Journal Entry // December 25, 2021
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.
Revelation 14:6 ESV
This is one of the passages that the Lord has been imprinting within me for the last 25 years. He has put a desire within me that wants to be part of this eternal gospel being proclaimed to everyone. I want to see people from across all cultures and contexts come and join the chorus of praise and worship to our holy and sovereign God. I want to be part of this process in some form of fashion.
For twenty years the Lord allowed me to be directly involved in this proclamation of his eternal gospel to all the nations. My work life, my personal life, my church life, and all areas of my life were in harmony with this goal. Now, in God’s design, they are separated and all three look completely different. I have been struggling quite a bit with finding my footing in this new reality. I still want all areas of my life to center on this passage, but I find it difficult to see the connection at times.
This feeling of being off-center presents a tremendous challenge to me in how I balance my ambition and desires. I am learning that this new reality has caused me to be more intentional about pursuing my involvement in this eternal gospel. Where before I could just passively walk through life as God allowed me to spend most every moment in ministry of some sort, now I cannot take it for granted.
Time is precious. It is the most valuable aspect of my life and I can easily see how often I previously took it for granted. Now… There’s never enough time to be involved in all the eternal gospel initiatives I enjoy. I can only give a limited amount of my time. I have to be precise in what is most important and where God is leading me to serve. And when I do commit to something, it is 100%. This is the good. I better understand and value my role that God allows me to participate in sharing his eternal gospel.
I need to stop looking back at what God has taken away and focus solely on the path ahead and what God has prepared for me moving forward. Life looks different and may not be exactly what I would choose, but this is the path of Christ in my life. There are a lot of great and amazing opportunities that he has brought to me. The eternal gospel of Jesus is still being proclaimed and the Lord is allowing me to still have a part. Praise the Lord. His goodness and mercy are new every morning. His love is refreshed in my heart each and every morning. His gospel is moving in my heart, in the heart of those around me, and in every corner of the world.