Scripture & Missions

1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time he will exalt you.”

Last week I was standing in a village overlooking the beautiful hills of Darjeeling. The clouds were rolling in and creating a most majestic picture. It was a quiet morning with not much happening. The reason for coming to this village was to teach on making disciples. This particular trip was focused on organizing what we call “Timothy groups,” groups designed to encourage believers to share the gospel and teach their disciples to obey Christ, which will result in churches being established.

This is the work God has given me to do.

It has brought great blessings to my life and given me experiences I had never imagined. As I was in my quiet moments of reflection looking over the mountains, I began to think about what led me to this point in my life. At different times in our lives, many of us will ask the question, “How did I get here?” Or, “Why am I here?” For some it maybe that you are in a spot you don’t particularly like. Or, like myself, it is a time to remember God’s faithfulness to you.

After much reflection on God’s past grace, the Lord revealed once again a scripture that played a significant role in guiding my life. 1 Peter 5:6 filled my thoughts, which says, “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time he will lift you up.” The Apostle Peter’s wisdom has served to guide my heart and ministry for several years.

The first time it made an impact was during college. I was attending a church plant where the focus was on disciple-making and reaching the lost with the gospel. From my perspective the disciple-making portion of the vision was happening, but it was not reaching the lost. Because of pride in my own heart, I had mixed emotions about the leadership team. In my mind, I thought I could do things better than them. Being a visionary myself, I had formulated other ideas of how we could reach the lost in our area that were contrary to what the church was doing. Although having these ideas was not bad in and of themselves, the attitude accompanying these ideas was not godly. It was at this point in my walk where the Lord revealed 1 Peter 5:6. Basically, he showed me that he was Sovereign over my situation and that I needed to completely humble myself before Him.

The last part of this verse says he will lift you up in his timing. From this point on my focus was no longer on looking at others faults but on being humbly obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. With this new thinking, which developed from the Scriptures, it turned my focus away from a long-term commitment to that ministry to other opportunities, specifically one God has placed on my heart for some time, foreign missions.

My obedience led to pursuing overseas service which resulted not in leading a church or even being a leader in a church, but training leaders. I went from being a college student seeking to rise up in the ranks of leadership in his local church to a servant teacher, who is part of a team that is casting one of the biggest visions in the world, concerning the great commission. God’s past grace led me to the mountain on which I stood.

It’s funny how our plans always seem to be so much smaller than our Lords. This must have been how the disciples felt when Jesus gave them the Great Commission. “I’m only a fisherman” “I’m only a tax collector” – And from our previous discussions on missions we know these are the type of men and women Jesus Christ desires to use to mobilize his people. In closing, John Piper says, “Humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes then humility goes. In fact, you might say that humility follows God like a shadow.” My prayer is that we as the church would learn to walk in humility and love the Scriptures because being in his shadow is the best place to be. Has there been a particular Scripture in your life that God has shown you which serves as a reminder of his faithfulness and closeness?