Two years after becoming a Christian in 1967, I went to Jamaica as a short-term missionary for the summer. I was chosen to be the team leader of two other girls, and we were one team among five located in Montego Bay. The two girls on my team had been Christians much longer than I, although they were younger in age. I felt intimidated by their seemingly greater knowledge. I wondered why I’d been chosen to be the captain.
One day I had to decide what our team would do the next day. Most days were planned by our leaders, but this particular time I had full control over what us three girls would do. I prayed and prayed. I asked the Lord for wisdom and knowledge of His leading. As a fairly new Christian, I hadn’t had a specific sense of God’s leading, but now I sought after his guidance. I wanted to know how to use the “mind of Christ” that God provides us. I Corinthians 2:16 tells us “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Finally, I sensed God wanting us to go to a nearby town to pass out tracts in an open-air market. Yes, that’s what we will do. I’ve heard God’s directions.
The next day after we had breakfast and were preparing to leave, it started to rain. And then it poured! We usually went out in the rain, since it rained almost every afternoon in tropical Jamaica, but this was no usual light rain. It was coming down harder than we’d seen, and I knew no one would be in the uncovered market.
I can’t believe it. Hadn’t God told me what to do? Now that it is raining, we won’t be able to go.
I was discouraged. I concluded that I must not have really heard God’s guidance. What kind of a Christian am I that I can’t learn to use the Mind of Christ He’s given me? My confidence hit bottom.
Looking back and having so many years of christian experience, I have a much different perspective. I’ve learned through the years that having the Mind of Christ doesn’t necessary mean we’ll always know the right thing to do or that we’ll always hear the leading of the Holy Spirit clearly. That’s why it’s called a life of faith. We step out and trust He’ll work how He wants even if we don’t do it “right.”
