What Good Am I?

Sometimes I struggle with why we are in Mexico. What good purpose is being served that makes it so necessary for us to be here? Why are we living in unfamiliar surroundings thousands of miles from the people we love and the comforts and conveniences of home? God most assuredly doesn’t need us here. His whole plan (or even a small part of it) wouldn’t have fallen apart had we failed to come. Yet in spite of the overwhelming logic against it, I know that God called us here. I ask God daily to reveal to me the unique element we are contributing to the accomplishment of His purposes in this remote (to home) location.

I must confess that as the experience affords a deeper glimpse into my own heart, I see that part of my motivation for coming here lies in my quest to find personal significance in life. This is not a valid or commendable reason for coming here. It certainly doesn’t justify asking people to support us financially. Nevertheless, I see God at work using even our shortcomings and questionable motives to accomplish His will. One good example is the fact that I get invited to preach in churches. It is not because the leaders see some super-spiritual quality in me. It is mostly because we are Americans. As such, we are somewhat of a novelty. But it opens the door for the message of God’s amazing grace to be proclaimed.

We move forward daily with our eyes open for opportunities to share love and to make connections with people. We are often surprised. Last week in our English class at the union hall, a question was asked which threw the door wide open for me to share my testimony. The next day we were there as invited guests for another part of their training. Things were said that showed that they heard the message.  A cab driver pauses and calls us back to the taxi in response to ‘God bless you’ so he can ask questions about God. We may never see the result of many of our activities, but we pray that God is using them. It the meantime, we are very blessed by the relationships we have made here.

In about two weeks, we will be moving to our new apartment. It is less than one block from where we are now. We have the second floor, two-bedroom unit in a brand new building. The new landlord has been overwhelmingly accommodating. Although the lease doesn’t officially start until the 29^th of this month, he has given us the keys with permission to do what we need to do to make it home. He referred to the Bible when he saw a stencil Donna had put on the wall. He knows we are Christians. I wonder if he knows that he built the building for us.

I have been hanging shelves in the kitchen since they don’t do cabinets here. We now know why. The house we are currently in has American-type cabinets. When we first moved in, we were pleased. We now know that cabinets become habitations and hiding places (and bathrooms!!) for creatures. There is nothing like finding lizard poop in your cereal bowl.

Possibly the best part about the new place is that it is less than half the monthly rent. We are within sight of the end of our savings. I will be making an appeal soon for supporters. We still need to raise about $600 per month consistently for living expenses. I confess to being shy about asking, especially in these tough economic times. I’m also torn between the George Mueller approach and ‘Ye have not because ye ask not.’ However it comes, we are trusting God to supply.

I leave you this week with encouragement to move purposefully into your calling whatever it might be and don't worry about making a mistake. He already knows about it, has it covered and He is using it.