In not more than a few hours my husband and firstborn will continue their journey to Guatemala. I say continue because it began the moment they said, “Yes, Lord. Here am I, send me.” Of course, I suppose the truth be told, the journey truly began the moment the Lord breathed life into them.
My husband shared the other day that he really doesn’t know what or how God is going to use him while in Guatemala. He questioned, is he just there to smile and hand out shoes and say Jesus loves them, or is there more… what exactly is his job, his purpose for being a part of this mission.
He travels a lot. He has traveled the world from China to Portugal with his jobs, but in all those there was a plan. There was an objective and a set schedule and particular things to accomplish. However in an international mission trip, in the God business, that just simply is not the case. These are the things that we have no choice but to simply step out in obedience of faith and see what God is going to do as He chooses to do it. These are the times that we can’t look back and we can’t plan ahead. We simply have to live in the present, completely and totally abandoned in the present.
Trusting.
Anticipating.
Ready.
As I flipped through the psalms this morning seeking a prayer I was stopped here at Psalm 126:
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.
Psalm 126:2-3
Will you join me in this prayer…
Oh Father,
We come before You now and we thank You for Your willingness to allow us to be a part of Your story. You are the Most High God and Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth and You have no need for any of us, no reason to use us, no obligation to us in any way… yet You still choose to use us. Thank You, Father, thank you. We trust, Father, that You have already gone before them, that Your Spirit has already prepared the way… and so Father I lift up Patrick and Shelby and the entire mission team and pray that they would walk according to the path that You have laid.
I ask Father that as they walk, You would fill their mouths with laughter and their tongues with joyful shouting. I pray Father that they would be able to tell among the people of Guatemala the great things that You have done for them… that those among the nations in Guatemala that do not know about the sacrifice of Christ, that those who have not heard that You sent Jesus, Your Son, the Word made flesh, born of a virgin, to live among us, sinless and with great compassion and mercy and grace, into this world for the purpose of rescuing them from the kingdom of darkness… that He willingly went to the cross and died on that cross for their sin and was buried and then three days later rose again so that they might have life, and that life be everlasting. Might they hear the Word of the Lord. Might they know O God, the great things that You have done.
And Father, while Patrick, and Shelby, and the entire team are there might they also remember the great things that You have done for them personally. When the enemy attempts to cause them to be discouraged, frustrated, confused, agitated, or aggravated let them remember to be glad. Let them remember that it is the joy of the Lord that is their strength. Let them remember that greater is He that is within them than he that is in the world. Give them eyes to see past the circumstances and into Your heart and Your will. May You help them to think with Your thoughts and walk in Your ways.
Father, might you grant them boldness and confidence and bring to remembrance Your Word that they might speak it, breathe it, and live it. Protect them from the evil one. Keep them in Your perfect peace. And Father, after they have done Your will, bring them safely back home… with an even greater desire to do something… always keeping it in present tense. And Father, always keeping You in the present.
My Jesus, it is in Your name that I pray…
Amen