Since beginning a blog here nearly 4 years ago, I’ve long been fascinated with the visitor statistics associated with web pages. Yes easily distracted with numbers, but more so fascinated with the locations of the visitors. I’m sure statisticians and expert bloggers alike use these numbers for a variety of purposes, but recently I have come to view them as an opportunity to reach other nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Below is a sample of the distribution of visitors I’m referring to. Obviously the United States weighs most heavily, but what is fascinating is that nearly ¼ of all page views come from other countries, while roughly 1/5 of the total hits are represented internationally. This may seem insignificant or grossly disproportionate to some blogs with much larger traffic, but for me it is greatly humbling, yet significant for seeing how powerful a tool the internet can be for the global spread of the gospel.
I was reminded of the internet’s power to reach the international community a couple weeks ago when a young lady from the Philippines left a comment, requesting use of an article I wrote, for a research paper she was writing. I was so humbled, not just by the request, but from where it was coming from, the Philippines, a small Asian island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And by Google’s calculation, some 8500 miles away from me.
It’s easy for my sinful pride to wonder why more “friends and family” don’t read or interact here and this leads to more sinful self-pity that nobody reads this little blog, but it cannot be doubted that God has used it (and for that matter your ministries as well) for exactly the purposes He intends and while that may not be people in my own town or even country, perhaps it is serving a role in the global mission for the spread of the Gospel.
The lesson here is that we don’t always see how or where God is working, but He always is. We shouldn’t assume that a lack of visible results means no results at all. God’s Word will never return to Him void, even if that means it has to travel to the other half of the world to reach its destination.
In Christ Alone.
