07/15/2025
How far would I walk to hear the gospel, or to see the grave of a disciple whose hand held the cloak of Jesus? How long would I travel to reach the soul of one man or woman who had never heard of my Lord Jesus Christ? Would I walk on Pilgrimage over the Pyrenees and across Spain to Santiago de Compostela? Would I travel my entire life to reach the ends of the earth with the gospel welling up in me? Would I sail across raging seas in a small wooden boat to reach one lost centurion?
“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
Romans 1:14-15 ESV
Millions have travelled the Pilgrim's trail to visit the tomb of St. James, and Paul sailed to Rome through violent seas to deliver the gospel of Jesus to Rome. Where have I been, how far have I traveled, and who have I saved?
I wrote several weeks ago about an Ethiopian Pastor that travels from the United States to the Middle East to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. His resolve is stronger than a tempest, and his faith deeper than any ocean trench. In the most dangerous place on earth for a Christian to walk... he steps forth, and speaks of Rome, Peter, Paul, and raises the banner of Jesus Christ to declare Him the King above all kings. Where have I been, and who have I delivered the gospel to?
Have you ever asked yourself these questions? I am not talking about flying to a town where everyone knows who Jesus is and spending a week or walking from the car into a Soup Kitchen to feed men who eat there every day. I'm talking about getting knocked down and blinded by Jesus then picking yourself up and going wherever He sends you or walking side by side with your faith across scorching miles until the hand you find in yours is His. Where have we been, and who have we reached out to in the name of Jesus?
“And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."”
Acts 9:5-6 ESV
We long to hear His voice as He tells us where He would have us go, and to see the dust from His feet as they travel before ours towards the revelation that awaits us, but we all want it to be grand... for the journey to be epic, and that the souls we reach out to would be numerous, but that isn't always where He sends us, or how it is to be, sometimes He gives us the smallest of seeds.
“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Matthew 13:31-32 ESV
I was a biology major in college and one of the most amazing things, perhaps more incredible than scenes of the Serengeti, or an Alaskan salmon run, was what I found on a small slide I slid into my microscope. Not every marvel is large, and not every miracle is one our eyes can see. Sometimes the voice of God sends us to do marvelous things in small places, and to take miraculous journeys in a single step.
So, perhaps the walk from my car to the soup kitchen is my Pilgrimage, and the man I hand the sandwich to and tell about my savior, is the only soul I will ever be called to reach... but isn't that magnificent enough if it is God’s will? If I write of my faith, my God, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit, then share it with others, isn’t that magnificent enough if it is the will of God? Isn’t telling a single child about Jesus Christ and his life, love, suffering, death, and resurrection enough if the Holy Spirit guides us in it? Let’s think about this today and ask ourselves if God’s calling for us is anything but miraculous, and if our travels in prayer reach far enough into the world as we sit quietly in our prayer closet, or prayer chair, and deliver them. Join me today in prayer, and whatever journey the Lord sends you on.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for sending me out to witness to others, and I thank you for the journey we are traveling together. Holy Father, I listen for your voice that sends me, and the footsteps of Jesus that I trace. I praise you for the epic journeys you send so many of us on, and I praise you for the small microscope slide that contains the sum of my calling. Lord give me an insight into your Word, and the magnification necessary to see the wonder of your will for me. Never let me underestimate what you have prepared for me, and the importance of worlds so small that their entirety is comprised of a single invaluable soul, a brief prayer, or a single drop of rain. Father, it was DNA you created that none could see which formed my Lord Jesus in the womb of Mary, and it was the way of grief, the way of suffering, the Via Dolorosa, that was so short and yet reached from Jerusalem, to Hell, and back into heaven itself. Never let me confuse the size of your calling with the importance you have placed on it and never let me attempt to measure the length of my journey with an earthly ruler. Praised be your name Father, and regardless of where you send me... show me your boundless glory... whether in the great or small steps you would ask me to take. I give you all the glory for whatever and wherever I am sent, because after all, by what measure am I to gauge your grace and love? Am I to measure it by the pound, the mile, the word, a breath, or some unknown measure of my obedience and heart?
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen!
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 ESV
“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20 ESV
“All the ends of the earth shall rememberand all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.”
Psalm 22:27 ESV
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
Luke 16:10-11 ESV
Rich Forbes