Anyone else remember the W.W.J.D. bracelets? I feel like every 90’s Christian had one, or five.
They were more of a fashion statement than anything else, but I feel like I needed one this month. Not for the tacky neon arm candy but for the reminder of living a life like Jesus.
What Would Jesus Do?
In every situation how would Jesus respond?
It has taken me about ten years and a month living in India but I have truly asked myself, multiple times this past month, what would Jesus do?
Sometimes I feel like I stepped back into the early days of Jesus and the disciples’ ministry. Crowds followed us, being asked for prayer at every turn, preaching and teaching every night, encouraging the believers, eating in their homes, not having any privacy or time away, and shepherds moving herds through the streets.
It all sounds fun when you read it in Matthew, but living it out…
Living it out is hard. I wanted everyone to stop staring at me, I didn’t wanna pray for the same 20 people for the same thing every night, I didn’t wanna write any more sermons, I felt like I had no other words to pray, I did not want rice and curry again and I just wanted to be left alone for at least 10 minutes!
But then I remembered reading through Matthew, and that everything I was experiencing, Jesus had already done.
So, I asked myself, “What would Jesus do?”.
Would Jesus give a death glare at the crowd outside?
Would Jesus shutter when He was asked to pray for more people?
Would Jesus dread the ability to preach about his Father?
I quickly realized how far away my heart was from my Abba.
I had gotten so wrapped up in my own discomfort that I had lost His heart.
This year was not about me, I knew that when I signed up a year ago and yet as soon I was put out of my comfort zone it became all about me.
After about two weeks of really not enjoying India, I figured I had to be doing something wrong or missing something. This is not the Race I wanted to have. I did not want to spend a month of my Race wishing I could leave already.
God had to have more than that for me.
I was at a cross roads, did I want to just stay frustrated to be frustrated or did I want to accept the challenge and step into the month God had designed for me?
The answer was simple, living it out was not. But it was worth it.
I had to actively choose joy, I had to choose to trust him in every circumstance knowing He already had it worked out, I had to stop looking inward and look out into the eyes of His children.
I finished the month preaching out of true passion for the gospel and praying for the masses. I still avoided the crowds sometimes (but Jesus did that too, right?)
Nothing about India changed, but everything about the way I saw India changed.
