Years ago, I went to a church where there was a sign at the end of the parking lot. It said, "Now entering mission field". The truth is, that though there are professional missionaries who get paid to go to other places and do mission work we are all on mission. A lot of the time most christians forget that and think they are simply here to do their own will instead of God's. Jesus Himself repeated many times that he was on a mission that the Father had sent him on. You'll notice, particularly in the gospel of John, that the word "sent" is used numerous times. What were you "sent" to do?
I say this because I think it is easy for us to get off of God's agenda for our lives and get on to our own. We can get caught up in the attraction of having things or doing things that are good and miss the best. I think this is why Jesus spent so much time in prayer. The temptations were there for him both big and small. They wanted to make him king more than once. But, he steadfastly refused because he understood that was not a part of his mission.
I think this is one of the things that makes the gospel something that brings hope to people. That God gives us a purpose and mission also. Back in 1988, I went on a mission trip with several other people to the state of Nevada. We did some backyard bible clubs (poorly organized) and VBS (I think I worked in about 5 that summer) and I did some preaching (poorly). After coming back someone asked me why I went and what I had learned. I remarked that the only thing I learned was that I didn't want to go out west. Sometimes it is still hard to see where and why God sent me to some places or if God did. But, God's word does not return void.
But, I think we also need to be careful about trying to get God to bless our agenda. We can fool ourselves sometimes with our motivation. God's people do all sorts of things for their own agenda and reasons instead of his. That doesn't mean that he is going to bless our agenda or mess that we create. He patiently waits for us to get on the same page as Him and that requires humility, solitude and prayer. It requires for us to get our priorities right. It requires for us to be quiet. Do you know how hard it is for some people just to be quiet for one second?
