Searching for a Miracle

I have had the great privilege in my years of ministry to serve on several mission teams to places outside of the United States.  I am not a great missionary.  I have a trust problem.  I do not trust the food.  I do not trust the drivers.  I do not trust locals to keep me safe. I do not trust bridges that are missing pillars (can I get an “amen”?). Ultimately I realize this all stems from my lack of faith.  Yet, I find myself once again preparing to go to a country where there are people I love living in a place in which I am not comfortable.  I know that I could continue my relationships with these friends through the global reach of Facebook.  Yet I return.

Why am I packing to make another trip to a place I am not comfortable and will probably find myself failing the test of faith for the galzillionth time?  Because it is in the most vulnerable of situations I get the privilege to see the miraculous hand of God work in ways that can never be explained.  I get to see the miracles of Acts come alive before my very eyes.  At those moments the discomfort and fear fade away and the journey becomes clear.

I often wonder why we do not see such miracles as often right here at home.  I wonder if it could be we are missing some aspects of faith here at home that were so obvious in the book of Acts and on every mission trip I have ever been a part of.  While on mission we pray more passionately, work more intently and mingle with the lost more intentionally.  The miracles of Acts seldom happened in a worship service.  They happened on the streets while they were engaging the lost.  They happened while they were fulfilling the Great Commission.  Maybe we need to find ways right here in Bartlesville to be more uncomfortable and give ourselves spiritual tests in which we could possibly fail.  Maybe it is time we stop hiding where we are content and engage the streets of Bartlesville with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Maybe?  No, definitely!  It is time for a miracle!