Hello! Welcome to my blog. My (online) name is Hope. I am a recent graduate from a big public university. I studied Political Science and International Relations. I love sunny weather between 65 and 75 degrees, surfable waves, dogs, and Jesus. Next year, I will be moving to the Middle East to work with a team of people bringing the hope and power of the gospel into the lives of refugees in their city. I’m sure I will talk about this more as time goes on. But for now, for this first blog, I just want to share two things: The beginning and the end. The beginning - the motivations that have led me into this missions work. And the end - what I am trusting God to bring about as I work in his harvest.
The Beginning - My motivations
There have been three main motivations on my mind and in my heart as I have taken steps towards the missions field. The first is inseparably related with a time in college when God showed me in a new way what it meant that he was holy and what it meant that I was sinful. He showed me how fleeting and vain my life was outside of communion with him, and how utterly powerless I was to bring myself closer to him. I experienced in a very deep and raw way what it means to walk in darkness, and it was by far the worst thing that I have ever gone through. Yet God used that experience to show me how much I need Christ and to develop in me a heart of compassion, love, and sorrow for those who do not yet know the Hope of his Son. And so, from the first day that I committed my life to following Jesus, I have been broken for those who do not yet know him. This has made me much bolder in sharing my faith and is an important part of my motivation to bring the gospel to those who have never heard it.
Second, I want to bring God the glory he is due. The more that I learn of his ways, see his beauty, and taste his goodness, the more I want to worship him. Every time I catch a glimpse of God’s majesty, I find myself increasingly overflowing with praise and thankfulness to God, calling for his name to be known and blessed throughout all the earth. I want his presence to go forth and I want his name and his word to be exalted above all things. Our God is so good, and he deserves to be worshiped. As David writes in Psalm 34, ‘‘Come, magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together!’’
Third, I believe that this work is how I can best love, pursue, and know God with all of my heart, all of my soul, and all of my strength. While I do have certain experiences, interests, and aptitudes that may help me, I will also be pushing myself past the extent of my own ability and strength. But this is a good thing. This is my way of giving God everything I have, leaving nothing behind. And as I entrust myself to him, he promises me that his strength is made perfect in weakness, that he will bring light into my darkness, and that he can use my foolishness for his glory. It is really an exercise in redemption, and trust, and power. Knowing that God is with me allows me to be bold in doing what I know will demand my all, even and especially when I know it will be hard.
So there are three motivations. One: For God. For his glory. For his name to be made known among the nations. Two: For others. For those made in his image to know the love, joy, peace, hope, grace, mercy, forgiveness, justice, truth, freedom, and redemption they so desperately need. Three: For me. To know God more. To put myself in situations where I will have to depend on him. To pursue personal holiness. To gain more of Christ.
The End - My hopes
As I walk down this path, I am trusting God to work in at least three ways. First, I am trusting that God will shape me to be more like him. In this ministry, God is inviting me not just into his work, but deeper into himself. I hope that I will especially learn to live more and more by his power, rather than my own. I want people to say that this ministry can only be explained by God.
Second, I am trusting that God will use me to bring people to himself. This is the desire that is on my heart, and I know for a fact that it did not come from anyone else but God. Even if I do not immediately see as much fruit as I might want to see with my own eyes, I will trust that God is working.
Third, I am trusting that God will use me to glorify himself. That is what God does. It is the ultimate end of all things, and I hope it will be the ultimate end of my ministry. At the end of the day, I don’t know exactly what God has for me in the Middle East. But I know that he is working there, and I know that he has invited me to join him. Like Jesus, my goal is simply to take note of what the Father is doing, and then join him in that. John 5:19 says, ‘‘The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.’’ My vision is to follow where he leads and be faithful with what he gives. The results are up to him.
- Hope