Moving Where I Am

Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:1 NASB)

The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:10 NASB)

Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there.
Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. (Acts 17:14-15 NASB)

After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. (Acts 18:1 NASB)

One of my least favorite things to do is move.  I hate it.  Partly because we have too much stuff, but mostly because it's so unsettling (duh, that's part of the point of moving).  I don't like uprooting, and I don't like getting resettled.  Recently (in the last few years), air travel has become another thing I don't like to do.  But for all these forms or types of travel, I do like to travel.

I like to drive long distances.  I like to see stuff, especially local stuff that tells the story of the place.  I like hearing people's story of why they're there or what happened way back when.  When I started college, everything I had for my dorm room fit in my truck; all of it.  It was actually a lot of stuff, but I was very proud that it all fit in one trip, books, rack stereo, computer (before laptops) and all.   It made it really easy to travel, pick up and go, I felt like I could be a gypsy.  I just have never had that mentality, but I had the truck.

Paul moved about a lot.  In fact, in the next chapter of Acts, 18, he doesn't even stay home long before heading out again for the northern regions of Asia Minor.  He didn't have a truck, all his stuff fit in his bag, on his back.  And he walked.  It couldn't have been easy in those days.  Sure merchants did it all the time, but they traveled in caravans, on wagons, and so on.  There was no "bus" to the interior regions of Anatolia, he had to hoof it; and do so with all his "gear".

Paul seems to love this sort of thing.  He goes to churches, strengthening them, and moving on to the next.  I'm not so wild about it.  It may fit some people just right, and they may love the very idea.  We're not all the same, and we're not all that different, but I believe that God has prepared and gifted some for this sort of Christian Road Show.  I read a book about a pastor from China, who moved about a lot.  He had a home, wife, children, but he also moved around to various churches.  It was a hard life, on him and his family, yet he felt compelled, and God used him tremendously because of his willingness to be a Christian Road Show. 

I don't feel so compelled.  I don't believe this is my "gifting" from my Master.  On the other hand, I wonder if I'm just too comfortable.  What if it is my "calling", but I'm too much in love with the "setup" I enjoy in this place?  That never lasts long.  I know something about myself.  I don't have a "road show" to take.  I have a gospel to proclaim, God is reconciling the world to Himself through His Son, Jesus.  But my "audience" is here.  I'm not one to take this message on the road.  At lest, not so far.  I have no "audience" beyond my neighborhood.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm not out there in front as much as back here in the background.  I'm okay with that.  I'll travel for vacation and family events, but my Master has planted me here, for these people.  I need to be about what my Master has for me rather than looking outward for 'the next big thing'.  Paul was not my model for method, but he is for attitude.  He submitted to the Master and went.  I need to submit to the same Master and stay.  There are others my Master has who are destined for Paul's model of method.  They need my prayer support and financial support.  And so I give of both.  But I also need to be about the work here around me.  There's plenty to do here.