Go

Later this morning, I will once again be packing my old worn out suit case for yet another gospel trip for my Lord. Most of my travels have always been associated with preaching and laboring for the Lord. I have traveled to three countries and eleven states all to serve Christ in preaching and witnessing. This afternoon I will be leaving for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for another trip along with eleven others from our church to preach, to pray, to witness, to serve and labor for Christ.
I know that part of submitting my life and ministry to the Lord means that I will continually be on the road again and again. Last night I was talking to Brenda and asking if she ever got tired of me leaving for trips and she said that she knows God has called me and though she misses me she manages to get along without me. It is sacrifice for her as well as for our boys who have already started telling me how much they will miss me. It is sacrifice for our people who will be making this trip also and their families. All of them are sacrificing their time at work and with their families to come on this trip. It is a joy to watch each of them put those things aside as they get on mission with God.
Have you ever given much attention to how many times we are called to “go” in the Bible? I just entered the word “go” in my computer concordance. There were 245 references in the New Testament alone. In the Old Testament there are an additional 1,100 references. It seems pretty clear to me that God has always called His people to be on mission for Him and that involves going. Going to houses to talk to both friends and strangers about Christ in our own communities, going to other cities or countries to promote Christ stretches us and calls way out of comfort zones. Our trouble is we don’t like to go with the gospel but are contented to stay in the safety and comforts of our own homes and congregations. True going does also involve leaving. As we go we also have to leave. The leaving can be extremely difficult. It is never easy to part with our loved ones for mission trips or to leave our secure environments to walk across the street or to drive across town to take the gospel to someone.
Over and over again the message from the Lord is go. [Mark 16:15] [Matt 28:19] [Matt 5:41] [Matt 10:6] [Matt 19:21] [Matt 26:36] [Mark 10:21] [Luke 7:22] [Luke 9:60] [Luke 10:3] We are called to go and proclaim, to go and sell, to go and pray, and to go and preach. The message reverberates through the ages. Don’t get too comfortable. Don’t get too settled because we must go. [Is 6:8] asks who will go? Throughout the ages people like William Carey, John G. Patton, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Lottie Moon, David Livingstone, David Brainerd, and many others have gone. They have surrendered their lives wholly to the Lord and they were called to go. Some to India, China, Africa, Native Americans, and the New Hebrides Islands.
I’m equally excited that people like Ren, Michael, Darrell, Linda, Leisha, Christi, Annette, Kainen, Courntey, Laura, and Haylee all have taken the Lord’s call to go to heart and they are willing to go on mission for the Him. I am equally thrilled that Darrell, Roy, Bob, Jennifer, and Larry went and are still going for the Lord in rebuilding houses for those whose houses burned in the fires back in February. I am grateful for those who go to the shut ins and those in the hospitals. I am thrilled that people all over the world are continually going.
My last official mission trip was back in March. It was very interesting to me as we were going through the airport in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to see a large group of people congregating in a circle and then they all bowed and prayed together. We learned later that those people were going on a mission trip somewhere. I found it exhilarating that as were ending our trip someone else was just starting theirs. It was like we were handing off the gospel baton to the next leg of the race and when they returned it was handed off to someone else. In this way, the gospel in being taken to the remotest parts of the earth. [Acts 1:8]
Where is God calling you to go? Where are you supposed to leave for a short time or perhaps permanently to be on mission for God? Is He calling you to go next door, down the street, across town, to another state or country? Is He calling you to go to your secret place to intercede for people? I know as sure as I write this He is calling you to go somewhere and to do something. Will you go? Will you throw off the illusions of safety and security and simply give the Lord your “yes”? He is a sending God and we are to be a going people.
I recently heard the story about a former missionary lady who was forced to retire when she turned seventy two! What did she do after that? For twenty more years she kept going any place the Lord would open doors for her to testify and teach for Christ. Some of that going was local and but often times she was called to go to other states to minister. When she turned ninety two she was invited back to the country she had labored for her Lord in more than forty years. She thought she would be forgotten but she was surprised when there was a large parade given in her honor. At ninety two she left the comforts of home to board a plane and literally fly to other side of the world. That inspires me. There is no retirement from going. We are go all our days as long as we are able.
When our bodies begin to break down and our health becomes feeble we can still go to the prayer closet and pray. I will say it again. There is no retirement from going. Who will go for the Lord? Where is He calling YOU to go next? He is a sending God and all our of days we are to be a going people.