50 years.
I get frustrated when my kids don't listen and change their actions after only 5 minutes of me explaining why they should. I give up on people after maybe 5 months of feeling like I'm banging my head on the wall. Yet those missionaries worked and lived and loved the Quichuas for over 50 years before seeing eternal fruit for all the blood, sweat and tears they poured into those people. And yes, missionaries pour boatloads of blood, sweat and tears into the people they're living amongst. I've seen it in almost every missionary I know well enough.
Those missionaries were willing to live and work for years and years without seeing fruit for their labor—simply because they were convinced they were where God wanted them, doing what God wanted them to do. If they had quit, there wouldn't be thousands of Quichua believers now.
50 years.
And I get impatient over the stupidest things. So many of my (writer) friends grow discouraged and quit when they don't see a contract in 5 years. So many of us throw in the towel when we don't see the progress we think we should, but where does persevering simply because it's where God wants us fit into the equation? Am I willing to do what God wants me to even if I don't see the progress or fruit I think I should?
Even if it's 50 years?
I think I need to change my perspective.
How about you?
*Photo courtesy of Ilhuicamina via flickr
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