“Some people want to live within the sound of chapel bells,
But I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of hell.”
C.T. Studd wrote those words, and he lived them too.
He was a young man who pretty much had his life cut out for him in a great way. He had reached fame and yes, fortune as well, as a cricket player, but instead chose to pursue a life of passion and devotion to God, and became a missionary.
When given the option, I’m sure many of us would tend to choose the sound of bells over any sort of a proximity to hell.
But it is that that choice that develops strength of character … it is a willingness to carry the cross that has been chosen, even when it is not the life that we would prefer to choose.
I said: “Let me walk in the fields.”
He said: “No, walk in the town.”
I said: “There are no flowers there.”
He said: “No flowers, but a crown.”I said: “But the skies are black;
There is nothing but noise and din.”
And He wept as He sent me back –
“There is more,” He said; “there is sin.”I said: “But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun.”
He answered: “Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone!”I said: “I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say.”
He answered: “Choose tonight
If I am to miss you or they.”I pleaded for time to be given.
He said: “Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem so hard in heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide.”I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, “My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”Then into His hand went mine;
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light divine,
The path I had feared to see.“Obedience” by George MacDonald
There is a place of service God has for you. It might be the fields, or it might be the town.
It might be a place of beauty and fulfillment. Or it might be a place of testing and circumstances that stretch your faith to the limit
It might be a combination of the two, some times of peace and plenty, and other times of trial and sacrifice.
But wherever He calls you, don’t be afraid to follow.
For there is no place where you will find greater joy than being led by the hand of God Himself, and held up with the promise that He is with you, wherever you go.
Never fear to follow the pathway that He leads you upon. For it is there you will discover your destiny. Your calling and purpose.
It is within that calling that you will find who you are, and who you are meant to be.
A life of purpose.
A life of love.
Guided by the God of love, who holds your life safely within His hands and has promised never to let it go.
Wishing you love, joy, guidance and peace in this New Year.
Workplace Worldchangers 