Getting Out of Our Bubbles

The author for this weeks blog post has requested to be anonymous as she and her family are pursuing missions in Central Asia!She has been a teacher, friend, and mentor to me and has some great wisdom to share!

About three years ago now, my husband finished what seemed like never-ending schooling. Leading up to his graduation, we talked endlessly about how we would not let the sudden, substantial increase in income affect our outlook on life. We were determined to continue to live within a small budget and focus on others. Well, that did not last very long. We very quickly fell into the trap of money, and we were living for ourselves more and more. We had a nice sized home, and I was ordering all the clothes and spending way too much at Hobby Lobby trying to get my house Joanna Gaines-y enough.

I was spending more time online shopping than in the Word of God. And NONE of it fulfilled me. None of it satisfied. There was always more to be had. But by the grace of God, little by little, He was pricking our hearts. He showed us that He had more for us than the shallowness of materialism. I began spending big chunks of time in the early hours of the morning with Him. Sitting in church one Sunday morning, I felt compelled to tell God, “Here I am, Lord, send me.” My heart was beating out of my chest as I prayed these words. What would God ask of me?!

As the weeks and months passed, I slowly began surrendering to the idea of full time missions. God began orchestrating a series of events. It was a bunch of small things that led to one big moment, when both my husband and I clearly felt the Lord tell us we must GO. I was not about to pull a Jonah, and truly God was giving so much peace there was no doubt we were in His will! So my husband and I began the journey of seeking answers to the questions WHERE?! How?! When?! How long?! Are you sure, God?!

God SO GRACIOUSLY led us to the missions organization and country, and we are set to be in Central Asia by the beginning of 2023!

However, let me tell you, leaving “home” is hard. I feel as though I have to constantly unclench my own fingers from my things, my decorations, my clothes, even my dog. You know the story of the rich young ruler.. the one who God tells to sell all his possessions and follow Him? I’m having to quite literally do that, and I have days when that feels harder than others. Packing my life in a few suitcases makes all the years of accumulating stuff feel like such a waste. It makes me wish I had spent my time and money so differently. My challenge to those reading is not necessarily to pursue full time missions (although, maybe!?), but more so to ask where your focus is. Are you living for self? Or are you living as though to live is Christ and to die is gain? As David Platt said, “Live today for what is going to matter 10 billion years from today.”

As part of the application process for our missions organization, we had to fill out a monthly “Witness Log.” We had to document how we had shared Jesus with others that month and if we had been able to be apart of any conversions. That was incredibly convicting! So rarely in the last years had I thought much at all about witnessing! I had spent so much time trying to make Christian friends for myself and my children that I had failed to seek out the lost. Goodness, I was missing the point! Our lives on Earth are about so much more than creating bubbles; they are about going out and sharing the GOOD NEWS with ALL.

So I end on this note; who have you shared the Gospel with this month? If no one, then start praying for God to reveal to you someone who needs it. Maybe it will be a family member, or perhaps your hair dresser or local grocer! God has plans for you, my friend, and I pray that you have ears to hear and eyes to see. I pray that you don’t let fear get in your way. I pray that you don’t let selfishness keep you from seeing others. I pray that you make HIM known and that you deny the urge to satisfy your own desires but instead point to HIM with every big and little decision you make! Let’s not waste our time on earth. Instead, we must use it wisely and missionally for the glory of our great King! Godspeed!

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

-Charles Spurgeon

About the author:

This week's author has requested to be anonymous as she and her family are pursuing full time missions in Central Asia! However, she has been a wife for ten years, is a mother of two girls, a homeschool mama, and enjoys reading in her free time. Some of her favorites include “Something Needs to Change” by David Platt and “The Well Watered Woman” by Gretchen Saffles.