"Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?'" John 4:28-29 (NIV)

When you leap into the arms of Jesus, you never know where He'll carry you. As a new Christian, I was certain God called me to a distant mission field. Really distant: Indonesia.

True, I'd only been a believer six months, after a wild and wooly decade as a seriously Bad Girl. I also had no husband at the time, no college degree and little knowledge about Indonesia other than where it landed on a map. Still, I knew that Christians were called to "go into all the world" (Mark 16:15, NIV). Shouldn't I go too?

When I threw myself at a mission board, certain they'd be thrilled to take me, the director was very kind. He listened, nodded, took notes. And then he said the last thing I expected to hear: "I'm sorry, Liz. But ... no."

My heart sank. I thought if you offered to live in a hut and eat beetles, they'd say, "Great! Sign here."

Then he explained why I wasn't the best candidate for foreign missions: "Liz, you're already well versed in a culture most Christians know little about."

I knew where this was going. He meant my old life. My Bad Girl life.

His voice softened. "Do you know the story of the woman at the well? After she met Jesus, she went back to town, where everyone knew her sordid story, and she told them about Jesus. That's what you need to do."

"You mean the people I used to hang out with?" My cheeks grew hot even thinking about it. "The people I partied with? The men I slept with? Those people?"

I could feel Indonesia slipping away as I pictured the faces of friends I knew well — and who knew way too much about me. People as lost and confused as I'd once been. People who needed to know Jesus.

"Never fear," the director said as he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and escorted me to the door. "God will take care of Indonesia."

So, I went back to Louisville and told my story. No hut, no beetles, yet a mission field for which I was already qualified, simply because I spoke their language. And because I loved them.

Soon one coworker came to know Jesus. Then another. Then a third. Who knew?

God knew. But He never forgot my heart for Indonesia.

Twenty years after my no-go with the mission board, I stood in my publisher's booth at a Christian booksellers convention. The guy in charge of international rights pulled me aside and said, "Liz, please meet Yani with World Harvest."

A tiny woman with thick, black hair looked up, her face radiant, "I am in the process of translating three of your books into my country's language."

"Wonderful!" I beamed at her. "What country might that be?"

She beamed back. "Indonesia."

Oh my. To think that my words would travel there, even if I never did! Only God could manage such a thing.

And He wasn't finished. When I shared my experience at an evangelism conference, one of the guest speakers approached me. "Liz, would you like to speak in Indonesia?"

My heart skipped a beat. Would I?! I could barely get out the words. "W-who would my audience be?"

"Women," she assured me, then smiled. "Missionaries."

Lord, the tenderness of Your mercy overwhelms me. You miss nothing. You care about everything. You answer our deepest longings, according to Your perfect will and perfect timing. You know our mission fields, Lord, far better than we do. Help us serve You, wherever You send us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

***

TRUTH FOR TODAY:

1 Thessalonians 2:8b, "Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." (NIV)

Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (NIV)

RELATED RESOURCES:

Want to know more about the Woman at the Well? Click here to visit Liz Curtis Higgs' Bible study blog where Liz unpacks her story.

If you long to experience the fullness of God's grace, Liz walks you through each step in her book Embrace Grace: Welcome to the Forgiven Life.

Ready to take your own leap of faith? Lysa TerKeurst shows us What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:

Liz was eager to share the gospel with the world because God's grace had changed her life. What compels you to tell others about Jesus?

Might someone cross your path today who needs to hear the good news?

© 2014 by Liz Curtis Higgs. All rights reserved.