Leaving the Lies Behind - Part 3

My family has been serving in France as missionaries for almost twenty years.  As any missionary who has been living on the field for that long can tell you, as much as I love France, it will never completely be home.  I do not always feel the weirdness of living outside of my native country, but in the back of my mind, I know that I am and will forevermore be the foreigner here.  

Maybe it comes from the strange looks I get when I butcher that phrase in French that I have said flawlessly a hundred times before.  Maybe it comes in the head-scratching moments when stores are closed for one month every summer, every Monday, and sometimes just because a holiday falls on a Thursday.  Maybe it comes as you commit the never-ending list of cultural faux-pas, social awkwardnesses and embarrassing moments that remind you that in spite of your best efforts, you will never ever ever ever ever ever actually fit in here. 

Cue social media.

I love the social part of social media.  I love feeling connected to family and friends in the U.S. (and fellow missionaries around the world.) With the touch of a button, I can wish happy birthday to my brother, or congratulate a niece on the birth of her child, or cheer on a friend as her family grows, excels, celebrates, and generally enjoys all the benefits of living in the good ole US of A.

That part is great.  The not-so-great part is that if I am not carefully guarding my heart, I risk exposing it to one of Satan’s lies, and it is a real doozy.

Lie number three:  Your life would be better in the U.S.

How I wish I could say that I have never entertained this lie in my heart.  To be honest, usually I don’t.  I am happy living here in what I consider to be one of the most beautiful countries on the planet.  My family is here, our ministry is here, our “home” is here.  When life is generally going well here, I don’t tend to dwell on what I am “missing” by not being in the U.S.  

When challenges on the field arise, however, my comfort-craving heart looks around for the “quick-fixes” that will instantly transform my difficult situation into my dream life.  I want my problems to go away, my trials to vanish overnight, and my life to continue on without its difficulties.  Many times, my challenges arise from being “stuck” here, in this place, in this time. I find myself whispering in my heart, “If only I were back in the U.S., I wouldn’t be facing this problem right now. Life would be good.  Better, even.”

What does my “better” life in the U.S. look like?

My financial needs would be better.  I am so thankful for our financial supporters and for their continued faithfulness in giving.  It would be impossible for us to stay on the field without their sacrifices and support, both materially and spiritually.  But oh, the joys of living with fluctuating exchange rates, bank closings, late deposit transfers, and the challenges of overseas bureaucratic “red tape” that can throw our finances into a tailspin!  Or the unexpected medical emergencies.  Or emergency evacuations from dangerous circumstances.  The comments from well-meaning family members--“Why don’t you just find a job there to help out?”—fall flat.  If only it were that easy…

When Satan roars this lie in my heart, I must run to the truth of God’s provision being linked to His faithfulness and not to my location.  When Paul wrote in Philippians 4 about learning to be content in whatever state he found himself, he was in prison.  Later in that chapter, he was encouraging an extremely persecuted and financially burdened church that God was the provider of their needs, through Christ: 

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” 

While God employs people or jobs to supply our needs is not the important part.  He is the Provider, and His provision comes in His way, in His timing, through His means.  

Am I willing to trust in His provision, in His timing?

My family would be better.  My husband was born and raised here in France by missionary parents.  So are my children.  I love seeing France through their eyes.  For the most part, they have accepted through the years that their lives are different from the ones they would have lived in the U.S. Different, but still good.  Of course, I know better.  I know that my husband would be better respected as a pastor in the U.S., that he would be less stressed with ministry needs and more fulfilled in his relationships with other men.  My children would have the myriad opportunities for sports and social encounters and camps and church activities, not to mention all the “stuff” that accompanies normal teen life in the U.S., right?

How short-sided my view of “better” for my family is, in light of all of the spiritual blessings that come from a life well-lived for Christ.  Whenever I am tempted to compare my life “here” with my life “there,” I must remember that the blessings that come from Christ are spiritual ones, not necessarily tangible ones, and they are not linked to a place.  Ephesians 1:3 reminds me, 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” 

In fact, the whole first chapter of Ephesians is a wonderful stopping-off place whenever I am tempted to complain about my current situation in life.  Is there any temporal blessing that can compare to being redeemed through the riches of God’s grace, an heir of the Father, knowing the mystery of God who revealed Himself to us through His Son? I do not have to be in America for my family to be blessed—we are already abundantly blessed, wherever we are. 

My ministry would be better.  It’s no secret that God’s work anywhere in the world is not getting easier, period.  It takes years of investment in people’s lives and during the “lean” times of ministry, it is just so, so, so tempting to quit.  These folks just aren’t “getting it.” There must be another place where it is easier to do the Lord’s work.  Why, in America right now, they are holding revival meetings and there are Christian camps and song services and Christian colleges, blog writers and ladies’ meetings.  I am sure hearts would be more receptive “over there.”

My stateside friends are rolling their eyes right now.  Of course, the ministry is not any easier in the U.S. Every field has its own challenges and faces its own obstacles to the Lord’s message. Ministry is difficult, period. And I should not expect it to be any different, whether I am surrounded by other Christians in the U.S. or ministering alone here on the field.  I am never alone. What a beautiful promise Jesus left His disciples at the end of His ministry to them:

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

The Lord’s work will always be hard, no matter where I am.  But if I am not where I am supposed to be, it will be infinitely harder.  And if God has called me to be here in France, I will never be more blessed in the ministry anywhere else than right here.

On our last furlough we stayed in a mission’s house with an old television that only received the local channels.  One commercial for life insurance played on a loop during certain broadcasts.  The question that the paid sponsor asked was always, “What’s your better?” What would make my life better in the future than it is right now?  It is a good question to ask, because it often reveals gaping holes in my own daily walk.  

Whatever I am tempted to cling to as a “better” than my current situation needs to be brought in line with God’s Word.  If I am walking close to Him, in the place He has called me and being faithful in the work that He is calling me to do, then the “better” I am longing for is not part of God’s best for me.  Whatever is not for God’s best in my life, no matter how tempting it might seem at the moment, needs to be left aside.  Only as I humbly accept the portion that God has given me today in this place will I ever truly be blessed and satisfied.  

“I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” (Psalm 142:5)

Read Part 1 and 2 here...

Part 1

Part 2

Susan Abbett is a missionary wife and mom serving the Lord for almost twenty years in the needy country of France. Nothing wakes her up better than coffee, motivates her like learning from God's Word, challenges her like teaching anything to anyone who will listen, and refreshes her like being outside, usually walking or working in her garden. If she could sum up her life in one verse it would be John 3:30: "He must increase but I must decrease."