Denver Seminary

ENGAGE 17 IT'S PAINFUL TO WAIT AND HOPE FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF YOUR GOD- GIVEN CALLING. "IT'S IN MY BLOOD," SAYS BETH REED, A 2006 DENVER SEMINARY GRADUATE OF THE MASTER OF DIVINITY PROGRAM. "THE CALL TO DO MISSIONS ABROAD—SPREADING THE HOPE OF CHRIST TO THE FARTHEST REACHES OF THE WORLD—IS SOMETHING THAT THE LORD PLANTED IN MY HEART VERY EARLY ON." Beth's formative years were spent as a missionary kid in Antigua. While her parents came out of the field so Beth could attend an American high school, the Lord shaped her future with one clear call. In 10th grade, Beth heard the Lord tell her, "We are going to keep doing this." She knew exactly what "this" meant: mission work. The experience was so profound that she gushed to her parents, "I know what I'm going to do with the rest of my life!" From that day on, her sights were set on becoming a full- time, cross-cultural missionary. That clarity of calling is rare and beautiful. Confidence in that clarity is also rare, but critical, for the long years ahead as one waits for the fulfillment of that calling. Moses was called and had to wait. King David was called and had to wait. Beth, too, was called and had to wait. But there was purpose in the waiting. If a hope deferred makes the heart sick, then how do we suffer the waiting for our hope, or calling, to be fulfilled in a God-honoring way? Paul answers the question in Romans 5 by sharing, "We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame" (Rom. 5:3–5). Essentially, the purpose in waiting is to produce a harvest of righteousness in our soul, one that will not put us to shame, though it is rarely pleasant at the time. WAITING BEGINS AND ENDS WITH GRIEF Shortly after hearing her call to missions, Beth experienced true pain. Her father passed away in a tragic airplane crash. From that point on, Beth's story mingled themes of grief and acceptance that come with surrender to the Lord's will and timing. As Beth moved from high school to college, she found her future companion in a classmate named Austin Reed. It wasn't an obvious pairing at first blush. "We had totally different callings—he to rich, suburban kids, and me to impoverished children overseas—but we knew we were supposed to get married." The first steps of their married life included applying to the Master of Divinity program at Denver Seminary together. They were accepted and wound up taking every single class together throughout the entire program. Beth and Austin Reed graduated in May of 2006 with matching degrees and the hopes of becoming a missions pastor and a youth pastor, respectively. Unfortunately, as they walked across the graduation platform, they were passing into the economic meltdown that plagued the nation for the next several years. Hiring freezes at churches were common. "Non-essential" pastoral roles—like those over missions—were cut from budgets, and Beth couldn't find a job anywhere. TAKE IT FROM HERE karelnoppe/iStock

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