Singin' The Blues

As many of you know, Jeff and I have done a lot of traveling doing missions. Sometimes, when we return from a trip – or if we haven’t been on one in a while - we get what we call the Missionary Blues. It’s just a blah, almost mildly depressed or frustrated feeling that’s like being back down in the valley after being on top of the mountain.

I’ve even known people who have never been on a mission trip to experience this phenomenon.

I talk to people all the time who are tired of living the normal life - working 40 hours a week, taking care of kids and a home and two cars. They’re itching to do something worthwhile for God. They’re waiting for the day when He’ll tell them what it is He has for them to do. They want to do more – be more – for the kingdom.

I remember feeling that way in college, as I was a full-time student and part-time youth minister. All my friends were going off for summer mission trips to various places and I knew they would come back with amazing stories. And here I was, not even leaving town for the summer. The day that everyone received their summer mission assignments, the campus was buzzing with excitement – and I was sulking.

I walked over to the post office, hoping there would be something in the mail to cheer me up. There was a card from a student in my youth group, who often liked to send encouraging notes. This time she included a denim bookmark with a big sunflower embroidered on it, along with the words Bloom Where You’re Planted. Hmmm. At the time, I thought God had a sense of humor. But now looking back, I realized He wasn’t saying “Do what I have for you to do here, and then I’ll give you great and worthy things to do.” Now I’m realizing that God gives us opportunities to work with Him in normal, everyday ways. And doing normal things doesn’t become glorious or worthy or more important just because you’re doing them on Chinese or Indian or Lebanese soil.

We don’t have to wait for God to give us something important to do. I can’t think of a better example of this than what my friend told me recently about her son. Dylan wasted no time in doing important work for God. When he started kindergarten, he witnessed to his teacher, and later in the bathroom he asked a fellow student “Are you 100% sure if you died right now you would go to Heaven?” The other boy said “no.” Dylan paused for a moment and thought about that. Then he responded, “I go to church on Wednesday night. I’ll find out the rest and then come back and tell you more.”

Wow, that will snap you right out of missionary blues and remind you – we’ve got work to do!