Equipped for His Call-1 Week Until Africa

While reading my study Bible this morning, I came across a short study called, "Equipped for His Call." How fitting! It was just the comfort I needed. We leave for Africa in one week. Because of the snow, I have been home all week, and not working has given me a lot of time to focus on my trip. Good and bad.....this has given me more preparation time and more time with the kids, but it's also given me lots of time to get nervous. There's been nothing to take my mind off of the trip. Here's the study from this morning.

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1: 6


"Has God called you to a task for which you feel completely inadequate?  The key to taking on the extraordinary challenge is to worship God, to spend time in his presence meditating on how awesome he is.  When we praise God's holiness and majesty, when we focus on his strength and wisdom, then we are assured of the courage and vigor he makes available to us--the power to go one more mile, to love one more hour, to forgive one more time.  We can face these hard assignments with the confidence that if God has called us, he will equip us."

I then went on to read Philippians 1: 3-30 and reflected and prayed on the following questions.

• In what ways has God sustained you in the past?  With this question, I couldn't help but think about Chris' motorcycle wreck.  God was such a sustaining comfort to me through that time.  Instead of pulling away and questioning why it had happened, I continued to lean on God and pray that Chris and I would be strengthened through the experience.  That experience continues to shape my life and define the person I strive to be.

• What difficult task is God calling you to do now?  This question addresses multiple aspects of this mission trip.  First of all, God is requiring me to go out of my comfort zone with the travel piece.  The flight and in-country road trips will be difficult for me, but I know that with Him, I can handle my anxieties.  Second, God is calling me to work with the orphans of Sierra Leone.  I have no idea how God plans to use this, but I have faith that He will reveal this to me over time.  I need to be present with God and patient through this process.

• What help do you need from God?  I don't know.  I know I need help with my travel anxieties, but other than that, I lift it all up to Him.  I want to surrender myself to God and allow him to open my eyes and heart while on this mission.  I pray that He'll use me and provide me the strength I need.

My word for today is equipped.  I have peace knowing that God will equip me for this challenge.  He would not call me to do this work without first equipping me with the tools I need to tackle it.  


Please continue to pray for my travel team and the work ahead of us.  We leave on Thursday, January 20, 2011.