I was in the shower, thanking the Lord for the blessing of hot water, when I suddenly stumbled over the word "blessing." Rather boldly, I asked, "Lord, if blessings mean things like available water, sufficient food, shelter, etc., does that mean that the millions of people who don't have these things are not blessed?" Clearly this was a rhetorical question whose answer must be "no," but I needed some new thoughts about this notion of being blessed.
The Lord quickly led me to first recognize that the greatest blessing in my life is to know Jesus. From there, it was obvious that such great blessing is not limited to those who have the wonderful things I have, which I refer to as "blessings." Millions of oppressed people in our country, and around the world, know Jesus AND call themselves blessed. I have personal experience of many Rwandan genocide survivors who know they are blessed, and knew that they were blessed DURING the terrible 100 days in 1994.
If this is a clearer notion of blessing—that to know Christ as one's Savior, Redeemer, Friend, and Lord is THE great blessing for us humans—then how should I be living, what should my life be about?
My salvation came in two parts. First, in college, and then much later, in my thirties. In between, I turned to my own destructive ways and caused great pain and damage to my three daughters and many others. Jesus was gracious in ways beyond my understanding to rescue me and set me on the path of following him, including a long period of repentance and amends.
Much later, I found myself hearing an invitation from God to go live in Rwanda. To prepare for that adventure with God, I was greatly helped by Pastor Rich Leatherberry, who among other things advised me to take the Perspectives course soon to be offered at BelPres. I had never heard of this, but followed his advice.
I will say two things about my first experience with Perspectives, in 2005: There are four parts to this course, the first of which is the Biblical perspective. As I read and listened to the teachings about God's persistent focus on the nations of the world as his goal and target for salvation, I realized I'd never before seen this strong theme so clearly proclaimed from Genesis to Revelation. That realization accomplished one of the main goals of the course, to produce a paradigm shift in my thinking about who God is and what he is about in the world.
The second thing to say about my first experience is that I didn't really attend to the lessons; rather, I did them because they were required. I pretty much skated through the rest of the course, checking off the boxes, but not really grasping much for myself. I'm not proud of this, of course, but it's important to note, in light of what followed.
Fast forward to my return from Rwanda, and I found myself again bumping elbows with Perspectives. Through my good friend Margie Gilchrist, Regional Director for Perspectives, I got roped into supporting the next course Belpres was to host by becoming a member of the coordinating team. I was very tangentially involved, but the Lord seemed to have his hand on me, gently nudging me to continue being connected. Now I am again on the coordinating team for the next round, the Greater Seattle Virtual course in Perspectives starting September 1.
And as I wonder about how Perspectives has shaped me and my journey, it suddenly begins to dawn on me, as I squeegee the fog from my shower door: If indeed THE blessing in my life is knowing Christ, wouldn't it be only logical that my greatest desire would be for everyone to know Him? And, have I done much of anything to make him known to the nations? Rwandans are way ahead of me in knowing and trusting Jesus, so living there doesn't count. Yes, I have a particular ministry of teaching and discipling, but does that let me off the hook as an evangelist? Nope.
So, here's how God is using Perspectives to shape me: It is exactly through my participation in preparing for this course that I can grow closer to God's heart for the nations. If it's what God intended from the beginning, and if it must be that all nations, people groups, and tongues will have professing Christians among them before Jesus returns, AND if I long for Jesus to return, I need to stay in this place God has put me, until, perhaps, I will become increasingly inflamed with his great love for all peoples. To know Christ is THE great blessing God yearns to confer on every person on this earth.
Jean McAllister