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A couple weeks ago, I got the chance to meet up with some students and professors from my alma mater, Dallas Baptist University, who came to Germany for a study abroad program. They invited me to speak about my own experience going from DBU to living and serving in Germany, as well as how ministry is different in the two cultures. The professor also asked if I could also speak about how my time at DBU prepared me for ministry overseas.
My university offered courses and majors in missions, preparing students for serving overseas. But I only took one such class. I knew that DBU was incredibly formative in my life and education, preparing me for ministry, but I wasn't sure exactly how it had prepared me for life overseas... that is, until I really started to think about it.
I was very involved in many activities at DBU. As I reflected on my time there, I began to see how God was teaching me something through each activity that would serve me well in what He has called me to now. For example, I served as a Resident Assistant in the dorms for three years with American and international students alike sharing a bathroom in the hall with about 30 other girls. This taught me how to live in peace while in very close quarters with others. In Europe, you tend to live in much closer quarters with others than in the US. I was part of a drama ministry team which taught me how to share the Gospel creatively. Though I don't do skits on the streets where I live, that time helped me to think through ways that I can creatively engage with others and share the hope of Jesus with them. When you're ministering in a foreign culture, creativity helps. One way that was clear to me was all the ways I got to interact with and befriend international students on campus. They taught me how to value and learn from other cultures. I learned from them how to say, "It's not bad, it's different," when you see the ways other cultures do things like eat, think, or operate. I'm so grateful for them.
My encouragement to you today is this: The Lord is always working. He always has a plan. Everything He does and everything He allows has purpose. It may have a purpose for the here and now, or the real "why" could instead be found years in the future... or perhaps both! Yet, be encouraged that when you walk with Jesus, you can be sure that nothing is wasted. Even if you never get to see the reason why, you can have faith that the Lord uses everything for good. God was so gracious to me to let me look into my college years and see some of the ways He was preparing me for what I'm doing now. And surely there are even more ways He was preparing me then that I may discover as the years go by. And Lord willing, I look forward to being able to look back at the ways He is preparing me now for future assignments.
Our God is purposeful and present. I love these verses below. One tip for your daily Bible study is to compare Bible verses in multiple translations. Different parts of the verse may stand out to you differently in other translations, and it is a great tool if you don't quite understand a verse as well. I love how both of these translations express the psalmist's praise.
"Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants." (Psalm 119:90-91, ESV)
"Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans." (Psalm 119:90-91, NLT)
"You have established the earth, and it stands fast." Everything is under the control of our great God who created the earth with such purpose and endurance. "By your appointment they stand to this day." He upholds all He creates. "For everything serves your plans." Amen. He uses all things. Everything is in submission to Him. He wastes nothing.
I would like to invite you on a trip down memory lane just like I did when preparing for that seminar. Take some time to reflect on past seasons of your life. There may still be a great deal of mystery around a certain season of your life and what the point of it was or how God could possibly use certain seasons for good. But maybe you'll look back and the Lord will reveal how He was moving and molding you. Take some time to pray over and reflect on these questions:
- Think back to a season in your life.
- What are some things that you learned in that season?
- Consider how those lessons are serving you in the current season of life you are in.
- Praise God and thank Him for His sovereignty over your life in preparing you for your current calling, whatever that may be.
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