I
want to fill you in on what the Lord has been teaching me the past few weeks…
“God is working in
you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him”
-Philippians 2:13
read this verse the other day and it blew my mind. I started cracking up
laughing. If you ask me, God has a real sense of humor. He is actually giving
me a desire to be in a place that my flesh would never desire to be! It is
amazing where surrendering will get you… It was silly of me to limit God and
what He was capable of doing in me…like actually shifting my desires!
When
I left on the trip, my squad leaders asked me what I wanted to get out of this
year. My response was that I wanted to be completely satisfied in Christ. Today
I was riding down the road on the way back from our medical mission and I was
just in awe of God’s awesomeness. I was in the most uncomfortable seat, the
heat from the engine underneath me was burning my leg, in a van that looks like
it might explode any second, and I was so happy! I realized for the first time
today that I was completely content and comfortable in an uncomfortable place.
He keeps putting me in situations that prove to myself that I can find joy in
every circumstance or condition!
My
dear friend and teammate, Caley
Peterson, and I have this pact that when we hear the other one complaining
we simply tell the other, “CHOOSE JOY!” Joy is a choice! I laugh at all the
times back home when I was so comfortable in my life yet completely
unsatisfied. I knew all the “ingredients” for happiness but I still felt
dissatisfied. I’m not going to say that I don’t miss some of the luxuries of home,
but I know that I don’t need them to be happy. As long as I seek the kingdom of
God, above
all else,
He will supply all my needs. He is showing me this on a daily basis…the worries
and concerns that use to occupy my thoughts seem so little and insignificant in
light of knowing that it’s in His hands!! He knows me better than I know myself
and He knows what’s best for me! It’s not my job to worry…
with all this being said, I will ask each of you to remind me of this blog when
I’m in Africa and I call home crying because I’ve just been woken by the
biggest bug I’ve ever seen… haha 🙂
