One full week into ministry in Nicaragua, and I've already done the following:
Picked up garbage all over a community.
Built a cactus fence to surround a school and stop pigs from crossing over.
Helped add a tin covering to a house.
Preached a message with no warning.
Prayed over the sick.
Starred in a music video with the other men on my squad.
Watched late 90's wrestling matches to cap off the end of every night (and yes, it's still as real to me as it was then)
Mostly though, I've learned the importance of community. How there isn't a need for me to always be dependent. How sometimes I can't do things on my own and I may need help. How it's necessary to learn how to receive just as much as it is to give. It isn't easy by the way…
And that's something God has been showing me lately. A lot actually. I knew going into this month that it would be hard at times. I mean, I'm living in a city of tents with 50 others sharing the same space. First thought I had was how it scares the hell out of me. A week later? It still does. But I'm alive. And thankful.
God hit me recently that while it's okay that I have my independence, I'll never fully be able to grasp all the things He wants to do in and through me if I can't learn how to receive from others.
And if I can't grasp who God fully is, how am I supposed to keep being light to His people?
Well…I can't.
But I can keep trying. I can keep trying to learn more and more each day of the man He wants me to be. The man He is slowly transforming into. A man who loves. Who takes risk. Who is a server. Who gives. Who leads. Who is rooted. Who is dependent…not just on Him, but on the significance others can share and can speak into my life.
…or really allowing me the ability to move with the rhythm of His grace. And it's good. So, so, so good.
That's the great thing about God. When you get a little bit of Him that you've never had before, you realize how much more you want. How you can't live without it. How the sheer power of it can/and will blow away every expectation you can have. You realize how small the box is that we've learned to keep God in for the majority of our lives. And how much better it is when we don't limit who He is and who He will be in the future…or who we'll be.
Go examine your life. Go examine the areas where you need to grow and get ready to be taken on the ride of your life. Admitting you need to grow isn't a bad thing, it's the start of a beautiful process where God will reveal more to you than you've ever imagined. Enjoy it.
PS. The music video I starred in, here it is…
