Living on a farm definitely has its ups and downs. If I ever get tired of working on World Race stuff, or fundraising, or whatever I need to do there is always something else I can do outside. However, when I really need to be working on the stuff that needs to get done, there is always something else to do outside J. Yesterday was a case in point. I needed to get my room cleaned and organized and work with my sisters on stuff for my fundraiser coming up this Sunday, May 17; but my dad was planting corn and the corn planter broke. I spent at least an hour finding parts, helping put them back together and trying to rig up a make-shift part so Dad could keep planting. Really, though, it wasn’t that bad. It just shows me that I am definitely not in control of my days! But that’s not what this post is about…
God has been teaching me a lot lately, and though I should post on this blog more often it is one of the first things I just put off when I have other stuff to do because I am a private person and it is just easier not to make my life public. So here is one thing I have been learning lately:
About two weeks ago I was reading Isaiah 19. This is the part where God tells Isaiah to go around naked and barefoot for 3 years! And I was thinking, “I don’t know if I have that kind of relationship with God”. You know, being able to trust Him so implicitly that I would be willing to be absolutely and completely humiliated in the flesh just because He asked me to. Seriously, my comfort zone is where I am not noticed in any negative way. If I can just blend in then I’m good. Then I had to ask myself if I have always cared more about how others see me than I have about what God thinks of me. Is what I do for other people, or for God?
I’ve been out of a ministry position at my church for almost a year now and sometimes I feel like maybe I need to get plugged back in before people start questioning why I’m not back in ministry yet. Why, though? I believe that I am exactly where God wants me right now and I am working on family relationships and preparing for this World Race. I am learning that I need to live in confidence and humility before God and man as I am following Christ where He leads. Other opinions do not matter! Jesus is my Lord and Master, and as I submit to Him all else fades as I begin to seek only to please Him and bring Him glory. If He wants to shame me to bring forth His message, then I can only pray now that I will humbly and willingly obey Him immediately.
This whole being humbled piece ties directly into my fundraiser this Sunday. It can be so hard for me to place myself in a position where the focus is on me because, as I said before, I am much too concerned with what others think. God is definitely teaching me how to live in humility and to bring Him glory with every aspect of my life, and so I am praying that this is one more area that I can truly say Soli Deo Gloria – God alone gets the glory!!!
