Extravagant Provision

Tonight we had one of our weekly all campus services.  Before the speaker came up a missionary from Kyrgyzstan named Jeff came up and shared a short testimony of the work he is doing.  There is a remote people group in Afghanistan that is unreached and he wants to take a team of ten people to go and give them the message of the hope of the Gospel.  The physical needs in this people group are immense but the spiritual need is even more significant.  Imagine an entire people group that has never even heard the name of Jesus!!!  Crazy! 

We took an offering tonight to fund Jeff’s trip.  He told us that he needs $10,000 for their trip as a whole.  At the end of the service one of the YWAM leaders came up and announced the amount that was raised in tonight’s offering… $10,000.07!!!!! 

God loves to give us even more than we ask for.  Tonight it was seven cents more than Jeff asked for.  Just enough to be extravagant, but not too much that we missed seeing His hand on the offering.  He is soooo good and will provide to those who are faithful and want to do his work.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” –Ephesians 3: 20-21

Unfair Trade

I remember being at lunch in elementary school.  I remember all the guys pulling out everything they brought and offering to trade for the things other people had everyday.  Cookies for fruit rollup, pretzels for chips, that sort of thing.  Every once in a while you would have something that someone else REALLY wanted or was REALLY craving, and you could get something much more valuable in the trade.  But they never complained because what they got was so valuable in their eyes.  Seylar Elementary… Economics 101.

During one of the teachings this week I realized that as Christians we have the opportunity to be a part of the most unfair, lopsided trade of all time.  God so desperately wants our hearts that He is willing to give us eternity in His presence in a place where there is no sickness, no pain, and no heartache in exchange.  And not only that, but He wants to give us abundant life today.  This is not always abundance like the world defines it.  It's so much more than that!  He wants to give us hope, joy, and purpose. 

When it comes to that last part, the abundant life on earth, I feel like we like to exaggerate the sacrifice and minimize the reward.  People act like serving the King is so hard and we are giving up soooo much to do it.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth.  We give up fleeting pursuits at fulfillment for the One who fulfills.  We give up over drinking for the One who quenches eternal spiritual thirst.  This is no sacrifice at all.  This is our great privilege.  And all because he finds our hearts unimaginably valuable.

Now that’s unfair.

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Luke 6:38

PS. Quick Story: We were praying for Myanmar yesterday in the prayer room and then we saw a news report that was posted about 8 hours later "Myanmar signs cease-fire agreement with ethnic karen rebels to end 63 year insurgency" Cool stuff!!!

The Only Man in the World

Day 1 of my adventure was less than smooth.  Here’s the spark notes:

 

Arriving at the Newark airport it took my dad and I a half hour to find the terminal I was supposed to get dropped off at.

In my excitement I left my pillow and blanket in the car and didn’t realize it until about 10 minutes later. 

The bag check line took so long that I didn’t get my bag checked until 66 minutes before my flight and the cut off is 60.

Unfortunately, the security line was probably the longest one I’ve ever been in. I arrived at my gate 3 minutes after my flight was scheduled to board. 

Minutes after I got there however they announced that they would be boarding from gate 99 instead of gate 70.  Because of the change we had to walk across the terminal and wait for another 40 minutes. 

This caused my first flight to get in late. 

Because of a mix up in the airlines I had to reclaim my checked bag and re check it for my second flight.  But because we got in late I waited until the last minute and it never came.  So I was told my bag with all my clothes and bedding will be shipped to me in the next few days.  And I had to run to catch my flight.

The worst part of everything was that the whole time things were happening I knew my frustration was pointless which only increased the feeling.  I couldn’t help myself from thinking that my dad should turn around to bring me my pillow or that I should cut to the front of each line and explain my circumstances because if they knew how dire my needs were they would clearly part the crowds and let me through.  Then thankfully I realized that there was a better chance I’d be laughed at and decided I’d buy a pillow there and wait in line like everyone else.  I came to the realization that I wasn’t the only person going somewhere.  In fact EVERYONE in the airport was going somewhere.

But the next realization I came to was much more profound.  In God’s eyes I AM the only person in the world, and so are you!  When we want to bring our requests before the Father He lets us cut to the front of the line.  He is a Father that wants the best for his children.  He has billions of children but can give us each the personal attention of an only child.  In Matthew’s gospel we see that God loves to give us good gifts.  And the great thing about our father is he has all the connections.  He can make sure I make my flight and provide me with roommates that offer to share their clothes hours after I meet them.  When I shifted from being frustrated by how close I was cutting everything to thankful for God’s provision it made all the difference.  Despite all the curveballs I was thrown I still made it to Kona safely and my bags will be here eventually.

I have been blown away so far by the great people God has surrounded me with here.  I can truly say that this is where I am supposed to be.  I can tell I will be challenged in areas I need to grow and will be able to serve in ways God has grown me in the past.  He is so good..

“Every good and perfect gift is from above” James 1:17

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

When You Have What You Pray For

I’ve been praying a lot about my DTS (frequently the same things over and over again) and had this thought the other day.  What if God has answered my prayers and He is getting annoyed that I keep asking for things He has given me?  I realize that the idea of God being annoyed probably isn’t theologically correct but you get the idea.  I’m beginning to see that I pray assuming that praying once isn’t enough and as a result I rarely expect answered prayers.  Or I pray about sanctification in certain areas of my life like teach-ability and humility but think there is a correlation between the amount of prayers I say and how much I grow in those areas.  Almost like there is a big thermometer filled in with the amount of red that corresponds to my humility and each prayer fills it more and a week without prayer drops it down.

I had been praying with Luke 18: 1-8 in mind a lot (which is the parable of the persistent widow).  But I’m realizing that in an attempt to be more faithful and unceasing in prayer, I was praying more frequently, but was disempowering my prayers with an underlying heart of unbelief.  This unbelief snuck up on me.  It was disguised as belief that persistent prayer works but in reality it was faith that praying once can’t work.

When we pray for things we have already been given we lose the opportunity to see our prayers answered.  I’m realizing I need to take the promises of the Bible for what they are and know that God HAS DONE what he says he has done.  It’s time to move from supplication into thanksgiving.  We have a new nature and God wants us to embrace it and begin to walk in it.  He loves to give us good gifts and He is a God that answers prayers.

“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:18