The pandemic came on suddenly. One week we were going about life as usual, and then we were not. But the return is not going to be sudden or smooth.

We adapted to the situation of how life had to be lived, and now we have to adapt to returning back out into the world. This new movement can be as troublesome as the beginning of social distancing was last year.

Although life has gone on and we long to return to what was, things have changed, and many things will never be the same. People are nervous about returning to a somewhat normal life.

I am going to have “relearn” how to mingle with people. I haven’t experienced a casual hand share in a year. This reentry will be a time of uneasiness and rebuilding.

Returning from Isolation

I started pondering on people who have been removed from society and then have to merge back and the difficulties they might face.

• A prisoner after months and years apart from what is going on in the world
• A soldier returning after war or deployment
• An expatriate returning to his or her country of origin after years in another culture
• A patient waking up after months and sometimes years of being in a coma
• A caregiver moving back into society after intently focusing on the needs of a loved one

But there is another example that I believe we can learn from even more – Those returning from exile.

A Brief Look at the Biblical Exile

Somewhere around 606 BC, Babylon began removing captive Israelites to Babylon. Some years, later Babylon invaded Judah and Jerusalem falls in 587. Their society and the temple are destroyed, and the people are carried away into captivity.

Babylon ultimately falls to the Medes and the Persians, and the exile ends after 50 years when the Persian king Cyrus issued an edict in 538 allowing a portion of the exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

The people of God had longed for years to return to life like it was before the exile, but when the homecoming occurred, they found how drastically things had changed. Some shouted in praise when the foundation of the temple was re-laid. But others wept when they compared the memory of the former temple with its replacement (Ezra 3:10-13). Their cries of “how long” were replaced with laments of “how small.”

What we have gone through for the last year pales in comparison to the suffering, hardship, and longing of the Israelites, but I do believe that we can draw some similarities between their story and ours.

Here are a few observations about returning from exile.

• We, like they, are going back to a world that is different than it was before.
• Just as God did not need a temple to display His glory, He does not need a full church building to reveal His presence.
• For good or bad, some things will remain the same, while other things will be different.
• We do not return alone, but corporately as the people of God.
• Some will come back before others.
• Some will never come back.

Missional Challenge

Here are some challenges that affect us missionally.

1. Return Incarnationally

God’s ultimate answer to the exile was incarnation. God becomes flesh. Jesus comes and dwells with broken humanity.

This exile should end with incarnation as well.

We are the Body of Christ. We are sent to live in the midst of the brokenness and desperation of our world. Our family, friends, and neighbors need the presence of God’s people among them.

2. Return Missionally

God’s mission is a mission of restoration of what is broken and of those who are away from Him.

Our return should be marked by joy, hope, and a strong sense of being sent. We must allow God to transform us and the places where we live, work, learn, and play.

3. Return Compassionately

You must realize that not only have you changed, but so have your family, friends, and neighbors. As the return to a more normal life looms, many will continue to struggle with anxiety, worry, fear, anger, and disappointment.

Some will rejoice that we are back; some will cry that it’s not the same. If some do not get back when you do, welcome them when they do get home.

4. Return Expectantly

Expectancy is hard when things are difficult and different. Choose expectancy over expectation. The words are similar, but each has its own connotation.

Expectancy points to a sense of hope and wonder.

Expectation anchors us to a belief that something will happen in a certain way.

The Jews of Jesus’s day missed the Messiah because He did not meet their expectations of who and what He was to be. Don’t miss what God is doing by focusing on what you expect to happen or how you expect things to be.

A Blessing for Exiles

As we reopen the state, the nation, and the world, we must not design our return in our own power. We must focus on God and trust his plan for us. We must look to see where our Father is working and join Him. Perhaps the blessing that Henri Nouwen’s mentor, Jean Vanier, gave him at his ordination should be said over us as well.

May all your expectations be frustrated. May all your plans be thwarted. May all of your desires be withered into nothingness. That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Acts 2:42-47 describes the community that Jesus builds. God’s people are centered on Christ and linked together in fellowship. They come together and find unity around prayer, meals, the apostles’ teaching. They are also committed to meeting the needs of others. Jesus has a purpose for the community that He creates that goes beyond simply gathering together.

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This passage tells us that God was moving and that everyone was in awe as the believers partner together. In their devotion to the apostles’ teaching, they would have learned about the instruction of Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:25-28) and the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). They would have heard stories like the radical generosity of Zacchaeus after his encounter with Jesus (Luke 19:1-10).

