I Will Go

"Some of you in here are going to be youth pastors. Some of you in here are going to be missionaries." - Phil Clemens.

"Some of you in here are going to be missionaries."

I can't tell you how many times I've heard that statement, but one summer night in 2011, it became a broken record. It played over and over and over in my head for the rest of the night. I don't even remember what the message was about that night. But I heard that statement plain as day, and to this day, I can recite it like it was said two seconds ago.

That was the night I knew what God wanted me to do with my life. Since a few months prior, when I had given up my own plans, I had wanted to know His. Or so I thought... Now that I knew, I hated it. I hated it, and I fought it. Starting that night. I complained, I freaked out, and I refused to say yes to God's call.

It took a few months for me to even say OK. In case you don't know, OK and yes mean two different things.

For proof, here's some dictionary.com definitions.
OK: expresses understanding, agreement or acceptance
yes: expresses affirmation or assent

When, I said OK, I was saying I understood. I knew and accepted that it was what God wants me to do. It didn't mean I said I was going to do it. That was fall 2011. For a few more months, I would admit to my closest friends and my mentor that it's what I was supposed to do, but even that stopped eventually.

I knew what God wanted me to do but was unwilling to firmly and confidently say yes to Him. As a result, I was stuck. I didn't know what came next, because I wouldn't go past what I had already heard.

Until the end of last month...

Thousands of university students from all over the country. Hundreds of missionaries from all over the world. We all flocked to Fort Worth for a conference about world missions. I knew God was going to do something. I had an idea of what.

God taught me a lot in that short weekend. I can't put it all into words. My heart is so full of the things He did there and is still doing as a result.

God presented me with an invitation. He asked me if I would go. Finally, after a year and a half of knowing what He wants me to do, I said yes. I committed to giving a year and praying about a lifetime. I am going to Denmark as a missionary for at least a year.

I still have a lot to learn. I still have a lot to apply to my life. For now, though, I know where I am. Until I get where I'm going, I'm a missionary here. I'm listening to God, and I'm responding. I'm receiving His Love and sharing it.

That's the invitation He's extending to all of us. "Will you share My Love?" So will you?

"And then He told them, 'Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone'." - Mark 16:15