It's almost that time of year when youth ministry trips kick into high gear. Whether it's going on mission trips, service projects, summer camps, music festivals or just fun adventures, getting out of the church building and going places has been an important part of working with students.
But should we do those things? I say yes and here's why - throughout Scripture God often takes his people on a journey. Abraham gets called to leave Ur, Joseph is taken to Egypt, Moses flees Egypt for the desert and returns, David spends years on the run hiding in caves, Jonah travels by whale to Nineveh, and God takes the entire nation of Israel on a journey out to Egypt through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Later, God takes the whole nation on a trip to Babylon. Even Jesus spent time going to the wilderness and he took his disciples traveling all over the place! And of course the book of Acts is full of journeys.
I believe that God does really important spiritual work deep in our hearts when we leave the known for the unknown and when we leave the comfortable for the uncomfortable.
- Joseph learned to honor God through deep difficulties in Egypt.
- Moses learned not to rely on his own abilities and resources out in the wilderness.
- David learned deep humility and reliance on God in the caves.
- The people of Israel learned to trust God to provide for all their needs in the desert.
- The disciples learned how to do ministry like Jesus did when he sent them to the towns and villages all over Israel.
Let's face it - trips are a lot of work. Arranging transportation can be ridiculously hard. Booking hotels, or whatever lodging you need, takes planning. And if you mess up making sure there's food, you're in trouble. And that's just what it takes to get where you're going, let alone what you do when you get there.
BUT all of these factors put us and our students in the perfect place to seek God, to trust God, to rely on God, and ask God to teach us things we could never learn if we just stayed at home.
So this is just a little encouragement that all of your hard work to take your students somewhere IS WORTH IT! God will use it all. God does some of his best work in these times - run to it, not away from it.
Take your kids places and see what God does.