A lot of times in life, we expect and hope for God to do big things and call us to do big things, but that is not always the case. We want him to call us to be the one to change the world. We want him to miraculously heal our sickness. We expect him to speak and tell us exactly what to do in a dream or in a sign. It is the same on the race. We want to see that person receive sight. We want to do the the hard ministry. If he called us to this race, surely he will give us amazing things to do and see amazing acts of God. Our God is big and we want him to act in big ways. But our opinion of amazing works are not necessarily the same in God’s eyes. This month in Malaysia I have been learning a lot about humility. Micah 6:8 says, “Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly before our God.” The first two come easy to me but to walk humbly is one I struggle with. I have been reading 2 Kings this month and studying the life of Elijah and Elisha two prophets called by God. There are two stories where I think it shows how we expect God to show up in Big ways but God shows up in his own way.
In 1 Kings 19:9-18, God asked Elijah to go up to the mountain to stand before the presence of God. Elijah went up to the mountain and the verses go on to say that a mighty wind came, but God was not in the wind, then a great earthquake came, but God was not in the earthquake. Fire came down, but God was not in the fire. Lastly, a gentle whisper came and the Lord spoke to Elijah. I began to think how many times do I beg and plead to hear from God, but I am to busy looking for this grand gesture when all I need to listen for is a whisper.
The second occurrence is in 2 Kings 5:1-14 when Naaman a man with leprosy asks Elisha to call on his God for healing. Elisha told him to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan river and he will be healed. Naaman went away in rage . He thought surely I thought he would wave his hands over me and call on the name of the Lord. But his servant said to him, “my father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it?” Just like Naaman we look to God to call us to do great things. But Naaman would be healed either way through calling on the name or washing himself in the river. We do not get to pick the way God acts in us or what he calls us to, we are just called to be obedient. He calls some to defeat giants while some of us are just messengers. We all have a part in God’s work and both callings matter and are equal to God. But pride can enter our hearts and not be satisfied with how God decides to act, but humility is something to seek after.
On the race sometimes, ministry may seem pointless. You start to question God why have you called me here to Malaysia to cut and chop vegetables all day. Is what I am doing really making a difference and an impact? I thought I would be doing great things and making a difference everyday. But that’s not what the race is about and it’s not what life is about. I have learned in Malaysia that God sees greatness even in the small things. I have had to learn to walk more humbly and accept that not everyday or every month is something grand going to happen. Sometimes God doesn’t show up in the mighty voice he shows up in the whisper. Instead of speaking healing over us, he calls us to go to the river.
At training camp, we talked about how God uses the whisper to call us. We also sang take me down to the middle of the river. I think I am finally understanding how these two work together. He calls us but we have to be silent enough to hear Him so he can tell us to go wash ourselves in the river. It might not seem like a great act that a powerful mighty God would call us to do, but he acts in his own way not mine. I just have to be obedient and seek humility in the process.
