The invitation may come in the mail in a fancy envelope. Or maybe by email, text message, phone call, or personal conversation.
Regardless of the format of the invite, there is an action required for each one of them: a response to let the inviter know if the invitee will be attending.
Sometimes it’s required for planning purposes. Sometimes it’s requested for the sake of courtesy.
And the question is not IF we will respond, but HOW we will respond (because ignoring the invite IS a response).
In early 2009, my friend, John Bell, invited me to be part of the Singing Men of North Central Texas. I accepted the invitation and have enjoyed 14 years of singing with this group. (My longtime readers are familiar with some of this story).
The group was to take a mission trip to Ukraine in the spring of 2010, but I was not in a position financially to even consider it, so I declined the invite.
Then a volcano eruption in Iceland created havoc with air transportation and the trip was postponed until October.
John contacted me and asked me if the delay would allow my participation. My financial situation had not changed. Both my kids were in college and one of them was about to get married after her December graduation.
But I didn’t say simply, “There’s no way.” What I said was, “There’s no way unless God shows up amazingly.”
John asked my permission to make some contacts and—to make a long story short—God showed up amazingly and I not only made that trip, but returned to Ukraine with SMONCT in 2012, 2015, and 2017. In 2019, we went to Hungary and Romania.
And just 3 days ago, we returned from 10 days in Poland.
Six overseas trips in 14 years. More than 50 concerts performed for around 70,000 people. Over 30,000 positive decisions for Christ. Opportunities to encourage desperate people in places that are no longer possible to visit for mission enterprises like this (Crimea and Ukraine). Seeing sights that most people have only read about.
And experiencing a sense that I’m a part of something that is so much bigger than me.
So, why me? Why was I invited?
Depending on who you talk to, I’m a pretty decent singer. But SMONCT has taken at least 80 singers on every one of these trips. THEY DON’T NEED ME!
So, it must have been God that needed me, right?
No.
If God needs me, that means He lacks something I can contribute. And since I don’t have anything that didn’t come from Him in the first place, that’s a ridiculous notion.
Here’s what I’ve concluded about every invitation God has ever sent my way, regardless of who He used to do the inviting: He has invited me because He loves me so much that He doesn’t want me to miss out on being part of what He’s doing.
That includes the amazing experiences I’ve been part of with SMONCT and it also includes the serendipitous moments of spontaneous conversations in the grocery store when I’ve had a chance to pass along a little encouragement.
And here’s the deal: He’s inviting every one of us to join Him in what He’s doing in the world. We just need to pay attention to opportunities that look like Jesus and politely decline opportunities that carry us in different directions. (In other words, you don’t have to accept every invitation to a squabble).
You’re invited to be amazing. How will you respond today?
