No Road, No Problem by Keith Cook
"Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left" Deuteronomy 2:27
David Livingston, pioneer missionary to Africa, was asked by a mission board the following question: "Have you found a good road to where you are in Africa? If so, we want to know so we can send some good men to join you." He responded, "If you have only men that will come when there is a good road, I do not want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."
Many today are ministering with ease because someone paved a trail for them. One of my favorite sayings while on a mission project is, "You guys have it easy! You should have been with David and I when we first came here!" Then I proceed to share with the wide-eyed new evangelists our "war stories" about the good old days when there was no electricity, no pure bottled water, no internet, and no vehicles to transport us into an area.
Many of them can not believe that we actually slept on the ground or ate strange delicacies like dog, snake, worms, bugs, and live fish. They are amazed that we would walk for hours each day to share with one family way out in the jungle somewhere. They are blown away when I share of our close calls of being captured by guerillas and possible torture for sharing Christ in non-Christian areas of our world. Their hearts leap when I share of guns pointed at me while I preach, riots breaking out in Muslim areas as we minister, and gangs poised to kill us until the gang leader comes to Christ and stops them. It is hard for them to imagine how long we had to be away from friends and family.
Usually after one of my famous outbursts of nostalgia Christ will direct me to encourage them that they too have their roads to walk and their paths to chart by faith. It is hard to be too hard on them because they are trusting Christ in a world that does not understand or appreciate what they are doing. Modern religionists are even downplaying their importance in God's work. Humanism has crept into the church and is causing a whole generation of youth and young adults to question the value of going to the ends of the earth.
I am so thankful that there is a willing and mighty remnant of missionaries and evangelists who are blazing their own trails under the direction of the Holy Spirit. I work, network, and partner with many of them everyday. They live by the philosophy, "No Road-No Problem."
How about you?
Daily Prayer: Pray that God will give you Holy Boldness and New Vision as you seek to serve God wholeheartedly.
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On The Go Daily Devotional for October 6, 2016
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