"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
~Bilbo in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring
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| Frodo and Sam leaving the Shire at the start of their adventure. |
The story of the Lord of the Rings actually begins before the first page of the book because by page one, Bilbo already has the ring-taken from Gollum many years before. In a similar vein, my story with InterVarsity Link begins long before this post.
I struggled mostly with "the calling" part of knowing whether or not to pursue missions. I couldn't honestly say I had ever had a "burning bush" moment as when God called Moses. I also didn't have a "Jonah" who came to me with a message from the Lord (complete with a song à la Veggie Tales.) I started combing my Bible for examples of other types of calling. I started to realize that God views a call in a different way from us. His timing is completely different from ours.
For instance, David was annointed years and years before he ever became king. To us, it is so confusing that even though he was destined to be the greatest king Israel ever had, he had to spend years running from his life living off the charity of others to escape the wrath of King Saul. I mean, come on, God. How come this had to be part of the plan? How did David not being on the throne accomplish his calling of being king?
This led me to several conclusions:
The journey is just as important as the destination. This may seem kind of like a cheesy cliché but God often puts us through situations because it helps us to grow. He doesn't want us to get out of it as fast as possible, He wants us to learn to rely on him no matter what the circumstances.
God can be preparing you for a calling for years instead of calling you in a flash of light. My own calling is much more like a lifetime of preparation in little ways and big than a burning bush in the desert. For instance, He gave me a European heritage, a gift for languages, a love for travel, a desire to serve, and a heart for Europe. Separately they are all good, together the meld perfectly into ministry overseas.
This day was the day I started, like Frodo, going out my door. I had a phone interview with an InterVarsity Link staff coordinator regarding my interest in pursuing staff in French-speaking Europe. Little did I know where I was going to be swept off to!
