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Helping to know Jesus and make Him known to others

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Owerri 19




How often do we really listen to the voice of God?  What is He saying to us right now?  Is He trying to get our attention about what is going on in the world?  And just what is happening in the world?  What should I be doing about it?

I thought about all these things while I was in Africa this time.  I left the news cycles in the US that were reporting all the unrest in Northern Africa and the Middle East.  In the part of Nigeria that I spent most of my time, there was no mention of world events.  That’s a luxury of information that people may have who are not worried about tomorrow’s meal, safety for their children, and basic health needs.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not denigrating the importance of any of the things that are happening in the world.  I am simply adding to our awareness.  The simplicity of this was a welcome distraction.  Sometimes I am so plugged into world events and the onslaught of their effect on my daily life that I fail to recognize the obvious: God is at work and He is inviting me to join Him.

While I have been blogging about this trip to Nigeria, God has been working on me overtime.  The blog is good spiritual therapy because it forces me to verbalize my impressions and capture them in words.  Sometimes I am surprised by what comes out.

I have lived most of my life thinking that my horizon is the end of the world.  No one on earth can afford to think like that anymore.  Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria need us.  Our world needs us to be engaged in the process of what God is doing at this time in history.  We cannot afford to reduce this to “either/or” thinking.  It must be a “both/and” thinking.  We must engage in both evangelizing our world and preparing God’s people for all that God is doing in the earth at this time in history.  “For such a time as this God has brought us to the Kingdom.”  God chose that we would be the ones born at this time.  What a privilege it is!

D

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