By Angie Bentley
I’m digging through my backpack frantically at the bus stop all the while trying to stay calm. Big pockets and little pockets all seem to shrug that, no, they aren’t holding my phone.
Cue pit in stomach.
My phone is still on the bus—but I’m not.
It’s been a typical Friday morning flurry of activity getting out of the house. Included is a run to the bus stop, boarding just as it’s about to leave.
On Fridays, I trade my normal days of kinder pick up/drop off, play dates and reading books for an office of grown-ups.
I’m a mum and a missionary, and one day a week my role with the ministry is to help recruit more people to serve with Power to Change.
As I walk the 20 minutes from the bus stop to the office, the Holy Spirit gently prompts me to admit how I’ve jumped into my day with my own agenda and in my own strength instead of His. Lest you wonder, missionaries can succumb to this, too.
Lately, I dream especially of faces God might bring to empty desks here at the office. A face of someone using his/her strengths in communication to tell stories of changed lives. Or of someone whose strength is social media or web design or programming. Or of a man or woman who has administrative gifts, who wants people to know Jesus and wants to play a part
My mind whirs with ideas most Fridays. And, very subtly, I’m tempted to run ahead with strategy and plans.
Well, those plans for my day suddenly change as I hung up with the bus company’s lost and found division. Good news–they found my phone! Bad news—I need to come in person to pick it up from the bus terminal. I want to kick myself for the chunk of time that will take.
Leaving my phone on the bus seems the latest way God is wooing me to slow down and leave space to listen to Him, hearing Him speak to my heart about His priorities for my day or anything else He wants to say. He’s reminding me that this is all His work, His timing, needing His power.
After 17 years as a missionary, I continue to be surprised by the adventure of being involved in God’s work. What a privilege to have a role in helping people hear the very good news of the gospel. What I do on Fridays matters, not because of what I do, but because of what the Holy Spirit is doing in me and through me as I rely on Him.
With or without my phone.
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