Why the Magic Button Doesn't Work

So.... the answer is no. I would not push the magic button.

This past April, before embarking on our Mexico support raising journey, we attended a "Support Raising Bootcamp". The quite charismatic speaker started the conference by asking the following question:

"If you could push a magic button and be FULLY funded for your ministry without having to support rasise, would you push it?"

You know you wanna push me!

Well DUH!! Who wouldn't? Fully funded, ready to go, I'm off to Mexico!

I'm glad that button doesn't really exist, because we would have missed out on the greatest growing process we've ever encountered and seeing firsthand the power of God's partnership through people.

Now don't get me wrong. Every phone call to set up every appointment still places the same queasy feeling in your stomach. And you can't help but wander through a list of incredibly ridiculous questions with each passing ring--

“What if they reject me?” “What if they laugh in my face?” “What if I offend them so much they end up hating God and moving to a commune to live in peace, safely away from phones and my face?”

You won't be suprised to find out that never happened to us. Even though every day was busy and full, even though we were jouyous, sad, happy, disappointed, worried and uncertain, one thing always remained: we only had to do OUR part. That's it. And God took care of the rest. 

HE aligned our friends' schedules to open up time for us to meet.

HE weaved events to prepare the hearts of the people we'd be sharing our vision with.

HE formed the loving commited team of supporters that we have behind us.

Because-- “God’s work done God’s way, will never lack God’s provision.”

Because-- God has prompted these people to help impact people’s lives THROUGH their partnership with us. 

The story doesn't start when we arrive in Mexico. God has been putting together THIS story, with THESE people, in HIS timing since the day we were born.

So, would I push that magic button you ask? And sacrifice the impact of what can be done when a group of committed individuals partner together for a common purpose backed by the provision of the ultimate Storyweaver and Creator of the Universe? No--no, I don't think I would.  

-Whitney 

There are safer ways to live than being a Christian.

Well... Let me start by saying, the more I get to know Jesus, the more trouble he seems to get me into. Some might say, "Jesus, a troublemaker?" And, I suppose it would depend on how you're looking at the word trouble, but I would argue that, YES! Jesus is most definitely one for instigating trouble. Now, I'm not talking about the kind of trouble where you mishit a baseball through your neighbor's window or you have the IRS on your tail for unpaid taxes. I'm talking about this kind of trouble:

t

rou·ble

   [truhb-uhl] 
2: to make an effort: be at pains.
And do you know why we can make an effort, why we can be at pains?


Because we serve a God that went to the ULTIMATE trouble, when he gave his only Son to die in OUR place. 


And, he only left us a few simple tasks! Now that's the kind of God I want to serve. When you make that comparison:
It kind of makes "loving your neighbor as yourself" not so troublesome.
It kind of makes feeding the homeless seem simple. 
It makes loving and visiting the widows and orphans in this world, less like work, and more like a privilege. 

Jesus didn't live a safe, trouble-free life, and he didn't call us to do that either.


Shane Claiborne said it well when he wrote:
“So if the world hates us, we take courage that it hated Jesus first. If you're wondering whether you'll be safe, just look at what they did to Jesus and those who followed him. There are safer ways to live than by being a Christian.” 
― Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical


Jesus didn't call us to safety. He called us to a radical, different way of living. That call looks different for everyone, because we all have different skill-sets. If you think about, it doesn't exactly feel "safe" to approach the stranger at the grocery store who you just "feel" you need to talk to. It does take effort to not cheat on your next test or tell that little white-lie. God has designed each of us in a unique way, and only you know what that means for your life.


For us, Mexico is our call to make a little extra effort. 

What is yours?


--Whitney

I once saw a man worry himself to death

If it's one thing that we've been learning through this process, it's to trust. 

As many of you may already know, any type of process that involves paperwork can mean: 1) You're immediately overwhelmed; 2) You'll have to make eight hundred phone calls to find out who to send what form to and what to send with it; and 3) It's going to take 19-22 days minimum, but maybe 7 weeks to receive something in the mail.

Are you tired yet? 

"You do your part, and God will do his part." 

That's something that has stuck with us from the moment we first heard it in the beginning of our support-raising process. You can exhaust yourself by putting all your effort into something, trying to push harder, and attempting to MAKE things happen all on your own strength. We've learned that you can try so hard for something and see nothing tangible from it, but the moment you surrender it and stop relying on your own strength and trust in the Lord's instead is when things actually start to happen. 

It's not an excuse to be lazy, 

But rather an invitation to trust and know the reality that what God has called, HE will provide for. We have our responsibility and God will hold us accountable for that, but we need to take those steps of faith that declare our dependence on Him. 

In what ways is He asking you to trust Him?