Hello, hello 🙂
I am safe and sound here in Portoviejo, Ecuador! Sorry for the lengthy time in between blogs; it’s been a BUSY first week of ministry! But, as promised, here are the things that the Lord had been teaching me over the past month! Warning: it’s a bit jumbled. I wish my brain organized thoughts in an orderly manner; but it doesn’t.
First of all, I want to talk about how many selfless people I met at Ciudad Refugio in Medellin. Pastor Douglas’s kids give up their Saturdays every week to go up the mountain and deliver food, love, and Jesus to the children there. Rebekah’s life revolves around the foundation. Jason invests himself into the men in the program and the volunteers staying there. Ashira, Margaret, and Merlin host VBS and youth group every week, and pour themselves into the children and teenagers that attend. So many people who dedicate their entire lives to serving the people around them in obedience to God, and it was so inspiring to see the pure joy they experienced in putting others before themselves.
The Lord used everyone at the foundation to teach me about selfessness; being smaller. About being less of me, and leaving more room for Him to be great through me. About putting myself in last place in order to put Him first, and everyone else in second. To me, this means humbling myself to be a servant not only to Him, but to everyone else around me; my team, our ministry hosts, and those we are ministering to. Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; HE TOOK THE HUMBLE POSITION OF A SLAVE and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” We know we are called to be more like Jesus, so if He is called to humble himself in obedience to God, aren’t we also called to do the same?
Pastor Douglas gave a sermon on this topic back in Medellin, and I felt like God had him speaking directly to me the entire time (it happened to be the one and only service that I didn’t have to work Sunday school for the kids; so cool how God works :)). Pastor Douglas had a lot of wisdom to share, but one of the things he said that resonated with me a lot was, “If you want to be great, be humble. The people who want to be great will be turned into servants and slaves; put in the lowest places.” In the book of Mark, God tells us the same thing: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.” -Mark 10:43-45. We are called to serve, without being served!
I feel like many times I (and maybe you, too) want to be recognized for the good things I do; we want to be appreciated. But God tells us not to worry about the approval of man; that the reward we will receive in Heaven is far, far greater. Incomparable to the reward or praise we receive on earth. Jesus says: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that you’re giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” -Matthew 6:1-4
I’m learning to seek God’s will and approval in everything I do. It’s a process, but He and I are working together. 🙂
Over the past month, God has repeatedly shown me James 4:14-15, which states: “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog- it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’” These words are such a huge reminder that our plans and expectations are so irrelevant compared to His. In the waiting, in the unknown, and especially in the frustration, what we ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that”. And that is what I’m learning to do. I’m taking each day as it comes, and learning to ask God what He wants from me, and then trusting the plans He throws at me. I’m reminding myself that I am on His time, not mine; and to have a “yes” in my spirit!
Thank you for reading, and for all of your support! <3
All my love,
Hannah
