I have always been a home body. The expansive world that surrounds me looks beautiful and intriguing, but I have never had a longing to travel every inch of it. Unlike most, a majority of my bucket list items do not include traveling. Studying abroad is not really my thing either.
Over the past year six months, God has been altering this mindset, not so willingly on my end. It all began with an opportunity to assist in teaching English to middle schoolers in China. You cannot even imagine the thoughts going through my mind. God’s hints did not stop there, though. Various people I had briefly met during Calvin College’s mission fair in the spring suddenly began to reach out to me, simultaneously it seemed. One evening, I spent several hours looking into a particular organization that deals with Bible translation and provided Bible’s throughout the world. The day after was Sunday. I just happened to meet a woman at church who works for the organization. Not so little signs continue to pop up all over my life attempting to assist in me in preparing for the missions world ahead.
These events were not random. Humanity is stubborn and hardheaded; God knows this all too well. Without preparing His children for His perfect will and nurturing them along the way, the transition would hit too heavy. Although it seems as if this transition came swiftly and unexpectedly, God has been preparing you along, even if it seems He has been silent to you.
The plan is not always one that is the conventional path or one that seems desirable to you. This, too, comes in due time. For now, trust that the One who created you can handle anything. His plans are for you to blossom into child who continually spread His love and grace. The plan may seem painful at times, but God never said it would be easy. Despite this, one thing never changes: He is Sustainer.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” -Jeremiah 1:5
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? -Jeremiah 32:27
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” -Jeremiah 29:11
