For the past 4 months of the race my team and I have been given many different scenarios of how God increases and strengthens His kingdom. From the trash dumps of Costa Rica, dust and poverty of Nicaragua, La Providencia orphanage on a mountain, and the city of Los Andes in Chile. These are the parts of their kingdom and they have each taught me something different. Each month feels like it has been a drastic change in life with Him and His goal for that month. Sometimes He gives us physical labor like chopping down trees or digging ditches. Other times He gives us spiritually hard things like walking through a city and sharing the gospel in a language you barely know. Even still, He provides ways for it to happen. This month in Los Andes, Chile we were living in a church and evangelizing to the citizens there. When I say evangelizing, we weren’t just standing around holding signs or just simply talking to people. Some of our first few days of ministry had us dressing up as Jesus and holding up signs that told of Jesus while walking across a cross walk every time the light was green for a couple of hours. I remember having the mindset that it was foolish and that I had always thought of those people as the extremists that no one wanted to go near. Yup, here I was dressing as Jesus stumbling across a street in front of random passerby. In other instances we also ended up singing on the side of the road on market day and handing out little bibles. I was doing the exact thing I internally mocked back in the states. That’s when I was figuratively hit in the face with this: 1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise”. Needless to say, I felt pretty foolish, but I then started to understand His wisdom. It doesn’t matter what country or culture I’m in. I must do all things with joy for His glory. Cultures are so different and He knows that. He made the whole world, so of course He knows how to further His kingdom better than I! Here are some questions: How can I further my understanding of the culture and hear from God how best to reach them in my current culture, or current place of living? What active steps will I take to make that happen? When I am given a solution will I take it as simply words or act on them?
Make your life you were given into actions, not just words. God is active and moving and ready to show you wisdom in something that may seem foolish. Take a step. Jump to the other side and do something. For the first 3 months of the race I felt stale and like nothing was happening. I was saying the things and occasionally doing the actions. I was doing the actions though because everyone else was. God has something different for each of us. I’m entering a season where it will be hard, but God is asking me to trust Him and do His will without a shove in the back.
Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: Fools despise wisdom and instruction”.
Fear is an emotion caused by the threat of danger or pain. If I don’t press into fear then I will gain no knowledge or experience. Therefore I choose fear of the Lord in order to become wise.
P.S. I will most likely turn my phone off for most of my time in Bolivia to further fast from things that distract me from being present in the Lord.
