This month I have been serving in the beautiful country of South Africa in the city of Cape Town. It is located in a bay that divides the Indian and Atlantic Ocean. It is absolutely gorgeous here. We have been working with a church called “Life Church”. They are a part of many ministries within their city and in Lesuthu. We have done various things such as cleaning out a messy shed, painting a fence at a rehabilitation centre, hung out with kids at a preschool, visited juniorhigh and high schools singing songs and giving them Bible teachings, helped at a fundraiser for a homeless shelter and more.
The past 2 months I was in India and Nepal. They are very poor countries and our living conditions were nothing like what we are familiar with in North America. In South Africa however, it is a very developed country. I stay with my teammate Scott at a house that some members of the church opened to us. We have our own room, flush toilet, shower, microwave, fridge, and comfy beds. We have gotten to learn how to surf, hang out at beach for the afternoon and go to a proffesional rugby game. It sounds more like a vacation than it does a missions trip, right?
Although it has been pretty easy going in a physical way, God has been doing some refining in me. Back in December, before I left, I was attending a young adults group at a local church in Grande Prairie. There was a lady who spoke that night and after she spoke, she wanted to pray for all of us. When she prayed, she got a word from God for me. This word was, “Jordan, you have a voice. Use it!” It hit me unexpectangly. I know I have great things to say to people, but I have been held back because of fear of man. I can easily say the things that people like to hear, but when God gives me something to tell people that is not easy to receive, I hold back. I don’t speak up. I shy away and pray God speaks the truth to them some other way. This is wrong and not like Christ at all. Jesus is bold. So bold, that He never was afraid to rebuke even the Pharisees! The religious rulers of His day. The ones He was to respect the most. He told them God’s truth without fear of how they will respond or react. He was more concerned about what God thought than about what they thought.
So when I was in Nepal last month, God was bringing this up in my life again. There was a message I was feeling led to speak to my squad about, but I held back. I began telling people about my fears and they encouraged me to begin speaking up. They told me how I had great things to share and that it was my responsability to share it with others. Even though I was hearing this and believing them, I still had this fear of man. I knew all I had to do to break that fear of man was to choose to simply not fear them and speak up. I would say to myself, “I’m just waiting for the opportune time”. Which in some ways is a cop out, but God has grace and will work with us for where we are at.
So today that opportune time came up. I was talking with my squad leader, Lydia, and happened to come across the topic I was wanting to speak on. She was saying how I have lots of insight on this certain subject. And that’s when I popped the question. I asked her if I would be able to speak to the whole squad about this. This was me breaking out of my comfort zone and moving forward past my fears. She liked the idea and is going to talk with the other squad leaders about me talking to the whole squad possibly at the end of the month. So I will wait and see what happens. I did the first step in overcoming this fear. I put myself out there and won’t be turning back. If I get to speak, cool. If not, cool. I did what God was leading me to do.
God is always in the refining business. Whether we see it or not, He is there transforming us from the inside out. He not only created us, He sustains us and sanctifies us. Because of sin, we have fallen short of His glory. He is restoring us back to His original image of who we were created to be. This process is not always easy, but it is very necessary for our relationship with Him. We as humans don’t drink milk our whole lives. We mature and eat solid foods. Same goes for our spiritual life. We mature and get passed the things that we did when we first believed. We grow in our knowledge and relationship with God.
My encourgment to you is to keep moving forward. Keep going towards God. There is sin and obstacles in your way, but you can and will overcome them when you run with Jesus. Never slow down. Keep your head up and go through the fire. It’s so worth it when you do.