Grace leads to generosity

God’s grace had been poured out on them through salvation in Christ Jesus and had bound them together. This grace overflowed in a generosity that reveals their commitment to caring for the needs of others.

They centered their lives on Jesus and cared for one another because they have been given everything in Christ. They shared meals and possessions because they had been rescued, saved, and adopted into God’s family. John the apostle wrote,

1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

A lifestyle of blessing

The believers were actively involved in meeting needs. It was more than random acts of kindness or part of a program that involved their giving from a distance.

The emphasis is not on the method of their sharing but their habit of lifestyle generosity. They did not sell all their possessions and not everyone sold (Acts 4:34-37), but they practiced periodic acts of sacrifice to meet specific needs. Their giving was organic as opposed to organized as they responded as needs arose.

They were not coerced or forced into this generosity. Their commitment was a spontaneous expression to the Holy Spirit’s prompting of how to care for others.

A commitment that challenges

The members of this community moved beyond feel-good fellowship to embrace the tough things in life. We are challenged to a counter-cultural lifestyle that runs against the grain of our American and Western mindset. We often look for ways to explain away their radical generosity because we do not want to live this way.

Having amassed a stockpile of possessions, belongings, and material things, our closets, cabinets, garages, and storage units are full of our stuff. We are in so much debt that we do not have any margin to assist those in need.

The challenge is to be aware of the needs around us, to move to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and to hold our possessions loosely.

Missional generosity

The community that Christ builds proves that it belongs to Him when it is committed to meeting the needs of others. This requires

• Time
• Personal resources
• Money
• Energy
• Tension
• Sacrifice

Generosity is part of a missional lifestyle. It is using what you have to serve people and bring glory to God.

2 Corinthians 9:10-13 (NIV)

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And, as we enter the journeys of 2021, let us live as “sent ones” reminded that just as Christ came and lived among us, we are sent a lost and broken world:

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on your missional journey,
Terry

Even though there is a dispute as to when the “first thanksgiving” was celebrated by European emigrants on American soil, Thanksgiving is generally modeled after that of the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts in 1621.

Two years later, in 1623, the colonists would again proclaim a day of thanksgiving to celebrate the end of a long drought. In the years to come, special days of thanksgiving would be observed in the American colonies from time to time.

In the turmoil of the War of Independence, a Thanksgiving proclamation was made by the Second Continental Congress in 1777. President George Washington proclaimed a designated national day of thanksgiving in 1789. Future Presidents would individually declare national days of thanksgiving, as would individual states. In 1863 while embroiled in the divisive and destructive Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called for Thanksgiving to be an annual national holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Living in Difficult Days

The days of 2020 continue to be very difficult, but, as previously noted, we are not the first to be called to observe Thanksgiving in hard, challenging, and testing times. 

Regardless of its origin, Thanksgiving remains an important time for us as we reflect upon all the things we are thankful for. It is a time to look forward in hope. The story of those whom we now call Pilgrims and their model of giving thanks can help us.

The Thanksgiving of 1621

In 1620 a group of religious separatists sold their possessions to help pay for a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Joined by another party of travelers, a total of 102 men, women, and children sailed on the Mayflower for 66 days.

They encountered problem after problem. Blown off course by storms, they missed their desired port, and on November 11, 1620, they landed in Massachusetts rather than Virginia. By the time they found a place to erect homes, winter had set in. Because of brutal storms, inadequate shelter, and little food, half of the men perished. Fourteen of eighteen wives died, leaving orphans and widowers.

Spring eventually brought hope and relief. The nearby Native Americans greatly aided in their survival. Receiving help from English-speaking Tisquantum (Squanto) and the people of the Wampanoag tribe, they learned to grow corn, hunt deer, and catch fish.

In the fall of 1621, they gathered their first successful harvest. Governor Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to God. The details are few, but we know that for three days, possibly in mid-September, they celebrated with 90 Native Americans from the Wampanoag tribe and offered thanksgiving to God.

What can we learn from the Pilgrims’ story?

Things have changed since 53 European emigrants and 90 Native Americans celebrated thanks for a harvest. But the story of these troubled settlers and their thanksgiving offers insights and lessons that can guide us on our journey.

1. Giving thanks brings God glory.

God is still receiving glory from the story of the Pilgrim’s thanksgiving.

Both the Old and New Testaments call God’s people to thankfulness. God does not need for us to give Him anything, but He does call for us to give thanks to Him, which results in His glory.

