“Come to me all who are weary and I
will give you rest…”
After an 8
hour van ride from Manzini, Swaziland to Johannesburg,
South Africa, one night in a
hotel, and a beautiful 32 hour train ride, we arrived in Cape Town, South Africa
Thursday, February 6th. My
time on the train was a time to look out the window (well actually stick my
whole head out the window to my teammates’ disproval :P), and admire God’s
amazing creation all around me. Parts of
the ride showed flat, dry, and dessert like conditions, and as we went along,
more mountains and green became evident again.
We went through long tunnels of darkness and times of brightness. My time just praising God was amazing!
It’s easy to
praise God when I’m looking at His creation and standing in awe of it. The times it’s hard to praise God are the
times I’m looking at myself…the times I’m frustrated or hurt by a teammate…the
times I forget about God and make it all about me. Living
in community is the
hardest thing I’ve encountered on The World Race. It’s hard, the real person in each of us
comes out; the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Our selfishness reigns many times, and arguments occur.
“If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” ~John
14:15
But as these
things happen, I realize and recognize what needs to be changed. I see the ugly in me, and I don’t like
it. Where is Jesus in all that? He is patiently molding me. One step at a time as I seek Him out, as I
long for Him, more of Him, He starts to mold me to look more like Jesus. The more time I spend with Him, the more I
see His heart and am transformed. The
closer I am to His heartbeat, the closer my heart beats with His.
As I’ve been
reading, ‘Blue Like Jazz’ by Donald Miller, a few things have stuck out to me:
“If
we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we
should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus.”
“The
most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about
me.”
Really, am I willing to die to myself every
morning, each moment of every day if that’s what it takes? I’ve been struggling with dieing to myself
more than I thought I would. I am thankful
for patience and unconditional love from my Savior.
We have the
privilege of staying with Tom and Cindy at their house, surrounded by
mountains, the ocean, the awesome city lights at night, and the abounding
amounts of stars in the sky! Could I ask
for more?? This month is a month to just
BE.
Just be with Me. Sit in My lap. Lie in the grass and talk to Me. Wake up to Me. Let Me romance you and you romance Me. Don’t journal with me there, don’t write
everything that comes to mind, just be
with Me.
God used Tom
to speak these words to me straight from the heart of my Father, my Lover, my
Savior, my King. God is asking me to
just BE with Him. As I talk to Him and
get to know Him better by just being with Him (as I would with a boyfriend or a
friend), He speaks.
PRAY – LISTEN – OBEY!
That’s what this month is all about.
Solitude, pressing into Christ, letting Him lead…for someone who likes
to always be doing something, who always has something scheduled, just sitting
(not writing, not reading), just being can be so difficult!
“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey
it.” ~Luke 11:28
Last night,
Caleb (a young guy from AIM) took us to watch some fire dancing (including himself!). He has been building relationships with some
friends here who taught him how to dance with fire. It’s an amazing view and he said it’s the
best way for him to worship-dancing before His king praising Him! As I was watching, I turned to my left and
there were two girls my age who were friends with some of the guys. I got to talk to them and build relationships
with them. That was all planned by God
and they want to get together and get to know me better later this month.
Pray that I
would get to know God’s heart in a new way, at a new level this month. Pray that I would press into everything He
wants to show me and take advantage of the time I have to spend with Him and
not get distracted with other things.
Pray for this time of solitude to bring our team to a whole new level of
love within this family, this community.
Pray that we would listen with ears wide open and learn to obey our
Shepard’s voice. Pray that as I memorize
Hebrews 11 this next month, God will stamp it on my heart.
It’s never
too late to turn back to our first true love…Christ
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me
with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments, Return
to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and
abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”
~
Joel 2:12-13
