On the Bench

My brother is in Sudan working on a myriad of jobs that God has sent his way, including building missionary homes, planting gardens, preaching sermons, giving Bible studies, and leading a choir.  I am here in Southern California, looking for a job. Looking, looking, and more looking.  Oh sure, I bake a lot too.  And I run.  And I try to be encouraging to Barry and those around me.  And I've tried to find some ministries to get involved in: tutoring, prayer group, Bible study, etc.  But it's not always easy to see that each of these is just as much a part of God's plan as what my brother is doing.

But don't get me wrong, I haven't been bowed over in discouragement.  Yes, there are episodes of frustration, when I just can't see what the point of all this might be.  But I know deep down that there have been huge blessings from my lack of a job, and that God is still leading.  He led me to get married, after all, and He's led us here.  And I know He is still leading.  I trust that.

Because my brother is in Sudan, my mom has been following every piece of news item and/or blog about the area that she can get her hands on.  She found out that there are some other Christian missionaries in Mundri and that led to her discovery of a blog which she shared with me.  It's about two doctors and their family who are missionaries to Uganda and who are associated with the same group of missionaries who are in Mundri, Sudan (World Harvest Missions).  The missionary family is currently taking a break here in the US before returning to the field, and the mother/wife wrote a profound blog today that I wanted to share a part of.  It hits home to where I'm at right now and to where I know several of my friends are at as well.

I like being on the mission field too, in the game so to speak, running hard and working hard, right in the middle of the action around the ball.  But I've been subbed out, and I'm sitting on the bench.  

So what does a good bench-warmer do?  First, I think, trust the Coach, who sees which players are tired, or about to be injured, or are dragging down the team's play, and need a rest.  Second, cheer.  When my kids are subbed out, they are still fully in the game, pulling for the team.  Luke in particular impresses me in his all-out loyalty, as happy for a team mate's score as his own.  

...I'm not a leader any more, but I want to be a good bench player.  One who cheers on the other players, who cares about the game, who is ready with the water bottle or pats on the back to strengthen the starters as they take a brief rest, who trusts this out-of-the-action assignment and waits patiently, who does some warm-up exercises and stays ready to go back in.  Because the only point of being on the bench is that one is waiting on the Coach, in faith.  Not very glorious, but a lot of the Bible is about waiting.  From the bench.

You can read the full blog here.