I don’t need the bulls you sacrifice; I don’t need the blood of goats. What I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High. Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”
Psalm 50:13-15 (NLT)

2. Giving thanks in difficult times is possible.

Our holiday of Thanksgiving originated in and has been cultivated through times of difficulty and struggle. Thanksgiving turns our gaze from ourselves and our troubles and we see the hand of God. It changes our outlook and keeps us moving forward with hope for tomorrow. We are reminded that we are pilgrims and that the Christian life is a journey of faith.

3. We are reminded that our troubles are momentary.

Our reward is massively disproportionate to our difficulties, therefore be thankful. Our troubles now are transforming us into the image of Christ. They are momentary and passing relatively quickly, compared to eternity.

4. Thanksgiving plants our feet on the solid ground.

In a world of shifting sand, we choose to trust Him with our circumstances instead of sinking in our own strength.

5. Thanksgiving draws others into God’s grace.

Because God’s grace sustains us in times of peril and trouble, and we can live thankful lives.

Thanksgiving is missional because this grace is not only for us. It is to be shared with others so that they too may know Christ. When the pilgrims paused for thanksgiving, it opened the door for them to involve their Native American neighbors. Paul writes,

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Then Paul points us away from ourselves and to our mission in verse 15, All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15 NIV)

Genuine thanksgiving does not refuse to acknowledge trouble, or death, or suffering or loss. It is an intentional choice to turn our eyes to our great God. It is an opportunity to point others to the grace of Christ.

Let’s go forward in thanksgiving, filled with hope, that more and more people will know Christ, and God will be glorified.

During this year, we’ve experienced a pandemic along with a nation filled with division and sin. We’ve struggled in different ways either, physically, financially, emotionally, or spiritually. Our whole world has had these struggles. However, through it all, God calls His children on mission for the glory of the good news of Jesus Christ.

2020 Christmas Blessing – A Missional Opportunity

You are going to think this is strange, but the idea for a 2020 Christmas Blessing came to me when I purchased a book of stamps at the grocery store. No kidding! (More on that later) If you are like me, when listening to God’s Word, it often leads to His call for action. Let me explain to you how this came about as a missional opportunity through a series of events over the period of a few days. 

When our pastor, Larry Venable, gave a sermon about “The Vision and the Mission of the Church,” based on Matthew 9:36-38 and John 4:35, he encouraged us to see and to have compassion for all people. His message rekindled a desire inside me to respond. 

Then I read two blog posts here at Called to the Journey: “Praying to BLESS Others” and “Looking to See the People Around Us.” Matthew tells us that “Jesus saw the people and had compassion on them.” (Matthew 14:14 NIV) These posts sparked me to go beyond saying, “God bless you,” to doing something tangible. 

In our Discovery Community, we read Genesis 13:1-18 where Abram and Lot going their separate ways. Near the end of the story, God told Abram, “Look around from where you are…I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:14-17.) 

Oddly, It was verse 13 that stood out to me, but I was not yet sure just why.

Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

Our group always asks this question, “What does this passage say about God? I reflected back on the story and verse 13. I thought about Abram living in Canaan while men were sinning greatly against the Lord. As I asked myself what the text was saying about God, a lightbulb went off in my head. I came to understand the He will bless people even in the middle of a wicked and sinful land. 

A few days went by and I was still pondering over God’s Word that came to me in all these places. What is the meaning? Why am I still thinking about it? Then one day, I went to the grocery store. I asked the cashier for a book of stamps, and something clicked in my head about what to do. God’s message and mission were clear to me. In the year 2020, full of all sorts of difficulty, “See 20 people and bless 20 people.” I know you are thinking, how did a book of stamps make her think of this? One book of stamps contains exactly 20 stamps. I can’t explain the rest.

The 2020 Christmas Blessing Challenge and Plan

God placed a missional opportunity before me, and I want to pass it along to you. The “2020 Christmas Blessing and Challenge” is for us to see 20 people as Jesus does, with compassion, and to bless 20 people tangibly.

Vision – See 20 people

Look and see the people. Pray for God to show you who needs a blessing – neighbor, friend, teacher, nurse, relative, cashier, waitress, delivery guy, etc. Write their names down. Pray for them. Use the BLESS acrostic from Praying to BLESS Others. 

