening’ process requires us to remove our own expectations and agenda from the equation. This can be quite uncomfortable for many of us. We have a ready made-up mind about how we want things to go, and this must be surrendered at the feet of Jesus Christ. As it is surrendered, it is important that we understand that there might exist a period of acclimation. It is a time of adjusting to the reality that our own self-effort and predisposition must be put to rest, as Jesus Christ takes over the driver’s seat.

Sometimes we are confused, because the direction doesn’t come in the ways we expect. It comes as we quiet ourselves in mediation and prayer. It is made manifest in dreams and visions, and this is not according to our timetable, but it is in the Divine’s perfect timing. We must resist the mind that tells us to be antsy while we wait. Instead, we must be prayerful while we wait. Afterall, it is not what we do as a missionary in Christ that is most important to God, it is the partnership with Him through Christ that is most important to Him. It is the intimacy that He’s after, and it develops because of this partnership between Him and you. This is what Heavenly Father seeks. What we do, then, as ambassadors for Christ, becomes more of a mirror reflection of our internal relationship with God; this happens quite organically as we grow closer to Him.

When we understand that intimacy, not works, is the goal in the eyes of the Father, we cease with trying to force things to work out. We see much more clearly that He is the One that causes ALL things to work together for the good of those that are called according to HIS purpose—not the purpose of our own agendas. This is the purpose God had in His mind for our individual lives long before we were born. And if we surrender and allow the Spirit to guide us into the truth of what we were placed on this earth to do, our hearts will be filled with enthusiasm as God reveals so much more about our journey with Him. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“Guided by the Holy Spirit”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.