I am struck by the fact that Patrick went back to Ireland to minister to the very people who had held him as a slave. How often have would-be missionaries have said to God ‘I’ll go anywhere in the world to be a missionary except Africa.’ And that was the very place God sent them. I had this experience when there were two people in my life whom I found very difficult to get on with, only to find that they were the very people who I had been teamed up with. In due course both these people became good friends.
It is as if God is saying to us that He wants all of us with nothing held back. I can only pray that I’ve learned this lesson and make myself more available to Him.