If there’s anything that comes naturally to us as human beings it is the fine art of manufacturing a good excuse. The truth of the matter is that coming up with a good excuse is as natural as breathing air. That’s because each of us has a will, and when circumstances converge that frustrate our hearts’ desire, we immediately churn out a good excuse not to do whatever it is that we really aren’t passionate about doing.

Everyone is aware of his or her limitations. Part of the maturation process involves facing the painful truth that we are not capable of doing everything our heart desires. Coming to terms with such a discovery means learning not to put ourselves in places or situations where our weaknesses get exposed.

Some weeks ago, I mentioned an invitation our church received from our partners at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon. Their president, Elie Haddad, extended to us an opportunity to come to the campus to observe how our missions dollars translate into seminary education for churches in the Middle East, as well as for a vibrant ministry to Syrian refugees that have flooded into their country. Our Missions Committee has continued to explore the possibilities of such a trip and we have now identified a “window” of March 5-15 of 2019 for such a visit.