A Study In Luke - Day 29

DAY 29 - LUKE 9:1-6
 
9 One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. 4 Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. 5 And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

6 So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

Roy Angel (Shields of Brass, 41) tells the story of a missionary woman who came home to place her three children in American schools and then prepared to return to her mission field in Africa. A well-meaning friend watching her pack commented, “I am sure you are anxious to return to your mission field.” Frowning for a moment, the missionary replied in a solemn tone: “No, I am not anxious to get back. The place to which I am going is dirty. There are no electric lights; there are no modern conveniences whatsoever. There is no pure water, and I will be cooking on my wood stove. While I cook, I will be weeping because my children are so far away. I will be desperately lonesome for them and wonder if they are sick. When I remember that it will be three years before I see them again, I will be tempted to tell the Lord that I cannot stand it and am going home. No, I am not anxious to get back, but I am more anxious to do the Lord’s will than anything else. I would be more miserable here than there.”

Jesus sent his disciples out to go into the mission field, and he gave them authority to heal and cast out demons. He also reminds them not to take anything and to rely on God and the goodness of those they minister to for their every need.

Sometimes, when we go into the mission field God has for us, we will need little else than what God has provided and will provide for us in his graciousness. But he does mention that not everyone will accept this message of grace, and therefore, we are asked to continue to move on to pastures that are willing to receive the seeds of the gospel that we have been asked to plant.

Our dependence on God is a crucial aspect of this sending that Jesus does in this text. When we are sent into the mission field, whatever that is for each of us, we are called to go in faith, and with faith. That means we are being asked to depend on God in ways that perhaps we wouldn’t normally, and that we have to trust more than we ever have before.

1. What is your mission field? 
2. How can you trust God more as you move inot that mission field?