International Ministries

Giving up my small ambitions

I sat and watched young people streaming to the altar during the recent World Mission’s Summit* in Cincinnati, committing to give a year of their lives to missions, and I couldn’t keep the tears from flowing down my cheeks. Funny how, after all these years of being a missionary, I am always moved to tears when I see someone respond just as I did so many years ago…. “Yes, Lord! I’ll go. I’ll give up my own ambitions and lay everything on the altar to follow You.”   

That’s what I thought I was saying, anyway—but, really, what does that mean? Laying down my ambitions? When I answer that question now, my one and only ambition is to be what He wants me to be.   

I am single and, yes, the idea of a husband might have been an ambition… but would it have been a profitable one if it were “my ambition” and not His? I might have preferred to be a city girl and not live those many years in the jungles of northeast Congo, but the irony is that I thrived there; I learned so much that I never could have if I’d not been out of my comfort zone.   

Laying it all down isn’t sacrifice; it is, in fact, gain.  It is the only secure place to be.  It is where joy and fulfillment are found.  I am so glad that I followed my Lord and His plan rather than taking some self-idealized journey that never could have perfectly suited for me. How well He knows me! 

While in Cincinnati I looked at those young lives, so full of energy and passion, with so many dreams and so much potential… and all I could say was, “Thank you Jesus!”  Just as He knew what I needed for my life and had a roadmap laid out in front of me, the Psalmist say He began that for each of them while they were still in the womb.   

Wow. Over 800 young lives ready to impact the world for the Kingdom…and I say, “Look out, lost world…. Here they come! The darkness and demons should be trembling!”

*Check it out: http://worldmissions.ag.org/details3.cfm     http://theworldmissionssummit.ag.org/media.cfm