Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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I’m traveling as I write this blog, and I’m spending some time reflecting on my month in Australia aka Oz.  What started off as a month focused on manual labor, became a month that taught me two major lessons.  First, what it meant to rest in the Lord.  By that, I don’t mean I found an excuse to sit around and be lazy…actually I still got in on plenty of folding, stapling, mulching, planting, and digging. Let me elaborate.

I’ve been reading “Heavenly Man” which is a book about a man who is one of the leaders of the Chinese house church movement. As you could imagine I’ve greatly enjoyed the book.  It’s a modern day representation of Acts, which is exactly what I’m seeking in my own life.  I didn’t just decide to leave my friends and family for 11 months so that I could see the world…HECK NO!  I left my life behind in order to find more of my life as Christ reveals Himself more clearly to me. 

My team and I had some conversation about a week and a half into Oz and we all seemed to be kind of dry spiritually.  We were getting a lot done for our ministry, but we just weren’t hearing much from the Lord.  That same night I was reading my book and “coincidentally” came across the story of when the “heavenly man” had gotten burned out in his ministry.  As a result he didn’t listen as closely to the voice of the Lord and he ended up in prison for the 2nd time. 

What really got me was this:

Ministry had become an idol.  Working for God had taken the place of loving God…I was doing things out of obligation and habit, and not from a willing heart flowing from my relationship with Jesus. 

Then comes this plea:

If you are a servant of the Lord, let me encourage you to please, please, humbly watch that you don’t slip into the same error I did.  The Lord God jealously desires us for himself.  He is the lover of our souls.  If we ever put anything before our relationship with Jesus- even our work for Jesus- then we will be insnared.  If you are burned out, stop!  Rest! Your lamp needs a constant infilling of the Lord’s oil or your life will be snuffed out.

Needless to say, I was very challenged.  God stopped me in my tracks and reminded me why I was in Australia.  It wasn’t just about working as hard as I could in order to get everything done.  It was about drawing closer to God so that I could hear His voice and walk in His foot steps.

As I’m continuing to learn this lesson, I challenge you to take a look at your own life.  Are you resting in the Lord, or are you just going through the motions?  Are you so caught up in ministry that you’ve lost your first love?  Think about it, and ask the Lord what He wants for you.

Stay tuned for the second lesson 🙂 Until then, let me know what you think, how life is, and anything else you feel like leaving for my reading pleasure.