Some of us are shocked when we first arrive on the mission field, or in the first month of marriage, or during the our first year as parents to a new baby or adopted child. Things that were supposed to be so wonderful, blessed and easy are instead difficult.
We rejoice at the birth of our little child or the one we adopted and yet they are sickly. We get married and realize our mate does not agree with us on everything. We arrive on the mission field enthusiastic about serving God and find that we must work with a bunch of grumpy inhospitable missionaries with no vision. We get sick. People we come to minister to don’t seem to really like us.
The world would say give the adopted child back, get a divorce, or leave the field and go back to where people like you.
However, questions to ask ourselves might be:
“What will happen to my mate if I don't love and care for him or her?”
“What will happen to our children if we don't nurture and train them?”
“What will happen to the needy pastors, street children, or the church in the country where we were called to serve if we pack up and leave?”
Let me share three quotes to encourage all of us in our walk with God:
1. Matthew Henry, one of my favorite British pastors who died in 1714, made an excellent comment regarding Luke 6:40: “Christ's followers cannot expect better treatment in the world than their Master had. Let them not promise themselves more honor or pleasure in the world than Christ had. Let each live a life of labor and self-denial as his Master, and make himself a servant of all; let him stoop, and let him toil, and do all the good he can, and then he will be a complete disciple.”
2. Psalm 66:11-12: “You (God) laid an oppressive burden upon our loins... yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.” Charles Spurgeon said, “We often forget that God lays our afflictions upon us; if we remembered this fact, we should more patiently submit to the pressure which now pains us.”
3. J.I. Packer said the Puritans teach us much about the love of God: “...that it is a love that redeems, converts, sanctifies, and ultimately glorifies sinners, and that Calvary was the one place in human history where it was fully and unambiguously revealed, and that in relation to our own situation, we may know for certain that nothing can separate us from that love (Romans 8:38), although no situation in this world will ever be free from flies in the ointment and thorns in the bed.”
I trust the above will encourage you to persevere. Keep your mate, love your child, and make a long-term commitment to the people that He has called you to for His glory!
It is always too early to give up, walk away or quit!
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