Maybe It's No Accident

Ever long for a different job in a different place with different people?

• I feel so different than the folks around me.
• Why can't I be around people who see the world like I do?
• This city, this church is so...(liberal, conservative, simple, backwards, leftist, etc)
• Oh to have friends that could talk about the deeper things of life

 If we were advising Saul who became Paul on his ministry career, it might look like this:

"Let's see. You have a quite a heritage as a Jew! Tribe of Benjamin, schooled by the noted teacher Gamaliel. So well-studied in the Torah. It's quite obvious to me. You should teach in Jerusalem. With such a resume as yours, I'm sure you'll be a great fit in the city where it all began. You have what it takes to reason with the great minds of the Saducees and the Pharisees. Saddle up, Paul. I see big things for you in your future right in the heart of Israel!"

But then God rarely looks at our pedigree like we do. "Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" Acts 22:21.

It's ironic. The man with one of the more brilliant minds in Israel. Where is he sent? To pagans who have little or no knowledge of what he's best at: reasoning and teaching from a Jewish perspective. To people who can't appreciate his expertise. I wonder if he ever had similar thoughts as those above:

• "Oh, to be free from pagans who have no clue!"
• "They are so...pagan!"
• "I miss the conversations and long nights discussing things like "Why were angels ascending Jacob's ladder?" and "Who was Melchizedek?"

But this is God. His ways are not ours. His career counseling sounds different. His motives are less to do with us and more to do with His big plan, His kingdom. 

So maybe your assignment today is no accident. Maybe you're where you are on purpose.