God, Use Me – Devotions For Your Mission TripSample

 Follow The Leader

Are you scared? Are you excited? You’re probably experiencing a little of both emotions. Imagine how the Israelites must have felt when Pharaoh let them go. They must have been terrified! They were headed into unknown territory, away from familiar things. 

God did not leave the Israelites to wander around aimlessly though. They were being led—led by their God, by your God. By day, God went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud and by night, God led them in a pillar of fire. He led them through unfamiliar territory in a remarkable way.

You’re headed away from familiar things too. In just a few days, you’ll experience new foods, new cultures, new languages. You can trust God to prepare the way for you. It is His pleasure to open and close doors. It is His delight to lead you exactly where He wants you to go. We can follow God as humble servants, available and willing to serve.

Grace has taken numerous cross-cultural trips:

When I arrive in an unfamiliar culture, I often get overwhelmed. I start to focus on the comforts that are absent—like drinking water from the tap or enjoying my favorite foods. I get distracted by the cultural differences. Perhaps I’m a bit like the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert. They so often got distracted from God’s leading and reacted by complaining. They took their focus off of that pillar that was leading them and relied on their own efforts and ideas for how to fix everything.

Each time I go on a cross-cultural trip, I have to intentionally remind myself of God’s promise from Psalm 46:10: ‘Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ When I rely on God to lead me, He orchestrates everything. Our agenda may fall apart, but God is working out something better! Let’s allow God to lead us. He will show up and show off!

Suggested Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you know my hesitations. You know my excitement. I ask you to lead our team clearly in the assignment you have selected for us. We ask you to prepare our hearts and the hearts of those we will be serving. Help us to closely follow your leading and not our own expectations. Let us lay aside our agenda and only follow Yours. Amen.

Think It Through:

•  In what ways do I have a tendency to want to take the lead instead of God’s lead?
• What areas tend to frustrate me? (i.e. lack of punctuality, getting off schedule, etc.)
• How do I want to react when things don’t go as I had planned?
• In what ways do I want God to change my life through this trip?
• In what ways can I trust God to lead the way?