Having recently returned from a mission trip to East Asia, I was really struck by the following devotional that I read last night from Dr. Calvin Miller’s Conversations with Jesus.  I hope that this will be encouraging to you as you seek to share your faith with others both on mission trips and in day to day life.  This is written as a response from Jesus to explain the words of Matthew 10: 14-15, which says: “And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. ”

“Never forget the bottom line as you minister: You are not accountable for your success or failure in any human arena.  Nothing I have called you to do in my name in this world will be dissmissed as trivial in that world to which you are headed.  If you are rejected in your attempt to preach the truth, the truth that caused your rejection will not be judged by those who turn a deaf ear to your counsel.  Those who reject your words must themselves face the last tribunal.

So never despair over rejection.  I knew rejection firsthand.  I never despaired.  The greatest truths are regularly rejected.  You do not need to win any battle in the same moment you take up arms.  As I told my disciples as they began their preaching tour, if you are cast out of any city, do not try to barge back and compel anyone to listen. Just shake the dust off of your feet.  Why?  Because those who hear the truth need to remember that the truth of the gospel is not an option left up to human caprice.  The shaking of the dust from your feet will remind those who listen of their obligation to hear.

The gospel has always carried this double obligation.  It obligates the disciple to tell the message and the seeker to listen.  Pity the complacent witness who will not tell the saving story.  Pity the complacent seeker who will not hear of it.

But in this double obligation, important as it is, you must never merely count your converts to measure your success.  Truth is its own reward.  Once you have told the truth, you have succeeded.  Telling the saving truth is your responsibility.  Doing the saving is mine. Counting converts in unnecessary.  It is an unworthy bottom line on earth and unessential in heaven.  So do not grow neurotic trying to become a savior yourself.  That is my title; I will do that work.  That should take quite a load off your mind.  You are only responsible for telling the truth.  So tell it.  If thousands are drawn to the faith, you will succeed.  If you die without a single convert and are crucified for telling the truth, you will still have succeeded.

In The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley brings to life the key truth that your current direction in life will determine your destination.  This is what Stanley terms as “the principle of the path.”  This is an idea that in being a principle happens naturally as a result of our life decisions.  This is not something that we have a choice in whether or not it will happen.  Our current decisions, whether good or bad, leading toward our goals or straying away from our goals, or reflecting our convictions or denying our convictions, will determine our future destination in life.

This book does an excellent job of driving this simple yet profound point home to the reader.  Through Andy Stanley’s usual mix of biblical principles and practical, real life examples, the truth is seen illustrated both with positive effects and negative effects in the lives of real people.  The common misconception that “the principle of the path” confronts is that our intention will lead to our destination.  The problem that the principle points out is that action determines results not intention.

In the final chapter, Stanley addresses how to deal with the struggles that arise when we realize that our destination which we desired to achieve is unattainable.  For a biblical picture of dealing with this reality, Stanley turns to 2 Samuel 15 where David takes his army to face his son Absalom.  The passage finds David going to confront his rebellious son who wants to overthrow David.  The High Priest at the time, Zadok, prepares the Ark of the Covenant to go with David into battle.  This Ark going into battle signifies that the Lord is with the army carrying the Ark and is on that side of the conflict.  David approaches Zadok and refuses for the Ark to go with him.  David does not want to try to manipulate God to get David’s desires.  He wants to by faith trust God for God to do “whatever seems good to Him.”  This biblical truth of trusting God to do “whatever seems good to Him” is the driving point that causes our seemingly disappointing moments on the path of life to become moments where our uncertainty in our life’s direction drives us to a deeper trust in God who is certainly there.

The Principle of the Path is an encouraging book that challenges the reader to prepare for the future through the decisions made today.  It also stands as a reminder of the faithfulness of God to be there in the midst of the journey of life even if that journey is not going as you had planned for it to.