The truth is mission trips scare me. You think that maybe just the first one would have, but that hasn’t been the case for me. The first, second, third, and now this, my fourth trip scares me a little too. The first time it was the unknown and my feelings of unpreparedness. The second was because we were leaving our kids for the first time. But the truth is, those feelings remained for both my third trip and this one.
These feelings ranged from did I pack enough or too much to how can I possibly contribute to this team. That’s where I’m going to focus. It’s hard to shake those feelings. I’m not a nurse, or a doctor, or a teacher, or a public speaker, or a big wig in the business world. I can’t build things, plan lessons, or quote lots of scripture. And I often ask myself how I could possibly contribute to this team when it’s full of so many talented people. How can I play a vital roll? Those feelings weigh on you and can steal what God wants for you.
While I still wrestle with all of that, I find comfort in the Bible. God continually used people that felt in different ways they didn’t have what it took to do what he’d called them to do. That’s when I focus on the little boy that brought Jesus the little he had. With a few fish and loaves of bread, Jesus fed more than 5,000 people. What if that little boy had doubted. What if he would have thought, this can’t possibly help…I’ll just sit. He would have missed the blessing. Trusting Jesus could use his little allowed Jesus to show up in an amazing way.
Little is much when God is in it, and He can do big things through ordinary people. We just have to be willing to show up and trust. It’s not by my might or power, but by his spirit. And he can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine because of his power within us.
I’m not sure if anyone one else struggles with this like I do, but I’m here, and I’ve brought the few fish and loaves I have, and I’m trusting God will be able to do much with my little.
– Lauren Durrence
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