Stay or leave? I was nearing the end of my first year of teaching in South Korea and trying to decide whether to stay for a second year, as planned. If I decided to stay, I would have my job and a place to live, but the school where I worked was not a healthy environment. If I returned to the U.S., I would not have a job lined up, but I would have family. I analyzed each option, trying to determine where God was leading. Undecided, I wanted a sign.
In Judges 6, we find the story of Gideon. Not once, not twice, but three times, Gideon needed a sign, proof that it was God who was speaking to him, and that God was going to be with him when he fought the Midianites. First with fire, then a wet fleece, and then a dry fleece. Each time, God gave him the sign he asked for, but it was not until the third that Gideon seemed satisfied.
Some of us get into a similar cycle of continually asking for signs and wonders. We want to be certain that we are doing what God called us to do. Like Gideon, we ask God to show us signs and wonders. But whereas Gideon eventually stepped forward in faith, we sometimes find ourselves stuck, unable to move past needing signs and into action.
A coworker shared: “God can use any decision; He just can’t use no decision.” We waffle, unsure what to do. We think we have to make the right choice; otherwise, we will be outside God’s plan for us. But God is not limited in such ways. He can work with the decisions we make to bring about good; we merely need to decide.
With no job, no place to live, and no car, I decided to go home. I did not know how I was going to survive, but I knew it would work out with God’s help. And it did! Friends and family let me sleep on their couches, another helped me find a car, and eventually, I ended up at a GYC event where I discovered AFM.
I praise God for using my decision and leading me to my role in recruiting. I am also encouraged to know that even if I had stayed in Korea for another year, God would have used that decision.
Maybe you are currently stuck. You feel God calling you into mission service, but you want to be sure. You keep asking God for one more sign. This is your sign. If you sense God calling you to a life of service, make the decision. Please contact us at 800-937-4236 or recruiter@afmonline.org.
