“Commit your way to
the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to
pass.” –Psalm 37:5
“So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the
voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
heed than the fat of rams." -1 Samuel 15:22
“‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke in the day the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord of hosts, that the temple might be built.” –Zechariah 8:9
“What if I ask you to stay here until July?"
(Wait, woah that can be a thing) My response, in all honesty, is that would be
hard. Just when I thought I had let it go, I had picked it right back up again.
I thought I was at a place of trusting the Lord completely, but I
quickly realized that my mind was closed off on any other options and I was
holding onto my desire. My heart is in Cambodia, but I also am here, right
now. The people of Whitefish, Montana need Jesus just as much as Castle
Rock, Colorado and Cambodia. Yes, things will come to pass, Lord willing, but
my heart needs to be here where the Lord has me now.
I remember Pastor Dave pointing me to Proverbs 16, especially
verse nine, before I left for Montana. It didn’t fully hit me until now. “A
man’s heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps.” Since being here, I
have seen that being played out…and it’s hard, it’s a lot of dying to self, but
it’s so beautiful. I am truly grateful the Lord directs my steps. Where would I
be without these lessons He is teaching me along the way?
What I’ve found in myself is that I was doing in order to get.
Everything was ritual in a sense, a check mark in a box. I knew I needed to
come here, so done, I’m here, Lord, take me to the next step. I sacrificed
being around my family and friends for this, isn’t that good enough, God? NO.
Wrong. It is not good enough. I needed to be coming and doing out of
obedience as 1 Samuel 15:22 says and because of my love for the Lord.
Zechariah chapter eight verse nine reads, “‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Let your hands be
strong, you who have been
hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke in
the day the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord of hosts, that the temple
might be built.” In light of future promises, get back to work! Because of all
the things the Lord is going to do, it should get me excited for the
work right now. The temple was the focus then, in order to have
Jerusalem, “the Holy City of the future”. The focus needed to be on the work
before them, just as much as my focus needs to be on the work before me.
I must commit my works and plans to the Lord
[always], trust in Him and His perfect timing [always], and He will do the
rest. Lord, I give it all to you with
open hands. Whether Your timing is in January 2016 or July 2016 or whatever
else may come about, Lord I trust and know You know what is best. What is six
more months, if that is what You call me to, in the grand scheme of things? I
don’t want anything that is outside of Your will. Take it all, give me an obedient heart, and may I go on serving in this
ministry here and serving the people here to the fullest
extent, because I know this is where You’ve called me now and because I love You, Lord.
Obedience > Sacrifice
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| Lord, I go because I love YOU. I go because You have called me. I go out of obedience. Photo Credit: Caitlyn Coy |
