Rubbish

This week was Global Evangelism Week at Southern, and I have felt God’s presence very strongly all week long. I have felt called to  vocational overseas since I heard the term “mission trip” and went on my first one when I was sixteen. Moreover, I have felt called to be a missionary to persecuted countries since I was nineteen years old. I was a camper at Camp Pinnacle, which is a summer camp for girls with a missions focus. It was Teen Week, and a missionary who grew up in a persecuted area visited with us. During the spring of 2010 I lived in Africa for five months doing collegiate ministry and came back to America very eager to be in my own country and to continue with academics. With that being said, my love for the nations began to whither because I began to focus so much on myself, but God has completely used my time at Southern so far and specifically this week to restore my heart for the nations and put in me a desire to joyfully say “yes”. Anybody can say, “Yes” to God, but to mean with a 1 Corinthians 13 love is different from being reluctant. Americans are very consumer oriented, but none of us are called to live the American dream. Rather, we are called to live within God’s dream of fulfilling the Great Commission. He will bring people to himself with or without my help, but what an honor it is that He has commanded me to go into all nations even though he does not need me! A handful of specific occurrences this week encouraged me. Zane Pratt’s sermon in chapel Tuesday was quite convicting. The truth that impacted me the most is that we should not say, “Lord, I will stay here unless you make it crystal clear that I am to go.” Rather, the cry of my heart should be, “Lord I will go unless you make it crystal clear that I am to stay here.” At the end of that chapel service, God told me, “Sudan”, and he is continuing to say the name of this country to me even now as I write. Although this is a dangerous place, when God saved me, he sent me, and to stay here in my comfort zone is to throw Christ’s cross in his face and try to cheapen his sacrifice! Moreover, I attended the prayer vigil. I originally signed up to pray for Sub Saharan Africa at 9pm Tuesday night, but then had to switch to 10pm because I had forgotten that my night class lasts until ten. When I emailed the secretary at the Bevin Center and asked what people group this would be for, she told me North Africa and the Middle East. I found this to be a divine appointment to pray for an area that I know God has recently called me to. Lastly, a missionary in residence spoke in one of my classes Thursday. Oddly enough, he and his family are missionaries to a persecuted area, and he is in my night class on Tuesdays. I am hoping to spend time with his family soon. I would love to talk with his wife about being a mother in a dangerous area. God’s timing is perfect! Praise God for divine appointments.

I am viewing this week and all that God has done in my heart in light of this verse, 

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” –Philippians 3:8

It is not that God has used this week to change the direction of my life. He already knows the plans he has for me. Rather he has used this week to change the attitude of my heart. All of my plans are now considered rubbish for the sake of Jesus Christ and bringing the Gospel to the nations, and for the first time in a long time, I can say that I am joyful about it! Christ died so that I might be raised to life in order to be crucified with him! There is nothing more satisfying than knowing Christ and serving him, even to the point of death! No sacrifice is too great for my risen Lord who paid the highest price for me!