Wish you were here?

"I wish it was me!"
"It's so exciting what you're doing!"
"My life seems very ordinary in comparison."

Those are quotes from people in the UK on hearing about what I'm doing here, on the other side of the world.

It's true, it is exciting for me to be here, using my gifts and skills in this work I've been called to. However, I think the key to my joy is in the last few words of that sentence; the fact that I'm doing what God has asked me to do. God has a plan for each of us, uniquely suited to the gifts and personalities he has given us. The most exciting place to be, surely, is right in the centre of that plan. That is the place we can experience most blessing. That's not to say that it will always be easy. By no means! I have gone through some very difficult times while following God on this journey. I have often been challenged by deep desires for a different lifestyle, yet I know that God made me with this journey in mind and I would not give it up for anything in the world.

And, although there are moments of excitement and deep joy, the vast majority of my life is in fact taken up with the mundane ordinariness of life as we all know it; eating, cleaning, washing, shopping, minor stresses at work, personality differences with colleagues, frustrations with details at church...

God calls each of us to our own path, with its own challenges and joys. All of them leading to him, all of them equally precious in his sight. We must not discredit our own path because in our eyes it's somehow lacking in comparison with others'. Neither must we discredit others' paths in comparison to our own.

To some, God gives the privilege of travelling far and wide and meeting lots of people. To others, he gives the privilege of living in one place and becoming part of a stable community. Neither is better or worse, more or less important. Just different. Each person's path is uniquely suited to them.

So here's my challenge to you; are you doing what God has called you to do? Are you using the gifts he has given you for his purposes? If you know that the answer is "yes" then you can be sure that there is no other life better suited to you. If the answer is not "yes" then your task is to seek God's will for your life and accept the challenge of following him unconditionally, because that is where you will find the excitement and blessing you desire. If that thought scares you, give that fear to God. He will not ask you to do anything you are unable to do. He will not allow you to suffer more than you can bear. And he will be with you, guiding you, protecting you and above all, loving you, to the end of time.

"It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for" Ephesians 1 (The Message)