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"And He [Jesus] called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And He said to them, 'Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.' So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them." (Mark 6:7-13 ESV)
I made my husband promise not to start a church while we were both in graduate school. "Wait till you get out of seminary," I said. "I want to find out what it's like to be married a little while before the Vietnamese community takes over our life!"
Well, they say if you want to make God laugh, you should tell Him your plans. One of my own professors had us over for dinner a month after we got to St. Louis. His purpose? To let us know that there were several thousand Vietnamese refugees newly arrived in the city with no English, no idea how to cope, and nobody to tell them about Jesus.
What could we do? A week later the baby church was born. We went to visit one family in their apartment—then another one—and then they came to visit us—and then there was a small group meeting in our tiny apartment. We had no money, no funding, no sponsor, and no idea what we were doing. God did, though ...
I think sometimes He presents us with an obvious crying need, and then He says to us, as He says to the disciples in the story, "Don't worry about the money. Don't worry about tomorrow. Just go and do the first thing. Take the first step, the one you already know you should do. Trust Me for the rest."
Now that is scary. But it doesn't have to be. Because all He's really asking for is that we should take that first step, the one we can already see clearly. What happens next is not our problem. We just need to keep our eyes on Jesus. So what if we have no clue what we're doing? Jesus does. And He won't desert us.
Yes, it's true that God likes to keep His plans to Himself. I'm not sure why—maybe because it makes our joy and amazement greater when we finally see what He's doing? Maybe so we learn to trust Him? I don't know. But we can trust Him, because He is the One who loves us so much He gave Himself for us, laying down His life on the cross to save us—and then rising again. If He loves us that much, He's not going to desert us when we're trying something new for love of Him. No, He will take us by the hand and walk us through it. He's that kind of God.
We Pray: Lord, when You send me to do something that scares me, be with me! Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on July 5, 2024
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights
Reflection Questions:
1. When has Jesus set a challenge before you, no matter how big or small it might seem to others?
2. How did you feel? How did you get past that?
3. What did Jesus do with the situation you were unsure about?
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