Have you ever had a day when you are just so overwhelmed
with emotion that there is no other choice than to cry? I’m sure we all have felt like this; crying
and emotions are part of being human.
Some of these moments come from pain and sorrow, while others come from
an overflowing of joy. This overflowing
of joy cannot be contained or stopped, and it manifests itself however and
whenever it wishes. I had many tears in
my eyes as my host dropped me off at the airport this morning, but they weren’t
tears of sadness. They were tears of
incredible joy shining through one more time on American soil. I could be sad or nervous, scared or worried,
and there are small traces of each of these emotions in my heart now, but the
peace and joy I’m feeling now completely overwhelms any trace amounts of fear,
and I am so grateful for that.
One of the things that has made this whole journey so
special is the realization of where I was last year at this time. I was just getting out of a relationship that
didn’t honor God, hanging with some less than positive friends to combat the
loneliness I was feeling, and experiencing alcohol and the bar scene more than
was healthy. Less than a year later, I
am on a plane, flying across the Pacific Ocean, following God to one of the
toughest fields in the world. He gave me
the strength to turn life around, the people I needed to do so, and the
situations that led me to where I am right now.
I don’t deserve this opportunity at all. I should still be lost in my sin, knowing
that God’s standard of holiness is miles, even continents away from where I was
at that time. Yet He saw something in me
that I didn’t see in myself. He saw “redeemed”
when I saw “stained”; he saw “loved” when I saw “unlovable”; and he saw “son”
when I saw “prisoner.” Praise God that
his view of us is vastly different, so perfectly different, than our view of
ourselves.
As I was on my first flight this morning, I ran into a very
sweet older lady. She checked in right
behind me, and she ended up sitting right beside me on my flight to Washington
D.C. We started talking, and one of her
first questions to me was, “Are you a missi**ary?” Of course I answered yes, which prompted a
great conversation about my year and her work as a small group leader in her
local church in small-town Illinois. It
was a joy to talk with her, but this conversation was more important than just
a friendly conversation. This conversation
was the first time that the term “mis**nary” became real to me. I am going as a teacher and a worship leader,
and I was focusing on these jobs because I feel good about them. I’ve trained, I’ve practiced, and I feel
confident in those responsibilities. But
the idea of being a miss***ary is not something I ever imagined I would or
could be; I always thought God would pick someone stronger, who had more
experience or more gifts to bring to the table.
I don’t know why that term really stuck out to me today more than the
previous few weeks of training. Maybe
being on the plane made it more real.
Maybe I’ve said all of my goodbyes and I am prepared for what is really
coming. Maybe the Holy Spirit spoke to
me. I don’t know why this conversation
happened, but I do know that it made me realize what a wonderful opportunity I
have to reach people for Jesus through this year.
I look at my life at this time last year, and I see a world
of pain and brokenness. Dreams
shattered, realities faced. Life wasn’t
a fairly tale, let alone a cheerful story.
And I look at the people in the country I am going to, and I see very
similar people. I see people who are
lost and broken, looking for hope in the wrong places, and I can kind of relate
to them. Not in culture, not in
religious practices, not in way of life, but in the human need to find a
purpose greater than ourselves. They
turn to religious rituals for this hope and meaning, but they don’t know how
their lives would change if they would turn to Jesus instead.
As I look back on last year, I am incredibly thankful for
that period of my life. Every part of it
has shaped who I am today, and I wouldn’t feel as prepared to tackle the
adventure ahead of me if I hadn’t tackled these hard times in my life
previously. And even through my
uncertainty about the future, my inexperience with sharing the gospel, and my
insecurity about teaching many different subjects, I feel a sense of
overwhelming peace and joy. I know that
God has used all of my life situations to prepare me for this time, which gives
me incredible peace that God will use this year to prepare me for what is to
come. I know that I would not feel the
way I do today if I was relying on my own strength, because I have none. No, everything I am, and everything I will be,
is a product of God’s incredible work in the life of a broken person. And maybe this broken person, a 22-year old,
first-year music teacher, could influence the broken people around the
world. We don’t have much in common,
except the common desire to find a higher meaning for life. But I know one thing for certain: God loves
them, and God loves me, and God is in the business of bringing the broken to
life. I’ve seen it in my life, and I am
confident I will see it in the lives of the people I meet throughout this year
as well.
Well, I’m on the plane now, there’s no turning back. I have completed my training and readings. I have a whole year ahead of me to touch as
many lives as possible. And most
importantly, I have a God who never has and never will leave me on my own.
When my plane touches down in a couple hours, the grand
adventure begins. There’s no holding
back, no second chances. Today starts
the greatest adventure and year of my life.
The time is now, the day is here.
I picture God standing up in Heaven as a starter for an
Olympic running race. He starts the
race, and we all know what that means:
Ready, set, go.
There’s no day but today.
Luke Forshey
July 29-30, 2015
SO proud of you!!!!
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