“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to be born and a time to die, to plant and to uproot, to tear down and to build, a time to be silent and a time to speak."
Mission work has always intrigued me, but mostly because I have a desire to travel and see the world God has created for us to enjoy, not necessarily because God has called me out to do it. Selfish, I know, so I’ve never gone. But while following hard after God, trying to work diligently in corporate America, trying not to complain in doing it, trying to surround myself with other Christ-followers, and trying to show others the love of Jesus, I have learned so much about the character of God and what he says about me- who I am and what I am supposed to be doing. Amidst all this trying, I understand that he is calling me out to do mission work, wherever I am.
I work in sales, which is weird because I am an introvert.
I’m not an introvert because I don’t like people. I work in hospitality because I love people, but I’m an introvert because I’ve formerly lacked confidence in myself and have never been good at expressing my thoughts on what I am passionate about. So I kind of would prefer to just keep quiet. Nevertheless, God put me right into a sales position, where He has nurtured my confidence in talking with complete strangers about things I truly believe in. In this case- my hotel. I sell it like I don’t know of anything else.
God put work on his people, and it is beautiful. Work isn’t broken, we are broken. What we fail to realize is that work takes us all over the place and creates reasonable and necessary interaction with other people. In my work, I go to people locally and people come to me globally. Some of those people have traveled halfway across the world, some across the country, and other just from across the state. What an opportunity I have in my line of work to share the love of God. This is mission work. Like I mentioned before, I have a passion for people’s hearts, but I never really knew how to respond to this feeling until God chose to reveal it to me. God has placed this restless yearning in my heart for people to experience the kind of love that can only be received by God in his perfect timing. I am forever indebted to the opportunity I have to be alive in God’s kingdom; obeying, serving and working according to his plan.
“So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot.” – Ecclesiastes 3:22
It all started with fearfully accepting a job in sales. I’ve learned how to approach people and how to handle their objections. I’ve learned that it’s not personal (John 15:18). I have learned that everything I do happens in its proper time, appropriate place, and is all God-permitting. Most of all, I have learned to be patient; to wait on people as God has waited on me; to love all people even when it seems impossible; and to accept the mission God has bestowed upon me. My job in hotel sales is preparation for bigger missions, but right now there is work to be done right where I am.
to catch up with audrey, follow her blog Trembling Before the King
next up: Hannah Knight humbly shares her experience in Zambia and transparently shares the hardships of her journey.
This is so great! A lot of times, we forget that we are pastors in our workplace and that is a place of mission work. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for this reminder....from my little sister! It is so cool to see God at work in all these people's lives :)
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