Come Again?

I can’t help but wonder what part of my character God is working on through the ruthless pounding of the jack-hammer directly beneath my office window. Sitting painstakingly still behind a desk is not exactly a gift that I possess on a good day, throw in the steady thumping of heavy machinery and you have a seriously antsy missionary. Some days I fear the walls are coming down, and there is no volume level on my laptop that can compete with this thing; by four pm I swear I can feel it through the floor. OK God, what’s that about?
God has really assembled an all-star team of locals to serve on the Call2All preparation committee. Our three chairmen are as gifted as they are diverse; a pastor, a YMCA director, and CEO of a finance company. Around them are a group of just as capable individuals from every sphere of society. Together our job is to oversee each and every detail of the coming congress, from sound and lighting to speakers and program. No big deal.
I’ve found that with every great move of God comes great challenges and obstacles from the enemy, and this congress is no different. Our goal here is to bring our team from the international head quarters in the U.S., and the all-star team here in Hong Kong together and work as a well-oiled machine. But so far our biggest struggle has been in the area of communication to do just that. Wherever Satan can throw a wrench in the system, he will, and be it language barriers or just plain cultural differences, we have been hard pressed to get everyone on the same page. We have been learning the hard way that many times, information that we thought had been clearly communicated came through with more static than clarity, which as you may know causes confusion and frustration. If the enemy really gets his way, it can end up causing rifts and bitterness and ultimately disunity among the body of Christ. I love the truth in Psalm 133 where the Lord commands a blessing upon his children that come together in unity. That’s where the power is, when we work as one in the physical and also in the spirit toward the goal that God has lain out before us. We serve a God who desires us to be in loving relationships with each other, and without them, our well-oiled machine is nothing but a rusty hunk of metal.
So what about that jack hammer? In my mind, the obvious lesson here would be patience for my overly sensitive nerves. But a deeper look shows me much more. It’s the perseverance and commitment to communicate through the noise. Despite the racket and distractions, we must value relationship as much as God does and love each other enough to press on through the challenges until we’re all running this race together. The jack hammer is annoying. Understatement. The jack hammer makes me want to bolt out of my office for the nearest library or museum or anywhere that excessive noise is frowned upon. But the jack hammer in no way warrants giving up, or quitting. We still have a job to do; we are still called to Hong Kong. And no matter how many jack hammers satan has in his tool box, we’re going to push through with our brothers and sisters to work in the unity that God has called us to. Whether that means having the conversation more than once, or sending the email again we’ll stick with it until we get it. Even if that means stocking up on hard hats…ya never know.