Why are missionaries like manure? If you spread them around they
make good things grow, but if you pile them up they just stink.
I was reading a story this
week about a girl who did a science experiment on plant growth. Her mom asked her
to put the pots in the greenhouse because, well, the manure stunk and she
preferred that it not be in the house. A few weeks passed and the girl
carefully monitored the progress of the plants. To her surprise, the plant
nourished with Miracle Grow barely grew at all, as did the plant grown in
normal soil. However, the seeds planted in the horse manure grew into a
flourishing and beautiful flower--far more vibrant and healthy than the other
two.
After
reading this story, I began thinking about how most people imagine missionaries
have it all together--no struggles, no garbage and NO CRAP. They are supposed
to be the "Miracle Grow Christians"--those nurtured with perfectly
engineered circumstances, growing them into perfectly prepared preachers of the
gospel.
Yet, here I am, surrounded by "manure." I've messed up, done stupid, sinful things,
and I can't help but believe that I am completely unworthy of the task the Lord
has set before me. I keep waiting for God to change His mind and tell me that
He doesn't want me to serve him in Zambia after all--that He has a more
qualified person in mind.
But, that hasn't happened. Instead, He keeps bringing me back to the memory of
a little flower fertilized by manure.
I'll admit that it took me a while to really grasp what God was getting at (I'm
slow and He's patient). And, here's what He's teaching me: though my life has
some "crap," and though I'm far from qualified, He can use the filth
if I will only let Him. You see, that little flower in the horse manure was
beautiful, because it not only grew out of the crap, but
thrived because of it. And so, the Lord gently reminds me He is our
redeemer--that the shameful, sinful episodes in my life cannot only be
overcome, but remembered as the lovely moments in my testimony, where Jesus and
his love shine through.
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am
making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words
are trustworthy and true.” - Revelations 21:5
Talk about a lesson in
humility! The truth is that I am unworthy. I am unqualified,
unfit and utterly insufficient. The only good in me comes from Him. I have
nothing to bring to the table, but flaws and failures and that's okay. Because,
though my pride would rather that I come equipped with a pristine past, my God
is one who specializes in redeeming a polluted one, removing all sin and shame
in exchange for His purpose and glory.
The way I see it,
and the way I try to live my life, is that missionaries should be people
oriented. Paul taught us to “be all things to all people that we might
win some”, meaning that we must die to our personalities and our personal
preferences in order to accommodate and get along with as many different types
of people as possible. And in the process of being flexible and
adaptable, we might win some to Jesus. And if anybody is going to be
relational, it should be the missionaries.
Lord,
Thank you for being a God that relishes in making old things new,
exchanging my sins for sanctification, my debt for redemption. Thank you
for taking the worst moments in my life and making them the finest elements of
my
testimony. So, though I am a flower covered in manure, I am thriving
by Your grace, love and mercy. I couldn't ask for anything more.
