on missions

i was reading about phillip the other day and was really hit with some truth from Acts 8:

4Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8So there was much joy in that city.... 26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. 27And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." 30So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.33In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation?For his life is taken away from the earth."
34And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 38And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

phillip had a booming ministry in samaria. the whole city was filled with joy! but when the angel of the Lord said, "go," he went. not just anywhere, but into the desert. so many of us today would respond with, "what?! and leave all that i've built here. the people love me!" but not phillip. he arose and started walking. no hesitation. no bad attitude.
along the way he met the eunuch, whose name we don't know. the Spirit told him to go and bum a ride - probably not as dangerous to hitchhike back then. again, no hesitation, phillip ran. you never know who God is going to put in your path. we're hesitant to share our faith, but phillip was eager to preach. we limit ourselves to "relationship evangelism," and if we were phillip's place, we probably would have said, "i don't even know this person!" phillip didn't even get the guy's name, but he shared the truth and the eunuch responded immediately. he was ready and God placed phillip on the road at just the right time. if phillip had waited one day, eternity may have been different.
strap used to say, "delayed obedience is disobedience," and it's so true.
missions is about obedience - immediate, drop what you're doing and go obedience.
it's not about a certain people group.
it's not about planting churches.
it's not about orphan care.
it's not about reaching your jerusalem or the ends of the earth.
it's about obeying God.
it's not about how many people you reach or applying the world's standard of success.
it starts with knowing God, knowing His heart and being able to discern His voice.
and when you hear His voice you respond immediately.
you don't pout because you have to leave your comfort zone.
you don't limit sharing the gospel to who you know or what you're used to.
you don't doubt where God is sending you or question whether that will be fruitful.
you just go when God says go.
and you are so eager to share the truth that you run at the opportunity.

God's been reminding me lately that my life is not my own. i've been trying to do things my way. good things...missional things...but my way. but that doesn't fly with God. i've realized that i don't like being told no...and i've been stomping my feet a little. but we can't walk up the mountain of sacrifice griping and complaining the whole way. His commands are not burdensome, but sometimes we make them a burden. if we say, "Lord i give this up to you," but we do it with a grudge, it's not a very pretty gift. God has a good plan for my life. it's guaranteed to be an adventure. it may not be exactly how i want it to be. but it will be abundant. but just how abundant is very closely related to just how obedient i am. when He says "go" or when He says "no."