Why are Missionaries like Manure

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.