Loving East Podunk

"It makes no difference who you are or where you're from — if you want God and are ready to do as He says, the door is open…”—Acts 10:34, The Message

East Podunk. Translation: insignificant little town, in the middle of nowhere, hicksville, fly-over-country. There are a lot of East Podunks in New England, like Harts Location, NH and The Forks, ME, and the little town from which this is written and the town where I attend church. I haven’t been to every one of them, but all of the East Podunks I’ve ever visited are beautiful in their own way. Someone put some love into creating them, and all that is in them.

I wonder Who?

In her book, “Sam’s Secret Journal,” author Elizabeth Yates tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who heard his pastor say one Sunday that “mission” wasn’t some huge, mysterious, overseas word for a select few, but that each Christian, no matter their age, had a “mission of his own.” After chronicling in his journal a bunch of “if onlys…” — that he sometimes wished he was born into some noble family on a great estate, or had more talent or was better looking, he came to this conclusion:

“God must have put me where I am because He has work for me to do here, on my dad’s farm, in the town of West Amity, which is right in the middle of corn country.” And the rest of the book chronicles how even as a pre-teen young Sam set out determined to follow Jesus every day as best he could, right where God had planted him in East Podunk.

It’s easy to feel insignificant, inadequate for the task, or wonder how my little life matters in the Kingdom. And so I need to remind myself just about every day of Sam’s healthy response, and the scriptures they’re founded on:

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? …

Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. … I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”—Matthew 5:13-16, Message

You and I may have been born in an East Podunk (be it town or big city neighborhood), grew up here, or moved here, but wherever here is or how you got here, here you and I are — here for a purpose. God loves our “here” wherever “here” may be. And He loves the people in our “here” and He cares about the hurts and needs in our “here.” Men and history may think they founded our “here” but God was “here” first, and He has never left. Never will.

Here, one day may blend into the next, and everything here seems to carry on as it always has, and life goes on and “what difference am I making anyway?,” but it’s good to remember that God is never in a hurry. “He isn’t really being slow about His promised return, even though it sometimes seems that way. But He is waiting, for the good reason that He is not willing that any should perish, and He is giving more time for sinners to repent.” (2 Peter 3:9, Living Bible).

Even here. Which could very well be why you and I are here —be it East Podunk or someplace more recognizable. That we might say with young Sam, “God must have put me where I am because He has work for me to do here” — whatever that may look like in word or deed, in public and behind closed doors, in prayer and hands-on ministry, in action or attitude, in loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. 

It all adds up, and it can all make a difference, even here, even in ways we may never see or know… 

“You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Others have come before you. Others will come after you. But this is your day. If God's kingdom is to manifest itself right now, it will have to be through you. God Himself will not come to take your place. You are on a mission from God.” — John Ortberg Jr.