Please hit "WEBCASTS"
A T-shirt belonging to Mark’s co-worker and hanging in front of Mark’s workstation had these words emblazoned across it, “I am not everyone, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. For what I ought to do by the grace of God I will do it.” This message spoke to Mark who had been praying for the Lord’s direction in joining full-time mission work for the past two weeks, and propelled him into action.
In 2003, Mark suffered a massive stroke which almost killed him. But it might have been the best thing that ever happened to him since it drove him to accept Christ as his personal Saviour. After his stroke, he was blind, suffered short-term memory lapses and needed total care. But to his wife’s surprise, Mark was able to recall recent events and recite precisely what were said despite the doctor’s diagnosis.
Grace, Mark’s wife, had received Jesus as her Saviour in 1992, much earlier than Mark. She felt the call to serve Him full time in 1995 at a mission conference although she did not understand much about missions. But the bigger issue was that she and Mark were separated at that time. Mark was determined to become rich and be a successful businessman. While pursuing his dream, he left his family broke from his previously failed business and forced Grace to raise their son alone in the US. But Grace managed to finish graduate school and got a stable job while raising a toddler. She could not understand how serving God full time would even be possible given their family situation, but she decided anyway to get involved in the church’s evangelism and mission ministry. She went ahead to take classes in seminary to learn more about serving in missions.
Given the tension between Mark and Grace, divorce seemed inevitable. After all, the couple had been living separate lives for ten years. But the Lord had been preparing and healing the family through the years. Mark and Grace not only did not end up with a divorce, but were also reunited when Mark returned to the States after his medical crisis. Grace rose to the challenge as Mark’s caregiver. She had to juggle work, raise a teenager and ensure her own physical health on top of caring for Mark. The church rallied in support and care of the family and the first two years after Mark’s return flew by quickly. Over the next ten years, the Lord gradually healed Mark’s body. Mark regained vision in one eye which he was grateful for because the scariest thing for him was to be completely blind. After months of rehabilitation, Mark was able to take care of himself and even work at a thrift store to sort out donated clothes and to serve in the church choir. As he became physically stronger, he accepted his responsibility of being a better person, but he was generally still careless about others’ salvation. As he saw it, that was their problem, not his.
Meanwhile, Grace was contented and the family became involved in church as the family situation stabilised. She continued to serve in the church mission committee, leading short-term mission teams, but no longer entertained the thought of serving God in full-time ministry. Then in 2013 when their son was in college, the Lord prompted her to consider it again. Out of obedience, she asked Mark what he thought about serving the Lord full time. Mark simply replied “no” but he was willing to pray about it. To him, that meant asking the Lord not to send him. When Grace prompted him to seek God’s will about serving Him, his daily prayer was, “I do not want to go, please do not send me.” But after two weeks of prayer, the Lord changed Mark’s heart and helped him understand that by God’s grace he can serve. His prayer subsequently changed from resistance to submission, “Lord, I do not know what I can do, and where I need to go, but give me strength, and I will do it.” And as Mark grew in the Lord, he finally came to understand that it was a blessing to be able to serve Him. As Mark continued reading the bible and praying daily, the Lord changed his attitude about service. Besides healing Mark’s body, the Lord had also transformed his heart and mind.
Although the Lord had made His calling to Mark and Grace loud and clear, they were still unable to see how it could all work out given their limitations. But they soon realised that it was not their responsibility to think about how things would turn out. It was their responsibility to just obey and move along with God. They talked to their church leaders about their decision and Grace resigned her position in the committee so that her presence would not affect the committee’s decision. It turned out that the committee unanimously supported their decision. Mark and Grace also decided that they would only apply to one sending missions agency. If the agency turned them down for whatever reason, they simply would not go because they would rather let others see that it was the Lord (not any effort on their part) who opened the door. After much paperwork, hours of psychological testing and many interviews, the sending agency accepted them with the only requirement that the field of service must have the necessary medical support for Mark’s healthcare. The application process and confirmation of the field took ten months but it only took four months for the Lord to provide the support they needed for the field. God had honoured their little faith by assuring them repeatedly that in Him, all things were possible. In a world that seeks accomplishment through human effort, God is in no hurry and patiently moulds His vessels.
For Mark, his life had been restored for the Master’s use. The words on the T-shirt, “For what I ought to do by the grace of God I will do it” should be the heartfelt desire of every believer.