Are We Seeing the Needs Right in Front of Us?
It is easy to believe that God only calls us to serve in faraway places. We hear stories of missionaries crossing oceans, churches planting ministries in distant countries, and communities transformed around the world. While God certainly calls many to those places, He also invites each of us to pay attention to the needs that exist much closer to home.
When we think about Dr.Florence's story in Ethiopia, one moment continues to stand out. On Christmas Eve, she encountered a woman and several children searching through a trash pit for anything they could use to survive. It was a heartbreaking picture of poverty, but it was also a moment God used to reveal something much deeper. He wasn't simply showing a physical need. He was opening her eyes to an opportunity for lasting transformation.
That story challenges us to ask an important question: What are the "trash pits" in our own communities?
They may not be literal garbage dumps. They could be neighborhoods where families feel forgotten, schools lacking mentors, churches struggling to reach the next generation, or individuals quietly carrying burdens no one else sees. Every community has places where brokenness exists beneath the surface. The question is whether we are willing to slow down long enough to notice.
Often, God begins His greatest work by changing what we see.
As Dr. Florence's journey continued, she quickly realized she could not meet every need she encountered. The problems were simply too great. Rather than leaving discouraged, however, she learned something far more valuable. God was teaching her complete dependence on Him.
How often does He do the same with us?
God rarely calls us down a path where we can succeed through our own strength alone. Instead, He leads us into situations that stretch our faith, reminding us that lasting transformation has always been His work, not ours. When our plans reach their limits, His wisdom, power, and provision become even more evident.
Looking back, many of us can identify moments when God redirected our lives in ways we never expected. At the time, those detours may have felt confusing or even uncomfortable. Yet they became seasons where our faith deepened because we had no choice but to trust Him.
Those lessons are never wasted.
As we seek to engage in God's mission today, we must continue asking where He is leading us now. What is He teaching us through our current circumstances? What opportunities are sitting right in front of us that we've become too busy to notice? Where is He inviting us to depend on Him instead of our own abilities?
God is always at work. He is continually shaping our hearts, refining our character, and preparing us for the work He has already planned. When we remain attentive to His voice and obedient to His leading, we discover that His greatest work often begins with a simple willingness to notice what others overlook.
May we never become so focused on the mission field across the world that we miss the mission field across the street. As we faithfully follow where God leads, whether near or far, we can trust that He will use ordinary acts of obedience to accomplish extraordinary Kingdom purposes.
