-Day 59-
What do workers gain from their toil?
We often hear phrases like, “Nothing worth having comes easy.” Or what about, “It’s not about how bad you want it, it’s about how hard you’re willing to work.” But what does it really mean to gain from our toil? Toil is defined as working extremely hard or in other terms to slave away. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t find myself slaving away at to many things often. When I chose to do the World Race I prayed that transformation would be one of the biggest platforms of my journey. Month two is only a few days away from wrapping up, and as I have been up in the high mountains of the Himalayas, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks reflecting on the fruits that have come from my attempts towards transformation.
Expectations can be a very dangerous thing. There is no doubt in my mind that God has used these past couple months for the good of his kingdom, but to be honest I’ve had a hard time identifying what my personal fruit has looked like. When I think about doing ministry, changing the world for sure comes to mind. I’ve realized that I had expectations on what I thought “true” ministry would look like while on the race. I thought I would be changing orphans lives a baby at a time, or helping women find freedom from their bondage to sex trafficking. Even though those things do sound pretty life transforming, those aren’t the kind of things I have been up to these past two months.
I have been staying at a Yak Ranch in Lamachaur, Pokhara this month, where my team has been helping a man come closer to achieving a vision the Lord has chosen him to facilitate. He is hoping to open an hotel that 75% of the proceeds would go towards reaching the unreached peoples that live high in the Himalaya mountains. He would also use the hotel to host programs that help equip people to do the outreach. Oyvind is a visionary that has been putting the Yak Ranch together for the past five years. He hopes to finally open up the doors to the hotel in 2018. Our job this month has been to help Oyvind be a step closer to finishing the construction of the Yak Ranch to meet his deadline. As we’ve been working pretty hard through physical labor the past couple of weeks, I’ve been questioning what the fruits of our labor would look like in the long run and whether it resembles transformational ministry. It’s a good thing that our mighty God knows the depths of my heart, whether I make it known to him or not. I came across Ecclesiastes 3 earlier this week, and the Lord used his refreshing words to remind me of his great provision that can’t be limited by my obstruct mind. Here are a few points that I took away from this passage as I continue reflecting on what transformation ministry truly is.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
* a time to plant and a time to uproot
* a time to tear down and a time to build
* a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them
* a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing
* a time to search and a time to give up
* a time to be silent and a time to speak
Some of the main jobs we were given was to pull and cut out grass and weeds that surrounded the main building, pix axe and dig through concrete to level out the ground, and to move rocks around and use them for soiling. I spent the first couple of days pulling out roots, and my body was feeling it. My hands were covered with cuts and starches, and my body was soar in places that had not been soar in a while. This job pretty quickly became a bit repetitive, and again the question of how is this life transforming? What will I or others gain from this toil? I realized that sometimes it takes hard physical work to create a strong rooted foundation for the proper seeds to be planted, and therefor good fruit to grow. We pulled out weeds, tore down the ground, and scatter stones, so that God in his perfect timing could make the land fruitful and beautiful. There was also time for me to embrace God’s promises as I didn’t know what the future exactly held for the Yak Ranch. It was a time for me to give up control, trust, and just do. To to be silent and truly hear His voice. This month might have not looked like season I was hoping it would be, but I can find rest in that there is a time for everything and I choose to say yes to be a part of his perfect plan. If God is our vine, and we only a single branch, how can we not rejoice and find comfort in knowing that everything we do in his name is life transforming!
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before, and God will call the past to account.” Ecclesiastes 3:11-15
Much Love,
Ashley
Checkout my teammates videos!
Flying over Mount Everest by Sherese Miller
Don’t Let Me Forget by Donovan McCloskey
