The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most

Have you ever gone into a situation sort of dreading it, not really understanding the complete purpose of it, with the attitude of “well, this isn't going to be fun, but let’s just do this and get it over with,” and then realize that the Lord actually ended up using the situation to teach you something really awesome and beautiful? It’s strange how that happens, but pretty great. I think part of it is just the Lord’s sense of humor saying, “Ha, told you so! You DID learn something from that, huh?” Yeah yeah yeah, you’re right again, God—you always are!

Recently I was put into a situation/event where I was surrounded by several non-Christians—I was completely dreading that event, because I knew that their lifestyle was different from mine, their beliefs were different from mine, and as a result, I’d be making some decisions that weren’t like the rest of theirs—you know, the not-so-popular decisions that Jesus told us we may be persecuted for. That’s the part I sort of dreaded. But as I faced those situations, I realized it actually drew me closer to God, because I became more reliant and dependent on him for guidance in the uncomfortable places and situations. It’s those places you fear the most where you can see the light of Christ shine greater than ever, those places where you have to just put it into the Lord's hands and trust He will do His part. It's a little scary at first, but He always does come through, even if it's not always in the way that we were expecting.

"If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you... yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." 1 Peter 4:14-16

And in thinking about those uncomfortable situations I faced, I started to think about my comfortable life—my comfortable Christian friends, my comfortable little bubble where I’m happy and hunky dory and with a bunch of people who are in it with me together. And trust me, that community is SO important, because we are the body of Christ and united in the goal of pressing on towards the heavenly prize, but sometimes, to share the gospel of Christ, we actually need to go OUTSIDE of that comfort zone. It made me think, “Okay, how am I going outside of my comfort zone in Denver to share the love of Jesus with others?” And so I’ll leave the same question for you— how can you go outside of your comfort zone and share the love of Jesus in places that need it? Who can you be a light to? Let it shine! J

Preparing to Serve... Again and Again!

Here I go again, attempting another blog! I started this blog almost a year ago, and named the blog "Preparing to Serve," with the intention of blogging about how God was preparing me to serve on my missions trip to the Dominican Republic, the journey itself, and processing it thereafter. I was tempted to just go ahead and start a whole new blog page, but I sort of like sticking with the title "Preparing to Serve." After all, my goal in this life is to be serving my Lord Jesus Christ, and he's constantly preparing me for new adventures, teaching me new things, and growing me, so it seems appropriate, right?

So as I start blogging again, I don't have any clear direction of what I'll be writing about, but think I'm just going to write about the day to day happenings of life, the joys that the Lord shows and teaches me, and everything in between. It may be a little bit random, but maybe it's more fun that way anyways, right? :) And so it begins...

Last night, I was driving in my car, stuck in some traffic, processing the day, week, etc. I thought about the conversations throughout the week that I had with friends, co-workers, customers, and strangers, and asked myself how I was representing Christ. Was I being a good ambassador to him?

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us."

-2 Corinthians 5: 17-20

I think sometimes, as children of God, we can get frustrated with ourselves. I know that I do-- I know that I will never be perfect, no matter how hard I try. I know that I will make mistakes, that I will experience failures-- that I'll occasionally get irritated with that co-worker who is interrupting me as I try to work, the long traffic light I have to sit through, the person in the Express Lane at the store who clearly has more than 15 items, etc., and in my car last night, I felt weighted by that thought, knowing that my flesh will continue to fail, that I'll continue to have trouble in this world, but finding joy in the truth that my spirit is made new and I must walk according to that.

"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart: I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

Almost immediately after thinking through that, two songs came on right after each other, with words that I think the Lord was clearly trying to get across to me (sometimes it takes 2 songs instead of 1 for the Lord to get a point across to me, and sometimes a neon sign, too... good think He knows that! haha).

The first song I listened to was "Safe," by Phil Wickham. Here was the highlight:

"These are the hands that built the mountains
the hands that calm the seas
These are the arms that hold the heavens
they are holding you and me

These are hands that healed the leper
Pulled the lame up to their feet
These are the arms that were nailed to a cross
to break our chains and set us free"

Next song was "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" by Chris Tomlin:

"My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace"

I felt an immediate sense of joy as I was reminded of this truth-- we are SET FREE as new creations, but we were bought with the precious blood of Christ. I know that each day there will be challenges and struggles in being an ambassador of Christ, but I find joy in knowing that I am set free in Christ, and when I fall down, I just gotta get back up again and keep walking faithfully according to God's truth, "preparing to serve" Christ in every action, word, and thought.

How are you being an ambassador to Christ today? What are the challenges you face in that? Know that you are SET FREE! :)