We have made it to our pre-field training! It is getting closer and closer to our launch date, and we are getting more and more excited to be off! And, it is getting harder and harder to be patient. Nevertheless, the Lord is teaching us some pretty awesome things through these training sessions. One of our sessions was titled “The Promises of God”, and it was particularly impactful for me.
We began by discussing Genesis 12:1-2, which is the foundation of all of God’s promises to the Patriarchs, Kings, Prophets, and Apostles. Starting with this groundwork has a profound impact on the vision we have for our lives and how we do our work. If God’s foundational promise is to bless all peoples, then His primary purpose in the world includes pouring out His blessing--through His Son--on the peoples of the country we work in! That is incredible.
Our teacher then encouraged us to go to the Lord and ask Him to burn on our hearts a promise from His Scripture that will show us what He wants to do in our country. As I thought about this, the Spirit led me to Isaiah 61:11.
“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”
I love the symbolism in this passage, especially since I am involved in agricultural development. I am pleading the Lord to remember this promise and asking Him to use our team to help bring it to fulfillment in our city. Righteousness and praise WILL sprout up among all the peoples of the earth. Lord, let it be so.
-Richard
Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash