This post comes to you out of a collaboration of young ladies training for ministry. We are so excited to share these challenging and encouraging words with you. Certainly, these girls are wise beyond their years! For more information on the Our Generation Training center please visit its website or contact Vision Baptist Missions.
“You can’t do that.”
“It’s just not something that’s done.”
“I would tie my daughter to a bed post before I let her go.”
Can you imagine sharing your calling from God with others and this is the devastating response you get? Would you still go? This is the choice that Ann of Ava had to face. Ann Judson was the first American missionary wife to go to a foreign field. She lived in the 1800’s, and this was not a time where women were celebrated or educated. No one expected much from a woman, but Ann shocked them all. What exactly made this possible? She believed in a God that is limitless.
We’ve all had times where we thought that we were not strong enough to do something or people told us we couldn’t. Instead of believing these nay-sayers, we should follow the example of Ann. She did what God told her to do regardless of the opinions of other people. Ann sought the advice of friends and family to see if they really supported her when she was about to depart for India. She found out all her friends and family doubted the power and protection of God. Ann truly believed Matthew 28:20 which states “…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” In her heart, she knew she must not heed people’s opinions but rather must trust in her limitless God.
From the time you are born until you die, you will face limits in terms of age, race, gender, economic background, nationality,etc. The fact is, we live within the world’s limits, BUT we Christians serve a limitless God! Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”
We have a choice to make: will we allow ourselves to be limited by the opinions of those around us or will we trust our God will not guide us where He will not provide for us? All of us would probably say that we would choose God. We say that we trust Him and we would do as He says, but our hearts are often filled with doubt. We have to make a conscience decision that, despite our fears and doubts, we will push forward for God.
It may not be an easy decision or the popular decision, but it will be worth it. God is always with us to help us break through our limits. We cannot do without God. Matthew 19:26 says, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
If we are saved then we all have this power within us. We don’t have to doubt that we could really be anything and do anything. We could even be a missionary; we could leave our homes and travel across the world to a country that is foreign to us and help bring the people to salvation. We can do it because we do not live within the limits of any person’s sight!