One thing that I’ve been thinking, reading and praying about is the fact that the Holy Spirit is inside of you and me in this moment. Because His spirit lives inside of us, our lives should reflect who Christ is.
Note: The verse says FRUIT, not fruitS. Therefore, the spirit contains all of these characteristics wrapped up in one. If you have one in abundance, that doesn’t mean you can’t have another in abundance. We should constantly be praying for more of all of them.
In thinking about your daily life, think about how you react to things. If you wake up and things just don’t start off on the right track, if you feel a bit tired or sick, do you let that define your day?
The other day, I fasted for the first time. I fasted lunch in order to go deeper with the Lord and to allow the opportunity for Him to reveal some things to me that I may be missing. I ended up learning quite a bit through that experience – the first and definitely most basic lesson was that I’ll survive if I don’t eat lunch. Now, I know that fasting is SO much more than that not eating a meal – but again, and I feel like I say this often, that’s an entirely different blog that I hope to write soon.
Being on the World Race, I’ve realized that I’ve adapted to the mindset of not knowing when we’ll eat our next meal (which is silly because we have consistently eaten 3 meals a day since day one of the race). So during this day of fasting, we went to the church for lunch time prayer (where we worship for 30 min, and share a message the next 30 min) and then we stayed there for a few hours for an HIV/AIDS meeting with women and children that have tested positive.
While I was sitting in the meeting listening to the women discussing ways to improve the way children are raised and how HIV affects them even when they’re not infected, I realized how much of a baby I was being.
I was missing one meal. One meal. I was getting worried that I would get dizzy, maybe pass out? Given the fact that it was in the high 90’s and we had been gone for hours, the idea of something like that happening wasn’t thaat far from the reality of the situation – but come on. Sometimes my mind likes to get the best of me…
So back to what I was saying… Listening to the women have such high spirits, they had SO much joy. They started the meeting by praying and praising the Lord. Literally, jumping up and down and singing together with huge smiles on their faces. The Lord was sustaining them. He was showering them with His love, joy and affection. He was breathing life into their lungs and they were praising Him for who He is. We’re so quick to focus on what we don’t have or what’s lacking in a situation, rather than the ridiculous blessings that are constantly surrounding us.
They weren’t letting their pain and sickness get the best of them. They weren’t moping around about why it had to be them to get HIV. They weren’t walking around angry at their circumstance. They weren’t complaining about not having enough money to pay for food and medicine for their families.
They had joy. They had love to share with us. They had more energy than some of us did. They had complete confidence and trust in the Lord.
And I was worried about missing lunch. Give me a break, jeez oh petes!
That got me thinking. How often do we let our current situation or circumstance define our day, our lives, who we are in this life??
He did say He would be our comforter and counselor through every challenge we encounter. If we seek Him with all of our heart, we will find Him. He is our Healer. He is our strength. He is our Father. He is our biggest fan. He is our biggest supporter. He loves you more than you could POSSIBLY imagine. He will sustain us. He will never forsake us. His love is unfailing and never ending.
The other day, Jessica, Jennifer and I had to wake up at about 6am to head to the local radio station that we speak at in the mornings. As we woke up, Jess and I stepped onto our floor to find it completely flooded. Could that make for a bad morning? Surely. Did I let it get the best of me? Nope! We had business to tend to. I wasn’t about to let a minor flood get the best of me. What’s the point? What affect do I have on my day and other peoples day if we let little things get the best of us? I’ll most likely not only ruin my day, but I’ll probably spread that bad mood onto my teammates and then no one’s happy!
SO, we put some towels down and headed out to the radio! I spoke for about 20 minutes – I unexpectantly had a translator which was good news, but that meant that I wasn’t able to say about half of what I prepared – ah well though! It’s funny how much God’s worked in me since I left 5 months ago. Prior to the race, I would get nervous just explaining a game at a baby shower in front of a small group, now here I am doing 45 minute sermons at church, sharing my testimony on the spot when the pastor calls me up to speak and sharing what the Lords teaching me to 1.4 million Ugandans over the radio! Haha oh man, God’s crazy J
But I suppose, that’s the kind of stuff that happens when we give Him control. When we allow ourselves to be led by the spirit instead of us leading and allowing God to take the back seat. We shouldn’t be surprised when God does crazy things in our lives. He’s God! He created Heaven and Earth. He created us as an expression of His love. Of course He wants to see us happy. He may take us to crazy places. He might require us making sacrifices that are difficult for us, but what He has planned for us is so much greater than anything we give up.
I kind of went on a few different tangents here, but hopefully you were pickin up what I was laying down J
Have a wonderful day, everyone! I love and miss you all!
