A few weeks ago, I was quietly riding in a car through the countryside with some friends.
I say quietly because I wasn’t doing much talking. I wasn’t doing much talking because, after over a year of study, I still don’t speak Mongolian all too well. It’s difficult to sit in a group of brothers and sisters, wishing I could have lengthy conversations with them, and not be able to.
More recently, a couple friends and I visited a Kazakh family. As we squatted on low stools drinking tea, a grandmother with only two or three teeth expounded on a problem she and the family were facing. I sat there, growing discouraged at my own inabilities to understand, when the Spirit reminded me that although I couldn’t understand the family’s situation, He did; He knows it fully. When the time came for us to pray, I did so with renewed confidence and joy knowing that my Father is acquainted with all of their needs and worries.
In all of this, I know and take joy that the time will come when these language barriers will be gone. These brothers and sisters I cannot talk with will meet me again in Heaven.
In that time, we will laugh and talk about all the funny situations we found ourselves in because we couldn’t understand each other. We’ll fill each other in on how the Lord was working in us while our lives touched. And we’ll rejoice as we recount all the deeds of our King after we parted ways until we reunited again.
These people I cannot fully speak with are our brothers and sisters. They are your family, and my family. And I rejoice in the time when we will all be together in our Father’s house.
Isn’t it incredible that we, adopted sons and daughters of our King and Father, have been given permission and strength to invite other people into the family? Isn’t it amazing that Jesus has promised to go with us as we do?
My friends, I cannot wait to introduce you to the brothers and sisters I’ve met here. I cannot wait for them to tell you about all the work the Lord has done and is doing in this part of the world. And I cannot wait to meet the brothers and sisters you know that I have not yet met. What a great day of celebration it will be in our Father’s house!
“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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28: 19-20).
Let us continue to labor for our Lord’s fame in this world! Let us continue to toil and to rescue more dying people from a Christless eternity! Let us continue to invite them into our blessed family. There is great joy to be had in this work.