Lord, What Is Your Mission for Me?

I first heard the Lord calling me to share His love with others when I was in high school, but I just wasn’t sure what my mission was. I was, however, quite clear on what my mission was not: I was not going to marry a minister . . . because I’d turned away a seminary-bound boyfriend with that excuse earlier. I was never going to live in an “I” state, such as Illinois or Iowa . . . because the names sounded boring. And if I ever taught school (something I never honestly planned on doing), I was not going to teach middle school . . . because I was sure that students that age were worse than any “heathen” I’d read about in mission books.

My passion to serve drove me to pursue a degree in religion, and while at Andrews University, I fell in love with a man who had a similar passion. But he had chosen to be a minister. He also was the one God had chosen for me. When we talked of getting married, we wondered how we could financially stay afloat with both of us in college. We felt so blessed when the Lord confirmed our calling by having a conference president offer us a job—in Indiana.

And, if you are following the drift of my ramblings, you won’t be at all surprised what my first job out of college was. Those middle school students were not the people I had planned on ministering to, but they were the ones the Lord had chosen for me!

Looking back, I believe it was important for the Lord to teach me early on that
part of the Great Commission is submission. It is His work, not mine. It is His plan, not mine. It is His will, not mine. Each of us is like a piece in a giant jigsaw puzzle, that when completed, creates a mural of victory and peace—snapped together when all His children are finally home. I may think that I know where He needs me in this puzzle, but only He can pick me up and place me where the unique configuration of my life will fit together perfectly with the needs of another. Only He can see the box lid to the puzzle, where the final panorama is clearly displayed.

He says, “ ‘I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ ” (Jer. 29:11, NIV).

What greater plan than the Great Commission? What greater hope than the blessed hope?

Kandace Zollman, Smithsburg, Maryland, U.S.A.



People can make all kinds of plans, but only the Lord's plan will happen. Proverbs 19:21 (New Century Version)

No sooner is one converted than there is born within him a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus . . .

With the calling of John and Andrew and Simon, of Philip and Nathanael, began the foundation of the Christian church. John directed two of his disciples to Christ. Then one of these, Andrew, found his brother, and called him to the Saviour. Philip was then called, and he went in search of Nathanael. These examples should teach us the importance of personal effort, of making direct appeals to our kindred, friends, and neighbors. There are those who for a lifetime have professed to be acquainted with Christ, yet who have never made a personal effort to bring even one soul to the Saviour. They leave all the work for the minister. He may be well qualified for his calling, but he cannot do that which God has left for the members of the church.

There are many who need the ministration of loving Christian hearts. Many have gone down to ruin who might have been saved if their neighbors, common men and women, had put forth personal effort for them. Many are waiting to be personally addressed. In the very family, the neighborhood, the town, where we live, there is work for us to do as missionaries for Christ. If we are Christians, this work will be our delight. No sooner is one converted than there is born within him a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus. The saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in his heart.

All who are consecrated to God will be channels of light. God makes them His agents to communicate to others the riches of His grace. His promise is, "I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." Ezek. 34:26.

Philip said to Nathanael, "Come and see." He did not ask him to accept another's testimony, but to behold Christ for himself. Now that Jesus has ascended to heaven, His disciples are His representatives among men, and one of the most effective ways of winning souls to Him is in exemplifying His character in our daily life. Our influence upon others depends not so much upon what we say as upon what we are. Men may combat and defy our logic, they may resist our appeals; but a life of disinterested love is an argument they cannot gainsay. A consistent life, characterized by the meekness of Christ, is a power in the world. DA 141-142



Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. 1 Samuel 12:16 (New Century Version)