"Available": It is a simple-enough word, isn't it? I found myself looking up its roots this past week. The word's history seemed to begin in the mid-15th century. Its original meaning carried with it the idea of "serviceable" and "effectual." Apparently, the word implied that the one who is available serves effectively.
I have been thinking a lot about this in light of Paul's availability. In Paul we see a man with a clear calling as a gospel message-bearer to the non-Jewish world. From the earliest days when Barnabas went to Antioch in search of Paul till where we find him in the Acts stories this weekend, we find an available apostle.
We know that we live in a profoundly consumer-oriented culture. We also live in a country rooted in the ideals of independence. Those two truths, linked together, have probably had more influence on the idea of "availability" than we will ever know. Availability too often is seen as a choice we make, not a description of who we are, and it's rarely linked with the words "service" or "effectiveness."
This weekend, through the lens of Paul's availability, we look at the gospel breaking forth into a new region, Europe. This breakthrough results in a third continent's beginning its Christian journey and continues the global movement to Christ.
About 1,800 years later, a European named Gladys Aylward went to China as a young woman. She understood availability:
"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China. I don't know who it was. It must have been a man, a well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing, and God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward, and God said, 'Well, she's willing.'"
To His Glory,
Scott White
Associate Pastor of Missions & Evangelism
