Perseverance. Like patience, it comes with practice, and most find it difficult to master. However, in a feat such as short term mission work, perseverance is essential if we wish to spread God's love as far as our hands can reach. But how exactly can we do this, when some days even getting out of our sweatpants seems impossible?
INSPIRATION + TEAMWORK= PERSEVERANCE
First, inspiration. It is a rarity to find someone with a goal that wasn't inspired by something else; a person; a book; a movie. And by all means, that is perfectly okay! Without inspiration, nobody would have the motivation to do anything!! But sometimes our inspiration doesn't always come from the best source. Can you think of any? Lust? Jealousy? Sloth? Greed? Of course we all know these are deciding factors in our everyday decisions and our long term goals, that much has always been true. But that doesn't mean we should stop persevering, just that we should root our goals elsewhere; there is a fountain of good inspiration out there that is just waiting for us. And you guessed it, that fountain of inspiration is the Bible. God's word is chock full of inspirational verses and phrases to turn our hearts and minds on God and his will for us. And while wall plaques and travel mugs are great places to find these verses, the best, and often most difficult way for us to be inspired by God's word is to immerse ourselves in it.
Take Paul and Timothy for example, in their letter to the Colossians:
"To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. and we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."- Colossians 1: 2-14
I highlighted these three sections in particular for different reasons:
The first section tells us that even Paul and Timothy can use a little inspiration every now and then. I mean, these guys were disciples, shouldn't they have all the answers? Nope! Even the most revered and experienced people sometimes need someone to reignite the flame inside them. In this moment, the Colossians are serving as inspiration to Paul and Timothy to praise God and continue their ministry.
The second section tells us that even the Colossians, who are serving as inspiration to Paul and Timothy, didn't whip the gospel out from nowhere- they learned it from Epaphras, a Christian minister whose preachings inspired the Colossians to emulate God's love in their everyday lives. And Epaphras probably was a Pastor's Kid and was inspired by his dad who was a preacher, whose dad was preacher, whose dad was a preacher... and you get the idea. Everyone finds inspiration from someone else, no matter what they do.
The third section, and probably the most important section, tells us how the Colossians are inspiring Paul and Timothy, and really, how we should be inspired to act by reading this passage. Because the Colossians have persevered as a unit to grow in their faith, walk in the wake of Jesus' love for them, and emulate his love as they spread his gospel, Paul and Timothy praise God for them, and send their prayers to the Colossians. This is kind of like fan mail to a celebrity; the celebrity inspires someone thousands of miles away, that someone writes the celebrity a letter telling them how much they are inspired by their work, and hopefully, the celebrity is inspired by the support of that fan to do their job as best they can. It's a circle of inspiration, and once grounded in God's grace, there is no stopping it.
Secondly, teamwork. This is a little more straightforward to talk about. We all know the quarterback is a really important person on a football team, but if he's the only one out on the field, how can his plays get the team a touchdown? If the conductor of a symphony orchestra shows up for a concert, but none of the musicians do, how can he put on a concert? No matter what your goal is, you need people with you in order to do it; either struggling right alongside you or encouraging you and waiting to catch you when you fall. While God encourages time alone to pray and reflect on his word, creating a very real and intimate relationship with him, he also encourages fellowship and working alongside your fellow man. All the while, God is our safety net; he is the one waiting to pick us up when we trip over our own feet. And the best part about it is that he is always there. No matter what.
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie own together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."- Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12
The first highlighted section tells us the benefits of working as a team, something that will be crucial to us as we embark on our journey to Sandino. Nobody said this would be easy, and we are all so grateful to be a part of such an incredible team. Also, on behalf of the team, I would like to thank everyone who has supported us financially, emotionally, spiritually, and all those that pledge to pray for us during our trip. Without you, we would not be able to do what we have done so far, and what is still in store for us.
The second section I find really promising. If God says a strand of three is not quickly broken, then a strand of sixteen New Yorkers must stand a pretty good chance, right? All in all, God assures strength in numbers, which hopefully will inspire us as a team to work together and make beautiful things happen through God's strength.
God's blessings on your week,
Hannah Thien & The 2015 BLC Mission Team