B – Body
L – Labor
E – Emotion
S – Social
S – Spiritual

Mission – Bless 20 People

Tangibly bless the people. Get creative, use the talents and gifts God has given you. Make this a family project if you like. Get your Discovery Community, small group, or simple church involved. Some examples are: bake cookies, make a Christmas stocking and stuff it with small items, make a Christmas ornament, sew a mask, give out candy canes, etc. 

Remember, whatever you decide to do, share the good news of Jesus Christ. Along with the gift, you might include your favorite scripture and or personal note on how God has helped you throughout this difficult year. You may choose to add a personal written prayer and or a poem or song. 

Join the journey, be on mission for Christ our Lord!

You may be so focused on the ups and downs of your journey that you do not see the people around you and where they are in life. You do not see if they are hurting, celebrating, confused, or lonely. You walk down the paths of your own life, your own job, your own activities, never joining those who walk beside you.

You have good intentions. You love Jesus. You may be kind to people, saying a nice “Have a great day” when checking out at the grocery store. But as a Christ-follower, you aren’t called just to be good or nice.

Being part of something bigger than yourself

You are called to be something more. You are called to be a blesser. You are charged with being the love, the hope, and the peace that Jesus has poured into your life so that it will overflow onto others, pointing them to Christ.

And deep down inside, aren’t you ready to be part of something bigger than yourself, to be more than you are right now? Don’t you desire to be part of God’s mission and to go beyond simply saying “God bless you” to actually tangibly blessing someone?

Seeing with the eyes of Jesus changes everything

You start by seeing people the way God sees them. To truly SEE them. You are called to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in the way He wants you to go and to the people He wants you to walk with. You are challenged to see them, like Jesus, with compassion, and intentionally, sacrificially, and unconditionally love them as an example of God’s love.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick

Seeing this way is about being part of your community. It’s about living life engaged with people who don’t know Christ, striving to understand their background and their culture so that you will know the best way to connect them to the hope of Christ. So that they might discover Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.

The missional rhythm of looking

Looking is a missional rhythm that helps you link and listen to the people in the places where you live, work, learn, and play. This rhythm of looking is more than a simple moment in time captured with your physical eyes. It is seeing others the way God sees them and following his prompts to move with compassion.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “…we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” (1 Thessalonians 2:7b-8 NIV)

Journey each day and see where God is working and where He wants you to join Him in ministering to the overlooked people around you. Brandon Heath sings Give My Your Eyes and the chorus should be a prayer that is continually on our lips.

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

Watch  Video Here

Take time to look at the faces that pass you each day and let God connect you to people; to explore where they live, what life is like for them so you can bless them in Jesus’ name. Look for ways to open your home, your heart, and your very life to people.

• What distractions keep you from seeing the needs of others?
• Who have you neglected to see because you were too busy or too focused on your own journey?
• What can you do today to shift your vision toward others?

When you pray for others, God invites you on a journey into the wonder of what He alone can do. God has a desire to bless you and to bless others through you. It’s His way of reaching the world. He works through your prayers to penetrate hearts to experience the Good News of Christ.

Jesus taught:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. (NIV)

A neighbor is more than someone who lives on your street or in your apartment complex. A neighbor is anyone who is nearby. Someone you meet along your life journey that needs your help – family member, friend, co-worker, classmate, etc.

God’s Promise and Charge to Bless

Genesis 12:1-3 NIV

The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Five Areas of Blessing

I’m indebted to Alvin VanderGriend and his book, Be Jesus in Your Neighborhood, in which he uses the word BLESS as an acrostic to outline general areas where people need God’s blessing and which also can be used as a framework for praying for others.

Below is an outline adapted from Dr. VanderGriend’s work.

B – Body

Physical well-being: health, protection, strength, physical needs

L – Labor

Financial security: work, income, safety

E – Emotion

Emotional health: joy, peace, hope

S – Social

Relational well-being: love, marriage, family, friends

S – Spiritual

Spiritual wholeness: that those do not know Christ will sense their need for Him and find Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that those who do know Christ will be strengthened in their walk with Him; faith, grace, hope, salvation

Using this simple, easy-to-use acrostic will bring about transformation in your life and in the lives of those for whom you are praying. As you begin praying prayers of blessing for your neighbors, God will expand your love for them and provide ways for you to demonstrate and declare that love.

“In Jesus, we see a prayer-care-action pattern that is meant to be followed as we reach out to our neighbors and friends. We begin by praying. Then caring follows as love for them wells up in our hearts. And then we are motivated to act in some way on our neighbors’ behalf.”

How will you use the BLESS acrostic on your everyday journey?

