Deeper Reflection
The Apostle Paul embarks on his second missionary journey to visit the brothers in those cities where he had first proclaimed the Gospel (vv.36-41). Hardly missing a beat since the time he was first sent out by the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1-3), Paul continued to pursue God’s mission. This time round, he sought to strengthen the churches and make new disciples of Christ among the cities of surrounding nations (vv.4-5).In embarking on this missions endeavour, Paul was driven and directed by the mission that the Lord had already entrusted to him. The general direction was to bring the Gospel to places where Christ was not yet known among the peoples. Paul was not held back by a need to know all the details before deciding where to go and what to do. Rather than passively waiting to discover God’s plan for each step of the way, Paul proceeded in active obedience to his calling and God’s mission. Along the way, God gradually revealed His specific direction for Paul’s ministry.Brothers and sisters, what if missions is not about us discerning whether we are specifically “called” to missions, but rather about us rediscovering God’s heart for the nations and His mission to reach all nations with the Gospel, and us taking the initial steps to participate with Him? What if bringing the Gospel to the nations was never meant to be only for specially “chosen” ones, but for every ordinary person who calls Jesus “Lord”? What if the key for us to overcome the sense of drudgery in life is to joyfully live out God’s mission?