Common Sense or Lack of Faith

[Nikud]

I have been offered the opportunity to go do God's work in a few countries in the past. Each time it was placed on my heart, I came close to going. The they have been places like Northern Nigeria where there is increasing violence between Muslims and Christians, and on the border of Southern Sudan and Uganda where a friends Ministry shelters chidren who were forced to be child soilders and women who were forced to be sex slaves. My heart broke when I decide not to go to either. I decided that it was common sense for me not to put my family in danger. I told myself God gave me common sense for a reason. There's a few books that when I read them and when I watch the Secret Church sermons amongst others that make me start to rethink those decisions and feel guilty for not trusting that God would protect us. Then i get convicted by a few scriptures.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

-Mathew 28:19

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

– Matthew 6:25-27

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

– Joshua 1:9

In God do I trust, I will not be afraid; What can man do unto me?

-Psalm 56:11

This makes me wonder is it Common Sense or Lack of Faith.

 

[Cam]

Psalm 91 is my daily reminder Yahweh will take care of you, if one lets him.

 

[Jim an Apostle]

I know your pain and frustration. May God bring peace to your heart.
Having an opportunity does not equal a call or mandate.
Just because you can do a thing doesn't mean you should.
The will of God should be determined in advance in faith and conviction and not based upon outcomes whether good or bad.
Foolishness does not equal faith.
Fear should not determine our decisions.
Ultimately it is the still small voice that we must follow.
We must not live our life in regret if we err.
Forgiveness includes our lacks of faith.
The condemnation of the devil is not of God.
To find the will of God now and in the future is the proper focus.
To find the will of God FISH for it.
F ruit of the spirit
I nward witness
S cripture
H igher gifts and callings for counsel.
It takes faith to go and it takes faith to stay. I trust you acted in faith. I trust you shall act in faith now, and in the future.
I believe you did NOT act out of rebellion.
The honest question is not despised.
May God make his future plans for you plain to you and give you the courage to act in faith accordingly.
PEACE

 

[andrew]

In my experience the call of God is unmistakable, so my advice would be that if you're still thinking about it as if you have a choice, then you still have a choice. YMMV.

 

[Verifyveritas76]

In the same vein of thought, there have been several times I believed that God was directing me in a certain direction. With the idea in mind that where God guides, He provides, I began preparing my heart and family for a possible move in that direction, but waited to move for God to begin opening doors that only He could. Sometimes the doors opened and sometimes not but either way, I had peace because it wasn't up to me. He confirmed or rejected the desires of my heart and opened or closed doors in such a way that it left me at perfect peace whether I understood the why's and wherefore's.

 

[andrew]

Insert another plug for Experiencing God here....

 

[Nikud]

I know that sometimes I get ahead of myself, get to eager and pull a Peter and want to act. I'm doing my best to wait til I'm told to move. Sometimes I feel like a gun in a display case. I have a purpose but I'm not being used. Other times I feel like I was given a chance to act but failed to.

so my advice would be that if you're still thinking about it as if you have a choice, then you still have a choice.

The option is there just a diffrent local now.

 

[Nikud]

He provides, I began preparing my heart and family for a possible move in that direction, but waited to move for God to begin opening doors that only He could.

Im gonna take your example and I'm going to be ready to but im not going to make a move until He says jump.

 

[frederick]

Can I add a little first hand experience here, Kevin...? Without getting lost in the details but I was teaching the gospel over the internet to someone (a woman) in another country. Once I became certain that God had saved her, I taught her about baptism but she didn't know anyone who could/would baptise her so, after months of trying to work out what to do, I determined that God must want me go and baptise her. My wife and I ended taking a ten day mission trip to organise and then have the baptism. That was such a powerful testimony to our devotion to God and obedience to His word that she is now my wife - and what an amazing blessing God has given. So.... might I encourage you; if you know there is something you should be doing in obedience to God's word, God can (and does) bring the most incredible miracles out of it! And there are new doors opening right now for completely different mission opportunities in that country, which I'm excited to see what God will bring to pass. Our God is an awesome God "who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Eph. 3:20).

 

[IshChayil]

This is why Paul says if possible it's better to be like him ... for the husband cares of the needs of the wife.
The nice compromise for those who feel led overseas can be a mission field which is not as dangerous as those other areas.