Barnabas

Throughout life, God places people on our path to inspire us. It may be a quick conversation at a cafe, maybe it’s a mentor, or perhaps it’s in the form of an autobiography. However you encounter them, these individuals alter the trajectory of our lives in special and unique ways. This blog is about someone who has recently impacted my life in such a way that I believe it will affect the way I live for years to come. 

Unfortunately, I will not be able to use this individual’s real name due to the nature of his ministry and wanting to be wise with what I post online. So for this blog, I will be referring to him as Barnabas. 

It might seem like a funny pseudonym to use; however, if you are familiar with the book of Acts in Scripture then the name might just have a familiar ring to it. 

You see, Barnabas was someone God used greatly to encourage and inspire the people with whom he came into contact. The name Barnabas actually means, “Son of consolation or on of exhortation, son of comfort.” At his very core, he was someone set apart to our into the lives of others. The two most famous individuals whom Barnabas impacted in Scripture are Paul (the Apostle) and John Mark (author of the Gospel of Mark). 

The reason I chose this name for my new friend is that I feel as though he “Barnabased” me during my time in India. 

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If you’ve read my blogs you know that mission work is very close to my heart. In fact, when I was thirteen years old God put it on my heart to be involved in overseas missions in one way or another as a life calling. The calling has brought nervousness, excitement, fear, joy, confusion, and even doubt. I don’t use the word “calling” lightly, nor would I be using the word at all if it wasn’t for crossing paths with people like Barnabas (the one in India, not the one in Scripture lol). 

In my mind, it’s one thing to say that missions is a passion vs. saying that missions is a calling… let alone a life calling. I figured I would be involved in missions from time to time, but now, it seems as though this is how God wants me to spend my life and Barnabas gave me so much confidence without really even knowing it. 

Without revealing too much, Barnabas graduated from a nice school, a baller degree in hand, and landed an awesome job soon after completing his schooling. It was the type of job you build your life on and one others wish they had. He was there for a few years, paying off student loans, and grinding it out to gain the American dream… at least, that’s what it looked like on the outside. 

On the inside, he could not imagine this being his life’s work. He felt as though there was more to see of the world, more to experience in the Lord, and greater opportunity within the kingdom of God.

So he left his job and went on the World Race. To everyone around him, his was a life of reckless abandon. Some even shook their heads thinking him foolish to give up the “stable” life he possessed. To Barnabas though, it was stepping into abundance and actually feeling like he was living the way he was meant to live. To him it wasn’t abandon, nor was it foolishness… it was gain. 

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Today Barnabas lives in India serving the Lord, experiencing an amazing culture, living through donations, and building the kingdom of God the way he was designed. We had a lot of conversations and Barnabas passed on many nuggets of wisdom, but the words that impacted me the most were, “I live off of $13,000.00 a year and I am richer now than when I was making $70,000.00 a year.” 

Wow!

That is the kingdom of God. That is doing what you were made to do. That is abundance!

I left India with a confidence I have never experienced before in my life. I left seeing a first-hand example of someone who has committed his life to missions as a single man and is THRIVING! Living the life he wants to live because it is the life he is called to live. He saw the opportunity to stake his claim in the kingdom by serving the people of India and he went for it. That’s what I want to do. I have no desire to grind it out at some random job back in America. No, I must embrace what I believe the Father has called me to do. To bring the Gospel to the nations, to tell those who haven’t heard, and to spend my life investing in that which lasts forever. 

Thank you God for this passion and calling. Thank you, Barnabas, for being a powerful example of abundant living and for impacting me along my journey.