G’day Mates! Greetings from Australia!
This month my team has been working in the backpacker hotspot, Airlie Beach, Queensland. Once again we have found ourselves surrounded by some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! It might seem like more of a vacation for people on the outside looking in, but in all honesty this month of ministry has been quite different than any of us expected, and it is certainly different than anything my team has been faced with this year. God is continually reminding me that His plan for me this year is something far greater than I can imagine.
Rather than working with a specific organization, church, or missionary group, our ministry has been mainly focused on serving our contacts and helping with certain tasks in the community. We have been staying at the YWAM base here in Airlie Beach and have been working hand in hand with the full-time staff to accomplish some very important and necessary jobs. One of our biggest forms of service this month has been manual labor. I never would have guessed that a majority of my time spent in Australia would involve simple yard work and cleaning. This type of work has definitely called me to a new level of humility. I’m starting to learn that even simple tasks like mowing grass and pulling weeds are perfect opportunities to live out my faith. The key is my attitude. Of course I could still get the job done with equal efficiency and a bad attitude, but how is that helping me reach new heights in my walk with Christ?
I realize it’s extremely cliche, but I have found myself recalling that simple phrase, “What would Jesus do?” over and over these last few weeks. When I have the chance to take on the role of a servant, will I embrace it or act out of obligation? Even now I am reminded of Paul’s challenge to the Philippians.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Philippians 2:5-7
If I really want to experience lasting growth, I must accept and learn from basic lessons such as these. It may seem like such a small thing at the time, but I know God is breaking me down in order to build me up into the man He designed me to be.
