For a long time, I believed that to fulfill my mission in life, I had to be just like the people I admired most. I thought I had to be the eccentric guy everyone always wanted to be around because of his ability to carefully craft a sermon or light up any room he walked into. I knew that this could never be me. I’m a bit more quiet in nature. My humor (which is world-class) is reserved for those who know me well, and it takes me a minute to muster up the courage to begin a conversation with a stranger. I would often think yet never admit, “Why did God make me this way? Why can’t I be like everyone else?” All the while, I would forget that we serve a God who beautifully makes every person alive.
I thought I was made “wrong” because I knew that God desired believers to share the Gospel with others, and that would best be done in large groups, right? I had forgotten that there would be other people who were kinda like me. They would want to be approached a bit more gently, with a soft smile and away from the crowd. Maybe someone would want to be seen as an individual first before being seen as someone within a group. Each person is wired differently and has different preferences for how they like to love and be shown love.
Maybe you and your family have fallen into a similar trap. You’ve seen the way other families are seemingly always on the run, pouring themselves out, day in and day out, all the while thinking, “There’s no way I could do that.” And maybe you’re right. And that’s okay. Not every family is made to serve and fulfill the call to reach the nations in the same way. Maybe your family is best set up to disciple a younger couple one-on-one and share with them the wisdom God has given you through years of marriage. Your family could be designed to be a safe haven for others who have no home, so you allow them to come to you in their time of need and see the grace of God made real before their eyes.
The mission that God has called you to is grand and is making the kingdom of God look stunningly beautiful, even if it doesn’t look like what the world or even other believers would look to praise. Pray for the mission that God has called you to individually if you’re single (I’m with you) or for the mission God has called your specific family to. It may be hard. It may take a while to figure out, but what God has called you to He will always empower and enable you to do because He loves you and longs to share His love to the watching world.