I love high school camp =) 2006 was amazing because I learned that week what unabandoned praise means; it was my first glimpse into why worshiping God for the rest of eternity is the best thing I can ever experience. 2007 was amazing because I learned that our God is a consuming fire and not to be mocked. I learned truly what salvation is and why it is that I can call God my Lord.
2008?
Well, seeing how awesome '06 and '07 were, and seeing how I am in 90 days of blessing since the Prayer Conference and Midtown, and seeing what God told me to expect in 2008, well I was expecting Ephesians 3:20 BIG things. I was expecting to go beyond my expectations, so that means BIG things... right?
What I learned #1: GOD IS IN THE SMALL THINGS
When wanting to see God in His big, show-out, glory filled, milestone moments, I knew that I was missing something the first two days when I didn't see God working. From the beginning I knew that it was me. There was something wrong with my perception because I know that God HAD to be working. Then on Wednesday, I read in My Utmost for His Highest a devotional entitled "The Secret of the LORD." Chambers says "The things that make GOd dear to us are not so much His great big blessings as the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us; He knows every detail of our individual lives." How can I study the forces of nature that I cannot see for four years in college and not see that God is so big that He is in the small? I mean, pick up a science book and see the glory of creation for yourself. He's so big He knows the smallest possible things; Ephesians 3:20 truly exists even in how the universe is built on the thing that consists it all together, that is, Jesus Christ.
... there is no searching of his understanding. - Isaiah 40:28
What I learned #2: GOD IS ABLE
The thing I've struggled with since I began my Christian walk in 1999 is not to ask too specifically because I don't want my expectations in prayer to come at the expense of my faith. I've also been very cautious of not praying amiss (James 4:3). This becomes a problem when we are told to pray specifically, huh? In struggling with this throughout the entire week at camp, one very, very, very important thing that I realized is that GOD IS ABLE. No matter what the answer to the prayer is, because God is a God that answers all prayer, GOD IS ABLE. If He never answered another prayer of mine in the affirmative, GOD IS ABLE. In all that I ask for according to His will, HE CAN DO IT. It's just a matter of when I'm asking right and He is saying "no", it's because He has something better, better blessing, better timing, better way to get His glory out of me. And you know what? I'm 1000% okay with that =)
What I learned #3: EVERY CHOICE CHOOSES GOD OR THE DEVIL
So in learning about Elijah and his dealings with Ahab and the prophets of Baal, every choice that anyone makes, big or small, has either me choosing God, or me choosing the devil. I've come to realize over the years that it's not the exceedingly sinful things in life that are my biggest snares, it's those things that are good, close enough to the best, but still not the best. I know my Heavenly Father has His best for me. Settling for second best is just what that is... settling. This lesson has come at a very good time in my life as I am learning to feed God's sheep. Everything is lawful for me since I am no longer under the law, but not everything is expedient nor edifying. (1 Cor. 10:23) It's a matter of living life not asking "What's wrong with it?" and living life asking "What's RIGHT with it?"
1 Peter 2:9 - I am a peculiar person =)
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