In a way, it is difficult for me to believe that almost a month has passed since I returned from Indonesia. I am amazed at how richly God blessed those two and one half weeks of my life, enriching my perspective on life once again. I miss the people I got to meet there, the food, the scenery with rice paddies and sugarcane fields, the volcanoes, the language, and even the crazy streets in Yogyakarta.
Yet God is faithful to continue His work in my life amidst looking back on this trip. In attempting to describe His work in my life over the last month to a friend, all I could come up with was the word “intense.” This intensity in everything from church to work to relationships has caused me to step back several times and ponder so much. I long for clearer direction, but I keep hearing my Faithful Friend Jesus whisper “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9) and “I am enough to more than satisfy you” (Psalm 63:5-8). I praise God for His Holy Spirit’s part in the intensity of conviction in my personal spiritual walk with the LORD. I am astounded by God’s grace in feeling a closeness and depth with Him that I have not experienced at any time in my life before.
I truly believe that God is preparing me for intense, passionate ministry as I find more joy in trusting Him from whom I gain salvation (1 Peter 1:3-9). I want every second of my life to be so filled with Christ that He overflows with each breath I exhale. My life is not about me, and I pray that it never appears to be about me (Psalm 115:1). God has blessed me with an abundance beyond description (especially with salvation)! How can I not humbly offer all of my life as a living sacrifice to Him (Romans 12:1-3)?
That’s my challenge to you, brothers and sisters in Christ: How can you not humbly offer all of your life as a living sacrifice to Him?
Speaking from experience so far, we have absolutely nothing of value to lose (Conformity to this world’s ways has no eternal value, although it has much immediate pleasure) and something of extreme, indescribable value to gain (Philippians 3:7-9)! Only what the Creator can give will ever satisfy us, His creation. Therefore, my soul is at rest in the midst of the intensity because of a fullness and peace I do not understand (Philippians 4:6-7).
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