forehead and running a hand through his wavy brown hair. “It bothers me. You know the old story of ten men carrying a log, nine men at one end and one at the other? Not much doubt at which end I ought to help.” “You think God wants you in India, Don? I think God wants me in China. Don, if you go to India maybe we will get together. At least we will both be in the Orient.” As Don spent time seeking God’s will for his life, he came across Jeremiah 1:5. The last phrase gripped him, " . . . I ordained thee a prophet unto the na tions.” The words lit up Don’s path. God was leading him to lands beyond the seas. Then he stumbled on the word "India” (Esther 1:1) in his Bible reading. The whole context faded into insignificance and the one word stood before him in third dimension. Is that guidance? you wonder. A rather presumptu ous application to oneself of a tag-end of a Bible verse and a single word out of context? But remem ber, Don was praying, and praying honestly. When you pray, you aren't in a position to quibble about the means in which God answers. God’s guidance is ours not by right but by grace. Don had the sense to rec ognize God’s answer and the humility not to go on begging for more certainty.
Instead, he did the next thing. He began a care ful study of mission boards. At that time there weren't many American missions serving in India. After al most a year of prayerful study, Don decided to apply to the Ceylon and India General Mission. Don’s mission board advised him to go to col lege. While at Wheaton, he filled a student pastorate to keep himself in fighting trim for frontline work abroad. But something happened to his missionary goals. Four years later, Mother wrote that Don had withdrawn his application to the Ceylon and India General Mission. Don was finding great acceptance in youth meetings and now felt that rather than go to the foreign fields himself, he should stay home and be used of God to stir others to go . . . a “Don Hillis recruiting agency,” as it were. Had not Don already asked God for guidance about where God wanted him to serve? Had not God given him a verse about being "ordained a prophet to the nations?” And here he was facing the same question all over again. Yes, we human beings often have to refight the same old battles and to recapture the same ground. The temptation we think we have licked is the one that knocks us for a loop. It is rather bewildering at 33
JUNE, 1970
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online