A Renewed Understanding

January 4, 2024 — Karen McGrath

Have you ever had a moment when you realized that you had interpreted something one way when it really was something completely different? We can sometimes box ourselves in by our own perceptions and completely miss out on opportunities to recognize the true providence of our Lord in the details of our lives.

While reading through the New Testament with a friend, the Book of Hebrews spoke deeply to my heart. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. You see, I have been experiencing doubt and anger on many levels to the point of arguing with our Father about allowing my days to be filled with experiences that feel so broken and empty. For example, I often feel as if I go to my job with my hands tied, just to experience another eight to ten hours of tremendous effort, with very little gain to show for it. It can seem so futile and draining.

Since my oldest daughter Lindsay, who now has children of her own, was just a little toddler, I have thought that God was going to send me into the mission field. I remember the moment this idea was impressed upon my heart. It was the first time I had met missionaries in person and I was deeply encouraged by their stories of God using their lives in what seemed to me at the time to be remarkable ways. 

I suppose I began to think even more strongly that our Father would purpose my days toward missions after losing Jesse. Doesn’t loss stir our hearts to see life so very differently? How could God allow such unfathomable brokenness to occur and not reveal His remarkable mercy and grace in response?

This season of reading through the New Testament is gently changing my perception of my role in the mission field. I am seeing it to be a much, much larger territory. I am noticing the many ways our Lord is with us in the brokenness that has been brought about from Jesse’s death. I especially see it in the relationships and friendships that I have. I also am realizing God’s business is what fills my days now. I long to see Him at work, and on most days, He does not disappoint! Even though my heart aches so desperately, and I long to be able to spend time with my son, God’s love and mercy is evident EVERYWHERE. 

Our responsibility is to look for His presence and join Him. Or sometimes, be the steadfast agent of His truth when it seems as if He is not there.

I always envisioned the "lost" as the missionary’s focus of ministry, and I imagined the specific mission or effort would be alongside a community of God-fearing Christians working toward a specified purpose. While reading Hebrews 11-12, my perspective took on a significant shift. As believers, our ultimate mission is of faith, trust, hope and obedience in whatever circumstance God places us. 

As Christians, our testimony and mission is embracing the wonder of intimacy with our Lord, which is to be esteemed higher than anything else going on. The complicated, worldly details of our pressing on toward eternal realities are not fully revealed to us yet, and outcomes may even appear to be failures and disappointments by the world's standards. But our Lord is continually redeeming the personal and unique details of our lives. 

God is not focused on the matters of this world that can weigh on our hearts so heavily; He is working in the hearts of His church. He is preparing and equipping us for better days. 

Chapters eleven and twelve of Hebrews remind us to keep our focus on these matters of faith and remember the faithful of the Old Testament, whose testimonies we learn so much from. Every single one of their stories is unique to each of their personal circumstances, full of grit, hardship, and enduring hope. The one common thread running through each of their stories is their intimate relationship with the Lord and their trust in Him. 

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:12-13). We are looking forward to a home yet to come.  Let us offer through Jesus, continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 

What are the circumstances in your life right now? 

Wherever you are today and in whatever you do, I hope you have a “mission-focused” day. 

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Here are a few verses that have encouraged me time and time again since that day when I was a very young mom not knowing what trials were ahead; and I felt our Lord open my eyes to see the wonder of truly seeking the Kingdom of God.

Micah 6:8 (NLT) No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you; to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 

Jeremiah 29:10-13 (NLT) This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 

1 Thessalonians 4:1,11(NLT) Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already and we encourage you to do so even more. Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands.

Hebrews 13:1-3 (NLT) Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it. Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember all those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.