How do you start your day?

Picture yourself as one of the first followers of Jesus. In your mind, see yourself walking with Him on the dusty roads of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. How would your day begin? Who would set the agenda? Who would decide where to go and what to do? You or Jesus? What would be required of you to know what the day’s plan was to be? How much would you rely on the presence of Christ?

We all wrestle with the question of how to follow Christ daily. The first disciples experienced the joy of the physical presence of Jesus, not so with us. But we do have the promise He made – “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20)

As a missional Christ-follower, you must intentionally live on mission and perceive the presence of Christ in the places where you live, work, learn, and play.

The ancient Israelites sang,

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

Before you step out on the untraveled paths of a new day, you should find time to practice the presence of Christ and take time to listen to His voice as you read the Bible and commune with Him in prayer. This will help heighten your awareness of His presence with you throughout the day.

One of the best ways to develop missional rhythms is through a Listening Place where you commune with God.

• Set aside a time in a quiet space to link with God
• Be still and express your love for the Father
• Open the Bible and listen to His voice through scripture and prayer
• Look with spiritual eyes to see where He is working in your life and in the lives of others
• Leave to join Christ in His work and practice His presence throughout the day.

Practicing Christ’s Presence in a Listening Place

Do you have a listening place where you can practice His presence? 

If yes, do you go there and listen to God’s voice? 

If not, you need a time in God’s presence where you focus on becoming a mature follower of Christ. 

Here are some reasons why a listening place will help you practice the presence of  Christ.

1. It is a place of relationship

Even though it is beyond your ability to know why the great and Holy God makes it possible for you to come into His presence, the Creator God who made you longs to link with you.

The Heavenly Father pursues you and longs to speak so you can discover Him personally and so He can show you His love. In your listening place, you will get to know God and how He works. You will discover His character, His promises, and His plans. 

You need a listening place where you learn what His voice sounds like as you hear Him speak from His Word. Not only does He want you to listen to Him, but the Lord also listens to you as you share your heart’s deepest longings and needs.

2. It is a place to re-center on Christ

Distractions consistently move you to side roads following differing voices. Linking with God in your Listening Place is what helps you daily re-center on Jesus. 

Having a place to be still and listen to God eliminates the distractions around you and re-aligns you with God’s purposes. From here, you move out to pursue Christ’s mission in the world centered on Christ amid all the stuff it throws at you.

3. It is a place of renewal

Life is busy, demanding, and tiring and saps your strength. In the presence of Christ, you will find renewal, recharging, and refreshment.

4. It is a place of clarity

A time of quietness and listening will align your thoughts with who God says you are and to whom you belong. Here God will reveal to you your desires, talents, abilities, and weaknesses. As you lay hold of your identity in Christ, you will be reminded of how who you are leads to your mission.

5. It is a place to begin thinking intentionally

You will begin to think on purpose, and you will focus on pursuing the mission of Christ. As much as you might desire to stay with Him in this secure, still place, He asks you to leave and follow Him.

6. It is a place from which you emerge mindful of the presence of Christ

When you leave your listening place, you cross the daily threshold of the missional journey.

Fixing your gaze on Christ will keep you mindful of His presence throughout the day. Upon leaving, He goes with you, and He continues to speak in the listening place in your heart. As you look and listen, you have the opportunity to link with, listen to, and love others.

Do you think the conversation with Jesus ended once the disciples were on the road? No, the day was filled with His presence as they watched Him fulfill the mission of the Father. There were times of instruction, explaining parables, answering questions, demonstrating and declaring the Good News of the Kingdom.

God does not just call you to a feel-good time with Him in a comfortable place; He calls you into His mission.

As you shift from the quietness of the listening place to the busyness of the day, you will be more aware that Christ is always with you in every area of your life, every day.

Because you learn to hear God’s voice in the quiet place, you will be better equipped to listen to His voice above all the other voices that call out to you through the day.

If you look, God will open your spiritual eyes and show you where He is working in your life and in the lives of others, and invite you to join Him. You will begin to recognize the Father at work in the places where you live, work, learn, and play.

Practicing the presence of God in a listening place is a daily missional rhythm that keeps you aware of God’s mission and your part in it. 

How do you begin your day?

How do you live your days?

Do you daily practice the presence of Christ? 

Will you get quiet and focus on the presence of Christ and then join Him on the missional journey?

To help develop a listening place where you can hear God’s voice and increase your prayer life, download Discovering God in Your Listening Place and get missional tips, ideas, and inspiration delivered to your inbox.

