OUR NEED TO RISE UP AND TAKE ACTION (2)
Some may think that when they become a servant of the Lord, everything will be wonderful. But it is not that wonderful. In this world and in this age there are no wonderful things. The only wonderful thing is the Lord Himself. He is wonderful. As long as you go with Him and have Him, that is wonderful. We need to forget about ourselves, about our feelings, and even about our considerations of who we are. Some of us may think that we are “small potatoes” who do not have a big gift or a big function. We may feel that it is better not to take action, that it is better to go back to sleep and rest. But this fits in with Satan’s desire. We have to rise up and take action.
You may say, “I don’t know whom the Lord wants me to contact; I prayed about some people, but it seems that not one is ready for me to contact.” Eventually, the Lord will say, “Just go! Go by Me, go in Me, and go with Me, not by yourself, not in yourself, and not with yourself.” If you go by yourself, that is not in faith. You are not trusting in the Lord but in yourself. You have to learn to take action in faith, believing in the Lord.
I was burdened by the Lord to come to the United States. On the one hand, it was good. But on the other hand, some feelings were there that were not so encouraging. I wondered, “If I go to America, whom shall I contact and what shall I do?” There was also the question of how I would be supported financially. Today thirty-two years have passed since I came to the United States, and there has been a positive result. Forty years ago there was no arrangement among us to take care of the workers’ material supply. So a worker went out empty-handed. Actually, though, when I came to the United States I was not empty-handed, because in my two hands I had the Lord. If we have everything, we do not need to exercise our faith. But if we have only the Lord, we surely need to exercise our faith. When we touch the Lord’s work, we should not do anything by our feeling. We should simply take action by faith.
We have been instructed and advised to repent, to confess, and to have intimate fellowship with the Lord and with our companions. Most of us have done this. But now we would hesitate, we would consider what to do, and we would wonder about whom we should contact. Dear saints, I would say this: “Go like Abraham, not knowing where to go.” You are ready. You are qualified. Just go to contact people. I can testify that eventually the Lord will send people to you. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and Practice of the Vital Groups”, ch. 10, pp. 340-342)
The church in Zamboanga 