An Unexpected Start
The first blog entry on a trip is never easy. Primarily it’s difficult because I have yet to really experience anything meaningful and so the challenge is to write something…well, meaningful. Yes, this is the first time I’ve visited Laos, or really anywhere in SE Asia. Our flight is routing through Tokyo, Japan and Bangkok, Thailand and I’ve never been to either of those cities/countries before either. It’s always fun going someplace new…but meaningful? Sorry, it’s hard to be meaningful when all I’ll see is the inside of an airport. But while waiting to board my flight in Seattle I had a rather unexpected start, and I’ve been thinking about it and praying about it ever since we took off.
Standing in line to board the plane I hear a woman’s voice say “David?” Now, I’m traveling alone before I meet up with World Concern staff in Bangkok so it was a bit surprising to look and see a familiar face boarding the same plane. Jocelyn and I are in the same line of work. She works with Compassion International and it’s her job to work with radio stations in the US trying to motivate listeners to become child sponsors and supporters. Well, that’s exactly what I do…but not for Compassion. She is also going to Bangkok to gather information about the ministry so she can share those stories back in the US on the radio. When I saw her I had this split second (and it was probably even a split second of a split second) bit of competitive uneasiness. You see, because we work in the same circles and know so many of the same people we run into each other a decent amount of time at conferences, in fact I even traveled with her to Nicaragua on a Compassion trip back in 2008. She’s a delightful, godly woman who believes very passionately about the work. But, truth be told and in complete honesty, there are only so many radio stations to work with so some might consider us “competitors.” And therein lies the rub. Is she?
My primary “centering” passage of scripture is Matthew 6:33 where Jesus gives what I think is the most difficult command in scripture: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (NLT) Several years ago that passage hit me like a cold slap in the face because I realized that if we actually do that, it changes everything! Gone is my ego. Gone is my pride. Gone is my competitive nature. Gone is my right to myself. Gone is everything that is not seeking God’s Kingdom and desires first. Do you realize how difficult that is?! Living out that scripture impacts everything, from the way I parent, to the way I love my wife, to the way I treat total strangers, to the way I respond to the person who cuts me off in traffic. Everything. That’s why I call it my “centering passage” because it forces me back to the real calling on my life – seeking God above all else.
So, back to Jocelyn. Compassion International is doing some amazing work in “releasing kids from poverty in Jesus name” as their mission statement says. That’s not competition…that’s a mutual goal!! Poverty steals the type of abundant life Jesus speaks about in John 10:10, and there have got to be thousands of non-profit organizations and ministries working toward that same end. That’s seeking the Kingdom of God above all else. Why did that ever so slight bit of competitiveness slip into my thoughts back in Seattle? I don’t know…but as I write this seven hours into my trip and 32,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean I have been thinking about that split second.
Lord, I have no idea what You have in store for me on this trip. I have no idea who I will meet and who I will talk to and what You will show me, but, please, keep me centered on your Kingdom. Thank You for the reminder of things so much bigger than myself and my agenda.
Amen.
