Are you feeling stuck?

 

The new sermon series at our church is titled Stuck and today Pastor Chris spoke about Paul and how he may have been “stuck” in his circumstances but he wasn’t “stuck” in his attitude.  I think it is super easy to feel stuck in where we are right now.  Stuck at home.  Stuck wearing a mask all day at work.  Stuck with “home schooling” our kids. Some may even be stuck in the hospital.

Personally, I enjoy being home.  During our normal days before the Corona Virus hit I was running around everywhere!  I would make at least 3 trips back and forth to the kids’ school a day.  Then usually an errand or appointment during the day.  Then when sports are in season it’s to and from practice and games several times a week.  The kids would ask, “What are we doing tomorrow?” and if I said, “Nothing, no plans.” They would respond, “Aww, can’t we go somewhere? Do something fun?”  “We run around all week!” I would say.  “We’re just going to spend some time just hanging out at home.”

And here we are…”spending time and hanging out at home” for over a month. 😳

Not exactly what I had in mind.  Pastor Chris went on to say that Paul used his circumstances of being “stuck” as leverage for God’s purpose.  Paul was in prison, he was chained to a Roman Guard. Or was the Roman Guard chained to Paul?  His guard changed every 6 hours.  That means every 6 hours Paul had a new person to share the love of Jesus with.  Amazing. That’s 4 different people IN ONE DAY!

Am I using this time of being “stuck” at home as leverage for God’s purpose?  Our family has been called to Tenwek Hospital for the next 2 years.  God has a place for us there and we want to carry out his purpose and spread the love of Jesus though medical missions and education in Kenya.  Is this a bad time to be planning a trip to Kenya?  Not if that’s where God wants us to go.  Are we stuck at home and not able to continue preparing to go to Kenya? We may be at home but our preparations are not stuck.  We have been able to speak to over 40 families through Zoom chats and build our support team!  Sometimes we talk to 5 different families in 1 day!  Could we have done that before Corona Virus? Leveraging our circumstance for God’s purpose.

Our kids are home 24/7. They have each other to play with and nobody else. They have their moments but we are blessed that they play together very well.  They know all they have right now is each other.  When we first move to Kenya, it’s going to feel that way. They won’t know anyone else and only have each other. Hmmm. Sound familiar? Preparations. Leveraging our circumstances for God’s purpose.

The medical community has been in the limelight for quite sometime now.  They are more recognized than ever before.  Their importance is exponentially recognized. Now picture a hospital in a developing country such as Kenya, with limited funds and access to medical equipment and supplies. That is where we are going!  God has called us to support those at Tenwek hospital and neighboring communities. Leveraging our circumstances for God’s purpose.

So instead of wallowing in my feeling “stuck”, I want to use this time to leverage it for God’s purpose, to further the kingdom of heaven.