Changing perspective...

When I was young, missionaries would come speak at our church. Whenever people spoke about missional efforts there were typically lots of maps and numbers from the organizations that funded them.

It was almost like the debrief of a military campaign.  Ground being gained. Ground being lost.

My perspective has changed a lot over the years about the goals. I no longer see the hardest task as external ground to be gained, but rather as internal ground to be surrendered.

We are often blind to what is inside ourselves that we keep out of God's reach. It would seem that a lifetime spent pursuing God is a lifetime spent uncovering that ground and surrendering it to Him.  What I've found is that the surrender of our internal ground produces healed places. Parts of us that no longer function under the crazy rules the world lays out, but instead enjoys freedom to operate exactly as God intended it to.

The paradox is that much of the ability to "see" the unsurrendered ground inside ourselves is developed in time spent outside of "us."  Time spent serving others or simply being alone with God.