What Comes Next?

A very important anniversary passed for me last month. As of October 20, I have been with the IMB for one year. That in itself is pretty unreal to me. I’ve been in Arua for almost 10 months—also unreal.

You may know that I am serving a two-year term with the IMB. (You may know have known until five seconds ago… or you may not even care!) What all this means, in the big scheme of things, is that my term is over halfway finished. In less than a year, I’ll be home. And, honestly, I’m pretty happy about that. But it also brings up a whole new batch of issues, because I am a planner. And while I can’t wait to hug my niece and nephew, to eat really good food, or have some seriously cold weather, I have no idea what I‘m going to do for a living once I get home.

Okay, so I take that back. I have some ideas. I would love to work as a missions coordinator for a church. I would love to work for an HIV outreach ministry or at a crisis pregnancy center. I would love to open a restaurant or work in event planning. And I could always go back to teaching… although, right now, that’s not really on the “I would love to” list. Let’s just say I want “work” to be ministry.

I feel like I have this deadline of October 20 staring me down. That, by the time I head for South Carolina, I should know what comes next. I should know were my next paycheck is coming from. I should at least have the next destination in mind. But there are two things wrong with this thought.

I can’t trust how I feel. Because I am broken. Because I am sinful. Because I forget that, even though I have no idea what comes next, I serve a very big God who knows exactly what comes next… and when it is coming!

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

The other thing God keeps reminding me is, it’s not October 20^th yet. Even though it seems like that’s my deadline, it’s not here yet. Honestly, it’s not even close. Over and over again, God has proven to me that I can trust Him to meet my needs at just the right time. He has always provided for me… so why should I think He’s going to stop now?

So do not worry, saying “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:31-34

Last week I was reading a passage in Luke; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard or read this story before. But this time, something totally different jumped out at me. In Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers call out to Jesus and ask Him to heal them. Once they’re healed, only one of the ten comes back to thank Jesus. Everyone things it’s a story about gratitude… but it’s really a story about faith. See, verse 14 tells the climax of the story: “When He saw them, He said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ “ Then the ten lepers, who were still lepers, went to be examined by the priests. “And as they went, they were cleansed.”

These men hadn’t been healed when they set out on their journey. They hadn’t seen a mighty work of Jesus yet. But they knew His character, and they trusted Him. I imagine they were thinking, “If He’s sending us to the priests, I guess He’s going to do something. Let’s go!” They didn’t wait around until after Jesus worked in their lives to start moving. They took Him at His word. They believed Him.

He’s told me, over and over, that when I go home next October, He will provide for me. He’s told me to let Him handle the details. He’s told me that I don’t need to add next year’s trouble on to today’s. He keeps telling me to trust Him… I guess I should start listening!