Why Are You Still Here?

 Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus.

Today, I want to ask you a question that might seem simple at first, but I think it's one of the most important questions you can ask yourself: Why are you still here?

No, I don't mean here listening to this podcast—though I'm grateful you are! I mean here on earth. If you've accepted Jesus as your Savior, if your eternity is secure, if Heaven is your home... why didn't God just take you straight there the moment you believed?

Let's explore that together today.

Daily life can get very busy with lots of good things, can't it? There's the daily care of our families, time with our spouses, work, school, church, music or sports activities, time with friends. The days go by so quickly.

And when we look back, what do we have to show for them? Actually, quite a lot! A lot of good things. Eternal treasures in the people we've touched and loved well.

But I want us to do something right now. Let's step back from our families, friends, and jobs for a moment. Step back from our neighborhoods, even our cities and country.

Let's look at the big picture.

Why are we here on this earth? Why, once we accepted Jesus as our Savior, didn't He take us right up to Heaven to be with Him?

The answer is simple, really: Because He has work for us to do here on earth.

But what is that work?

While I was growing up, living the "American dream," I imagined that the work God had for me was to do the best I could in school so that I could go to a good college, get a good paying job, get married, have children, and live a comfortable life in America.

But is that it? Is that the "work" God left me on this earth to do?

I think the answer is both yes and no.

Yes, we absolutely are to love our spouses, our children, our families and friends. We're to do the best we can at our jobs, raise our families, and do our best to provide them with a healthy, safe environment. These things matter deeply to God!

But... Jesus told us something more. Something bigger. Something that extends far beyond our own families and communities.

When Jesus left earth to be with His Father in Heaven, He left us with some very important commands. The Bible records His words—each a bit different, but all with the same central theme. Listen to these:

Matthew 28:18-20: "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"

Mark 16:15: "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'"

Luke 24:46-47: "He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’"

Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The central theme is unmistakable: we are to go and tell the nations about Jesus.

And this command wasn't given to just a few of His disciples. It was given to all of them—including each one of us, if we have accepted Him as our Savior.

But I have to be honest with you. For the longest time, I just skipped over this command when I read these passages. If I thought about it much at all, I was glad that missionaries went overseas, and I asked God to help me be more bold when talking to friends about Jesus.

But that was it. That was the extent of my engagement with the Great Commission.

Then the change began.

It began in 2006 when we moved to Korea. It started with my simple desire to know God more. I began praying, asking Him to make Himself known to me. I began to ask God to do for me what the words of the song "Hosanna" so beautifully express:

"Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause."

And friends, He did! He answered that prayer in ways I never could have imagined.

Suddenly, I found myself going to bed at night thinking about all the people who would not lie down in a comfortable bed, in a safe home, with a full stomach, their children and spouse safely with them. And most importantly—most heartbreakingly—I thought about those who would go to sleep without resting secure in Jesus.

This prompted me to pray. And as I prayed more, God spoke to me more about His desire for the nations. He began to break my heart and fill me with compassion for the lost and the persecuted church.

But here's what I want you to understand: I didn't start out with this goal. My only desire had been to grow closer to God and to do with my life what He wanted me to do... beyond just my family.

He is the One who grew these passions in me. He developed these desires. He birthed these prayers and prompted these actions. I just showed up and asked Him to work in my heart.

This passion for the lost and the persecuted began to spill over into my family. I began teaching my children about the world, the Church, the lost, missionaries—basically, teaching them to be Great Commission-minded.

My goals for them changed dramatically. At first, I had the same goals for them that I'd had for myself growing up—good education, good job, comfortable life.

But now? Now my goal is that they would passionately follow Jesus Christ wherever that may lead them. My desire is that they either go as missionaries or become a powerful sending force for missionaries. That they would see the big picture and live their lives accordingly.

Friends, here's the big picture I want you to see today:

The big picture goes beyond our families. It reaches beyond our communities, beyond America, beyond our comfortable Western lives. It reaches to the least-reached people in the most remote, repressive areas of the world.

We have got to start thinking about them. Praying for them. Doing what we can to share the good news of Jesus with them.

And we do this all for the glory of God.

Jesus deserves this! He is worthy of worship from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue.

The lost deserve this! They deserve the chance to hear His name, to know His love, to experience His salvation.

And we—in the process—will be incredibly blessed. We will be "storing up for ourselves treasures in Heaven," as Jesus said in Matthew 6:20.

But it all begins with prayer.

God will speak as long as you are asking and listening. I believe He will break your heart for the lost, just as He is breaking mine.

Let me share something that Ann Dunagan wrote that captures this so perfectly. She talks about how God will light "a spark for world missions that will grow into a fire for the unsaved like you've never had before... God's love for unreached people will burn so strongly inside you that it will start spreading to others, specifically to your own children and to the young people you come in contact with."

Isn't that beautiful? A spark that grows into a fire!

So here's my invitation to you today:

Start asking God to break your heart for what breaks His. Ask Him to show you the big picture. Ask Him to give you His eyes for the world.

You don't have to know how it will all work out. You don't have to have a plan to move overseas or quit your job or make radical changes tomorrow. Just start by asking. Start by being willing. Start by saying, "Lord, I want to live my life for something bigger than myself. Show me what that looks like."

My prayer is that this podcast will help you on this journey into fulfilling the Great Commission. There is so much that you can do to use the time that He has given you for His glory!

You can pray for unreached people groups. You can give to support missionaries. You can learn about what God is doing around the world. You can teach your children to have a global vision. You can go on a short-term mission trip. You can befriend internationals in your community. You can advocate for the persecuted church.

The options are endless, but they all start with the same place: asking God to show you the big picture.

Friends, you are still here on earth for a reason. Yes, love your family well. Yes, do your job with excellence. Yes, invest in your community.

But don't stop there.

There's a world full of people who need to hear about Jesus. And God wants to use you—yes, you—to help reach them.

Dearest Lord Jesus, "Break my heart for what breaks Yours” May I be able to pray that with an honest heart. I recognize that You have kept me here for one primary reason…to share the truth of who You are with a hurting and lost world. Thank You that You have called me and chosen me as Your child. Now please send me out as Your ambassador, desiring and working at reconciling those I know and those I will meet, to You. You are beautiful beyond description and I love You. In Your name I pray, amen. 

I promise you, if you pray that prayer sincerely, your life will never be the same. And what an adventure it will be!

Thank you for joining me today. Until next time, keep your eyes on the nations... and remember why you're still here.

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