When we first started our work in New Zealand there were several false expectations that had to be addressed. Most of us thought that a mission trip would involve being severely uncomfortable, with no drinking water unless we boiled it, and only changing our clothes every 10 to 20 days. We thought that with all that training camp and launch had taught us, it was finally time for us to serve and pour out like crazy. We assumed that the processing time for ourselves was over and that it was time to get down to the business of bringing the kingdom of God to the nations.
If there is something I am learning about God it is that the things He starts, He completes. So what God had begun in us He was determined to complete. Many of us sat in the house of prayer for 4 hours on that first day and wondered why we weren�ft spending our time working hard. But our God was bringing to completion some processes He had begun in us. He was revealing to us how He delights in our worship. When I think of this last month, I think of the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. While Martha was worried about the details of working hard, Mary had found the �gone thing worth being concerned about�h and was sitting at Jesus�f feet just absorbing what He was speaking.
This is what God let us do in these past weeks. He let us simply absorb what He was doing in the nation of New Zealand and what He was doing within us. We were sovereignly brought to Tauranga in order that we might know deeper how much He loves us. He loves us pressing into His heart and learning more about Him. In fact, as I have been looking back over my journal I am blessed again by what God is doing. Here is a small portion of what I was thinking during my time in New Zealand.
�gReally God. Hahah! 10 days and you are already transforming so much in me. You love this don�ft you, Father? You love that we are discovering more of your mysteries. You love that we are pressing our hearts into yours. You are laughing at our delight and enjoying us where we are and where we will be. You are talking, you are constantly speaking life over us. I want to remember the words you have spoken over me. Seal them in my heart!�h
Yet even as He blesses us, we are a little sheepish to enter into everything He has for us. We feel uncomfortable with His gaze and at accepting His love. Our insecurities and sins become very apparent before the intensity of His gaze. But that does not stop Him from lavishing it on us yet again. We feel like we came to serve others and bless others and yet here He is turning us on our heads. Allowing us to spend so much time soaking Him in and receiving more of Him. He is so good to us!
�@These verses are my team’s theme verses. I had not read them since training camp until recently and I think they are appropriate for what God is preparing us for in the months to come!
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�gGod, the Lord, created the heavens and the stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is He who says, �eI, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons. Isaiah 42: 6-7
