Fly Right to Bring Light, Live it to Bring it!

In reading through Brother Lawrence's "The Practice of the Presence of God" lately I've been challenged to think through my daily walk with God and how much I tend to ignore Him, especially when life is hectic and busy. Brother Lawrence challenges us to consider Him in every aspect of life. Today in reading the 'Tenth Letter' I was again challenged with these words. "Pray remember what I have recommended to you, which is, to think often of GOD, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone, who came to visit you: why then must GOD be neglected? Do not then forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian; in a word, this is our profession, if we do not know it we must learn it."

The ministry of a Christian, and of an MAF pilot, is to live the Light of Christ before all men. How you do your work in your workplace, wherever that may be, must be in a way that reflects who Christ is. So often we get tied up in what we feel must be done and the hurdles in getting that done often make us miss the opportunities that Christ has given us to 'shine His light'. The challenge for me is to not put myself first (get in front of that next car, beat that person to the checkout counter, etc, etc,) but take the opportunity to talk to people in line, give them the spot, let them go ahead of you, and in so doing, "die to self" and let Christ be glorified. I've also seen that this attitude helps me stay in check about how 'pushed' I am by my agenda, deadlines, and expectations. I'm very slowly learning to relax and enjoy the ride that Christ would have me take, rather than be pushed by the high paced expectation of the 'American life'.

On a recent survey just started by MAF I saw one reponse concerning "What is the hardest adjustment when going to another culture?" as being "coming home.” I resonated with that because of the pace of life and the priority on relationships that we experienced in the Indonesian culture. It’s a piece we currently really miss while serving in the US. Since our mandate from Christ is to reach 'people' from every tribe, tongue and nation, it's important that we put other people as priority before ourselves, and listen to our creator who will give us daily opportunities to share our faith, if we'll just stop running so fast in, and around, and through the crowds of poeple around us.

Even as an MAF pilot, we can blow our chances to share Christ with our business, or we can step back and let Christ show us those opportunities He alone wants to give us.