Young people write to us sometimes and ask, How do you know if you are called to missions?
I always struggle to answer that question eloquently. Today, I read the perfect answer. It wasn’t written in the context of missions, and it applies far beyond it. But from now on, this is how I will answer that question.
Marvin Olasky, editor of WORLD Magazine (our favorite) wrote this in the May 4 edition (they arrive late here) on the topic of whether or not to consider a radical move:
Much depends on motive. Here are three clarifying questions:
First, where can I be most useful to the cause of Christ?
Second, where will I be most challenged to live and think as becomes a follower of Christ?
Third, what will I love doing?
Then he adds, Once we know ourselves, chapter 3 of Proverbs tells us what to do. ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart….He will make straight your path.’
Brilliant. That’s it, right there.
Know your God. Know how He made you. And ask those three questions.
These questions apply to the decision to marry a particular person. They help in the decision of whether or not to adopt. They apply to the dilemma of a college to pick or a career to choose. They apply to how you choose to school your children. They apply to the neighborhood you decide to live in and the church you choose to attend.
I do realize that sometimes we are not given the luxury of choosing; sometimes our circumstances make the choice for us. And in those cases, bloom where you are planted. That’s God’s will too.
But, as Olasky says so well,
Why not go for the challenge rather than play out the string?
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