A Time To Pause And Reflect.

In reading a dear missionary friend's blog this morning, I paused for a moment over the last paragraph:

Right now, as I sit here at my desk, it seems like we never left here 5 months ago. Our lives are truly like a vapor that appear for a little time and then pass away. Our days are flying by swiftly and there is much work left to do. Pray that our strength holds and that we are able to finish the job that the Lord gave us to do. To all of you that we left behind, we love you and we miss you. Leaving all of you is the hardest part of being here.

There is much work left to do. Life is a vapor and the days fly be so swiftly. These thoughts coupled with a message my pastor preached yesterday morning have left me in a reflective and contemplative mood.

My pastor preached on the feeding of the 5,000 men (plus women and children!) and offered an illustration of how the fish and loaves were multiplied. I think Pastor was right when he said that Jesus didn't multiply the food as the baskets got passed from row to row, but rather as the disciples handed out the food and saw their supply diminishing in the basket. As they reached in the basket and pulled out the last loaf of bread, I'm sure they saw the multitude of people before them and the enormity of the situation. But as my pastor vividly portrayed, all they had to do was turn around and return to Jesus and He would supply them with more food. That's the way He operates, isn't it? He doesn't meet the entire need (whatever it is) all at once, because self-reliance and self-dependence are characteristics we tend to fall back on too easily. How quick we say, "Oh I can handle this!" but when faced with something we can't handle, that's when the problem becomes BIG. The promise of "nothing is impossible with God" is still in His Word and one I can claim!

When I bring these thoughts over into the realm of what my friend was talking about, I know that there is still work to do for the Master because the harvest of souls has not yet been brought in. I tend to get antsy at times in regards to returning to the foreign mission field. I'm ready to go now, or so I think. My days fly by so quickly and I wonder that oft-asked question, "Where has the time gone?" Before I rush ahead of the Lord and hop the next plane destined for Southeast Asia, I remember where He has put me right now. I get to work at a bakery and interact with my dear co-workers, all the while praying for them. Each Wednesday I get to invest time in my precious nephew and niece. My favorite time of each day is when Nat and I get together -- in person or over the phone -- and pray: for people we know who are without Christ, for struggling Christians, for missionaries over the world, for family and friends.

Right now several men from my church are in the country of Chile helping out two missionary families from my church. These men arrived in Chile before the earthquake hit, and now have unforeseen ministry opportunities! Although we're not there with them, my church family has the blessed privilege of upholding in prayer these men and ministry opportunities.

Time is so short and there is much work left to do. But the same God who took 5 loaves and 2 fishes and feed over 5,000 people is still in control today!