But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 1 Corinthians 1:27

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. – Luke 10:21

I awoke this morning fifteen minutes before the scheduled sunrise. I had set my alarm clock to this time and told it to slowly increase in volume to a worship song until I was gently pulled from REM sleep to a smiling awake. I stood and immediately grabbed a glass of water to wake up my insides. Then I got dressed, slipped on my rainbow flip flops (who were still where I had placed them last night), and took a dusk walk with my beautiful wife. It was new to me, this whole process, but it is part of a new way of life for Dustan. Discipline to spend more time with my Master, and be more productive with the time he has given me. As we walked it seemed we weren’t alone. Perhaps God still takes time, after painting sunrises and sunsets, to take walks with His children. Maybe.

I was prodded into these changed by some very uncomfortable situations this past week. As you probably know we are about to set out on another mission journey around the world. We will be going to some of the most unreached places, and we must be ready. One of the preparations is to contact some missionaries that are already working in the areas the Lord has laid on our hearts. So I wrote some, and got some great responses. However, there was one response I received that was the most condescending email I have ever received. It was written in disdain and the core message was: ‘Stay off my turf. You have no idea what your doing. Go join a group that will train you in mission-o-logy. We’re the ones working here. Don’t come back now, you hear?’

After reading I typed out the most Southern Straight forward email that I could, effectively telling the guy what a jerk he was and how his work is being made ineffective because of how he is discouraging everyone else that feels called to the same country. Yes, I backspaced that one; the Lord wouldn’t let me send it. The final version was along the lines of: ‘Thank you for your words. I will consider some of them. Thank you for what you do for our Lord.’ Two days later he write me again rebuking me for something else. Come on, I’ve never met this guy. My reply was simple: ‘Don’t write me anymore.’

This got me thinking too much. In my mind I started reviewing every policy I’ve built in RLI, from avoiding ‘secret missions’ to working with others. I started taking inventory of everyone of the stacks of books I’ve read on missions. I started rehearsing to myself all the experience I had sleeping on floors in foreign homes, and how many long conversations I’ve had with Muslims, Atheist, and communist worldwide.

I was busy filling myself full of it, when the Lord reached inside and smacked my backside. He was like, “Seriously? Your kidding right?”

Why? Because God is not a liar, and the truth is that on my own I am totally unequipped for this work. The truth is that you, on your own, are totally unequipped for this work. The truth is we’re all idiots on our own, and no amount of reading (other than the Word) can undo that. We can NOT trust our own understanding. We must realize God knows more and that his ideas and ways are smarter. He’s not looking for the tallest of the brothers, he’s looking for the shepherd boy out back worship the Lord. He’s looking for faith, hope, love, courage, and humility (undeceived honesty about yourself). The method book has already been written and it out-sales every other one. It’s called the Bible. It’s full of simple instruction and places (over and over again) more importance on character than it does on skills. It calls fishermen and fools the smart ones. Why? Cause they know that they are not smart, not really, not without Him. It says God uses these foolish things to confound the wise. It says Jesus, in Luke 10, after sending out his disciples, had a bit of a Holy Ghost party rejoicing that God chooses the babes. Babes. That’s me. I’m a babe…. umm reword, I’m a child.

This has made me more than ever want to press into His presence and His Word. I need Him, and I want people at the end of my life to not attribute what the Lord accomplished through us to a school or a certain church planting method. Rather, I want them to say: ‘Man, god used a fool to do great things. Some uneducated dude who loved Jesus. He saw it in the bible, copied it the best he could (rough at times), prayed and tried to obey, and look what God has done! Look what GOD has done!’

I want to be more disciplined with my time. I want to read and study anything God wants me to. I want to let Him build this fool up a bit, cause I know I need it. Everything we’ve done so far has been totally because of HIS grace and strength, not our pathetic might and power. He get’s the glory, really. We had to obey yes, but hey thats the fun adventure.

I admit it. I’m a foolish thing. It’s okay. I’ll be the spectacle.

Today as you go out, forget the lie that you have to act like you have everything together. You don’t, nor do you have to. You just need Him, His Word, His presence, a little faith, and humility. Try that instead. Perhaps God will use you to raise up a cripple man, then when you are questioned the crowd will go, ‘Man, this guy in uneducated, but he sure does act a lot like Jesus.’

If I’m out of mind it’s You, You.
Cause I’m crazy in love with You, You.
Inebriated by You.
Cause I’m head over heels for You, You.
- David Crowder