I want to stay in my Grandmother’s kitchen where it is warm and she looks after me. Heart lifting hymns play on the radio and the table is set for all I need. She even gets me cake, because she knows I like it. The seats are comfy and I have a strong sense of wellbeing when I sit there. It is a place of happiness and I have a settled sense of my own goodness…

God doesn’t want me in her kitchen. He wants me out on the road, trudging the pavements for the lost and in need. He requires me to leave my comfort zone and get out there in the cold, the danger and the uncomfortable places, to seek souls he loves and will draw to Himself.

We are not supposed to be happy and well fed, while others have nothing, especially safety for their souls. He will hold us accountable for their welfare and how earnestly we prayed and served them.

Many, many are not like us and have been brought up with different values and customs and attitudes and it is difficult to put ourselves in second place and let people speak and express themselves without condemnation and judgment from us. We get mixed up between what God requires and what we think is important from our small perspective.

To get over this we need the love of Christ and a clear view of what He is like, how He treats people and His overwhelming love, which brought him from the heavenly home to our wretched world. He ultimately humbled himself for my sake, and yours, so He requires no less from us. Why is it so hard to listen and accept and draw alongside to help someone else? Why should I have a comfortable and lovely life, when others who went before, gave all?

The answers you have to these questions will guide you as to what you need to change, so that you can be like The Master and make a difference for His glory and for the good of His Kingdom.

We need to pray for courage, and a stiff backbone that will stand up against the ravages of this world and be over-comers for Christ’s sake. We need our weapons to defend us against the opposition that will certainly come, and the truth of God in our hearts and minds to give us strength and motivation to carry on.

We will be required to think of ideas to reach out and connect with people outside our preferred circle of friends and how we can bring the outsiders inside, so that through the same faith as ourselves, they become a part of us.