Teamwork can sometimes seem impossible. Our project team is a mix of nationalities — Americans, Filipinos, Colombians and Brazilians. Differences abound among us. We grew up in completely different cultures, possess the most diverse personalities and carry unique life histories.
Looking at our photo, it almost seems easy for us to live together. However, I must confess that, in the cross-cultural missionary field, what is far more difficult than learning a new language is learning to deal with each other as a united team. When faced with so many differences among us, teamwork can sometimes seem impossible.
My father often says a great truth: “The art of dealing with people is the most difficult because each person thinks and acts in a different way.”
In this sense, I used to think that there were difficult people, individuals who made “the art of dealing with people” more than challenging. However, here in Palawan, God has shown me that I used to forget to include myself in this category and that dealing with human beings is so challenging that it cost the King of the Universe the death of His Son.
We are all in the same boat. We are all difficult people. Yes, it’s a hard truth to accept, and this reality makes working as a team seem even more impossible at times.
In these last months here, there is something that has caught my attention. Amidst human impossibilities, I have had the privilege of witnessing the divine power at work in human hearts. Scenes have brought tears to my eyes as I realize the Holy Spirit is able to bring peace to our team amidst friction, discord and resentment. Where I didn’t expect patience and forgiveness to reign, Christ has shown me that He is powerful enough to make this possible.
I’m not saying that our team is perfect. We are far from it in so many ways. But there is Someone perfect who can accomplish the great feat of keeping us united. It is not an easy process and not without pain. God uses these situations to break our “self” to show us how wicked our hearts are and how much we need to depend on Him.
Ellen G. White says in the book Unlikely Leaders (a modern, condensed adaption of The Acts of the Apostles) that this was also the great secret of the early disciples: “These first disciples represented a wide variety in types of character. Differing in natural characteristics, they needed to come into unity. To achieve this end, Christ tried to bring them into unity with Himself. . . . After the Spirit’s arrival, the disciples were so filled with love that hearts were melted by the words they spoke and the prayers they offered. Under the influence of the Spirit, thousands were converted” [ULe 10.2, 10.6].
You may have also found yourself part of a group of people who had to work at working together, and I’m sure you know people who are a challenge for countless reasons. However, I want to encourage you to face these moments with a different perspective.
I remember my AFM training when our teacher Laurence Burn told us something like that, too: “When you struggle because of relationships, you can already start to get excited because this type of struggle provides an opportunity to see God working and bringing salvation. This, in turn, implies relationship healing because whenever God brings salvation to someone, He necessarily brings restoration of relationships.”
I invite you to entrust every struggle you have had in this regard to the Specialist in dealing with human beings. Acknowledge how impossible it is for you to handle it alone. Allow Him to bring you salvation. And get ready to start seeing the restoration of relationships and to experience the famous “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Maranatha! The Lord is coming soon!
