Hello again folks. I just finished up with training camp, and I can say with sincerity that it was a difficult week for sure.
On the back half of camp I came across a verse that impacted me deeply, and summarizes much of my experiences there, but I think it also contains a message that should be heavily considered by the Church.
Jeremiah 6: 27-30
27 “I have made you a tester of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.
28 They are all hardened rebels,
going about to slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all act corruptly.
29 The bellows blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
30 They are called rejected silver,
because the Lord has rejected them.”
The original context for this verse was in regard to Judah, whom Jeremiah was prophesying to, and that they were to be punished by an invasion.
For me personally, this verse was a challenge and a call to step it up. In the barrage of difficulties that life presents, we can choose to let God purify us, or we can carry on in our sin. I hope it will be a challenge and a call for you as well.
Training camp was very much a week of me being in the furnace. Our sleep schedule was unstable, our food had U.S. indulgence trimmed away, and we lived without running water. For much of the week, we were all a little tired, a little hungry, and a little smelly… a lot smelly. In reality, much of the world lives like this, so it was a huge moment for humility. However, our American mindsets convinced us that we all had ample reason to be grumpy.
What best rocks the boat of grumpy people? Each other. I would make a safe assumption that most of us gathered had never met one another before except through facebook and video chats. We certainly didn’t know each other’s quirks, pet peeves, or passions. In a lot of ways, we were a human powder keg of tempers, frustrations, loneliness, and discomfort.
And that was in our down time. Our sermons and classes didn’t hold back. We were asked about our relationship with God, we were asked about our relationship with the Holy Spirit, we were asked about our relationships with the people around us. Invariably, our answers were “not good enough”, and they responded with, “why?”.
Try asking a grumpy person why they’re making mistakes.
When we are put in the furnaces of life, we have a choice. We have the opportunity to submit to God and let him burn away our impurities, or we can simply burn and never grow. I do not want to be labelled “rejected silver”, and I don’t want anyone else to be labelled as “rejected silver.”
Choose to grow closer to God. Training camp gave all of us the opportunity to choose God when we were angry. It allowed us to choose love when we wanted to be spiteful. It allowed us to choose work when we wanted to be lazy. It allowed us to admit our faults and cry out to God and say, “I’m sorry. I doubt you. I don’t expect to see you working in our lives as much as I should. Please forgive me and give me the faith to believe.”
I also know that this is barely a taste of what will come on the World Race for all of us. That simultaneously excites me and terrifies me. It gives me the opportunity to lay all of my worries at the foot of the cross and pray for strength that I don’t have, boldness that I don’t have, faith that I don’t have, and for forgiveness that I don’t deserve.
Be encouraged though. All of us have a daily mission field, and a daily opportunity to seek His face and bring a taste of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Do not pass it up, friends. Do not run from the necessary pains that God will use to perfect you. Embrace it.
God Bless.