Guest Post

We moved into our neighborhood seven years ago with much anticipation about meeting our neighbors and seeing what God had in store. In the first few weeks, we knocked on doors to introduce ourselves and invite people into our home. We were available and enthusiastic.

The roadblock we ran into was that while we were beginning a new chapter in our life, our neighbors were not. Our neighbors were busy with the rhythms of their own lives, and making new relationships and commitments is hard when life is busy. Then we began filling up our own schedule with commitments and responsibilities, and spending time with neighbors was quickly sent to the back burner.

We prayed for our neighbors and enjoyed our chats when we ran into each other doing yard work or walking to the mailbox but it never developed beyond that.

Enter COVID

COVID swarmed into our lives like invading locusts. It consumed the normal rhythms of life and has left us calculating how to pick up what’s been destroyed and move forward. For many (myself included) it has come with a bounty of emotions from sadness, to anger, to depression, to fear.

But in the midst of this time where we as a culture are grieving our loss of control, a hope has dawned. In the midst of our fractured rhythms and our grief, we can’t be business as usual. As if arising from a fog, we have to look at our priorities, our commitments, and make evaluations. And one of the beautiful outcomes is that we begin to see the people in front of our faces.

For us, that has meant our neighbors. A few weeks ago our doorbell rang and our next-door neighbor wanted to know if I could talk with her. She was struggling and felt like God wanted her to come over for a visit. She is a Muslim, and I am a Christian. We sat outside and talked about life and anxiety and the Prince of Peace. Over the last several weeks, we have developed a relationship and a rhythm of being in each other’s lives. We have read the Bible, learned the names of each other’s children, and prayed together.

The encouragement in this is not that God has a perfect bow to place on top of COVID that will make it all okay. But rather, that in this melody that feels arduous and uncertain, He is creating something beautiful. And it is not because we, as believers, are beyond the realities and struggles of life, but because as we sit in them, we do so with hope. And this anchor gives us the ability to love when we don’t feel it and to serve, not out of perfection, but out of being present.

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. – Hebrews 6:19-20a (NLT)

The encouragement is that in these fractured rhythms of life, God is at work creating new rhythms. He is using His beloved bride to see and love a world in the midst of the hurt and to build something new and beautiful; to redeem the broken that He may be glorified and His creation be restored.

To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the LORD has planted for his own glory.
– Isaiah 61:3 (NLT)

Pursuing the mission of Jesus is about living intentionally as you follow Him out into the world in the places you already live, work, learn, and play.

You have many “missions” every day. You may set out on the “mission” of going to work to earn a living to sustain your family or going to the grocery store to replenish your food supply. Your “mission” might be a trip to the Doctor’s office, seeking to restore your health. What if you saw all these “missions” as the means to fulfill a greater mission?,

Hugh Halter writes:

“When I walk into Starbucks, I don’t think about coffee. That’s predetermined . . . tall black Americano. I ponder the lives of everyone I see. I wonder about their spiritual journeys, their highs and lows . . . and where they look for direction in their search. My initial assumption is that in any room full of people, very few know Christ. I ask myself how I could get into their lives or how a conversation might begin. I don’t see them as projects — that wouldn’t go very far. I see them as souls the Lord loves who simply haven’t seen or heard an accurate message about the Kingdom. I always feel confident that I may one day be talking with them about life and God. Oddly enough, this seems to happen all the time.”

As Jesus Went Along His Way

In his book Why Christians Sin, J.K. Johnson says, “Christ met unbelievers where they were” and points out that the gospels contain 122 stories of Jesus interacting with people in the everyday activities of life. As He went about his way, Jesus was looking for the people who lined the path of His journey. He found ways to link with them and extend God’s love to them.

As You Go Along Your Way

As you go about your everyday routines, see your lesser missions, all under the umbrella of Christ’s greater mission. John 7:38-39 tells us that the Holy Spirit flows from within believers as a life-giving river.

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive…

This life-giving river is for those you encounter in the regular routines of your life. Go and be conscious of the Holy Spirit flowing from you in missional rhythms. 

• Look for people with whom you can link.
• Pay attention and really listen to them. Discover the areas of their life in which you can bless them.
• Look to see where the Father is working so you can join Him.
• Find ways to tangibly express the love of Christ to them.
• You will soon have to leave that encounter but the opportunities to link, listen, look, and love continue. 

What might it look like for you to consciously practice missional rhythms every day?