Every summer, the North American Mission Board identifies cities in the United States with a significant need for the gospel. Miami is one of those cities, and several years ago our home church sent us on mission there.
Because these are family mission trips, everyone participates, including the children. We spent the week helping with a sports camp for kids and assisting a local church plant in various ways.
Near the end of our trip, we had an evening off. Several families decided to go deep-sea fishing on a charter boat. Everyone had a fishing rod, while the boat’s mates helped bait hooks, reel in fish and untangle lines — something that happened to me more times than I care to admit.
As we left the dock, the sun began to set. I was looking forward to a beautiful ride with the Miami skyline behind us and the endless ocean ahead.
Then a mate named Marty began talking with me and another mom. He told us about his years working on charter boats and the adventures that had taken him from Alaska to the Caribbean.
Ten minutes into the trip, Marty was still talking. He stood directly in front of us, one foot propped on the edge of the boat, and I remember thinking, “Well, there goes the beautiful sunset.”
Instead of seeing the sunset, all I could see was Marty.
Then my friend said something that changed my perspective.
“Wow, you’ve had all kinds of opportunities to see God’s beautiful creation,” she said to Marty.
That one comment opened the door to a much deeper spiritual conversation with Marty. We learned that he followed another faith and had a son at home who struggled with drug addiction and was facing a potentially devastating future.
In that moment, I sensed God reminding me, “Forget about the sunset. Look right in front of you.”
Marty was not an interruption. He was a person created in God’s image. He was someone who needed compassion, hope and the opportunity to hear about Jesus.
We were able to share the gospel with Marty and pray with him for his son. What I initially saw as a distraction became one of the most meaningful moments of our trip.
I wonder how often we miss moments like that in everyday life. Maybe it’s a coworker who, yet again, is sharing about the endless drama going on in her personal life. Maybe it’s the toddler melting down in the grocery store. The neighbor who catches you when you’re already running late. The child who wants to show you something you’ve seen a hundred times. The stranger who starts a conversation in the waiting room. We may call them interruptions, but God may call them opportunities — people created in His image and needing someone to notice.
Jesus demonstrated this kind of seeing when He encountered a crowd of thousands.
“When Jesus landed and saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd,” Mark 6:34 says.
Notice what Jesus did first: He saw them.
He didn’t see the crowd as an inconvenience. He saw people created in God’s image, people with physical and spiritual needs. His compassion moved Him to teach them and ultimately provide food for them.
There is a lesson here for all of us, whether we work in the business world, raise children, serve in a church or simply interact with people throughout our day.
We can become so focused on our schedules, responsibilities and distractions that we fail to see the person standing directly in front of us.
The child wearing Converse shoes and sporting messy hair is more than a student. The elderly neighbor is more than someone who needs a favor. The difficult coworker is more than an interruption.
Each is an eternal soul.
What might happen if we prayed for God to help us see people differently? What if we looked beyond the behavior, the inconvenience or the interruption and noticed the person behind it?
There may be someone right in front of us who needs compassion. Someone who needs patience. Someone who needs to know they are valued. Someone who needs to hear about Jesus.
Sometimes we ask God to show us our mission field, imagining it must be somewhere far away.
But perhaps our mission field is already standing right in front of us, trying to tell us their story.
Holly Ford is the editorial and content lead at Silverdale Baptist Church. She can be reached by email at holly@hollyford.org.