How To Organize a Mission
Something particularly important happens to the Christian community today. A quick reading of the verses in Acts today you just might miss it.
The Holy Spirit is guiding the Christians. Up to now the leaders would preach and teach the message of Jesus. As like today, people moved about. In their day, many people were moving because of the terrible persecutions inflicted on the Christian community. So, the Christian leaders could only hope and pray that those moving away would carry the message to others. Until now. With fasting and prayer, the Christian leaders learned of the desires of the Holy Spirit. What the leaders were to do is appoint men to purposefully go out on a mission and proclaim the gospel message. They were to evangelize wherever they went.
How did this come about? What insight did the leaders have of this mission? I think it comes back to the fact that they were fasting and praying. Oh, but we do that in Lent, right? Of course, but it is not restricted to Lent.
Think of it this way. When you have an important decision to make you put up five little post it notes. Then you get your darts and whatever post it note gets hit with a dart is what you do. Probably not.
But we tend to do this with our spiritual life. We evaluate what we need on this earth and carefully choose. Do we consider what our decision does to our spiritual life? Do we consider letting our spiritual life guide us in earthly decisions? If we are not then we better get some bigger darts.
Fasting is not just from food. It means turning off the electronics. Spending time in prayer. Asking God for guidance and direction. Asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom and understanding. What you have here on earth you do not leave up to chance why then leave your spiritual life up to chance. It is only eternal life in the balance, right?
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen