Obedience

I have only been here in Virginia for almost two weeks, and already I have done/experienced so many things that I never anticipated. I've made friends with complete strangers, moved into the "others" village from LOST (okay, not really, it just kinda looks like it), worshipped in a house church setting, started running on a regular basis, and survived (thus far) on cafeteria food for three meals a day. I have also been incredibly blessed to meet and be taught by people who have together spent hundreds of years living in other countries, sharing the gospel. It's not terribly difficult to understand now why people say you're not the same person when you leave training as you were when you came.

As I listened to the speakers, and learned about all of the rules and the way things run here, I was amazed at the way that the leadership had a Biblical basis for everything that they do. Okay, so the Bible doesn't say "thou shalt run daily", but it does say that our bodies are the temple of the Lord. It doesn't say that we must eat cafeteria food daily, but it does say that God will supply all of our needs. I guess what I'm trying to say is that my perspective on things is changing.

I have also been learning a lot about obedience. I don't know that I've really admitted this to many people before, but I did not want to be a Journeyman. I wanted to have a normal life and do what normal people do. I wanted a husband, a family, a job; all of the things that normal people supposedly have. So when I was preparing for graduation, and almost applied to be a Journeyman, I wouldn't do it, and applied for Hands On instead. Then, when I came back from Mexico last year, even though I had finally begun the Journeyman application process, I began looking for permanent jobs, secretly hoping that I would find a good enough job that I could justify not leaving the country again. Well, that didn't work out. I soon found myself back working in fast food, something that I definitely didn't see being a permanent job for me. And the husband and family thing? That was clearly not something God had in mind for me, at least not for right then/now.

Are you catching the pattern here? I was being disobedient to God's call, but He didn't give up on me. He put me in a place where all I could do was surrender to Him, to be obedient to Him. I'm still in a bit of denial about the reality of my future, but God has given me peace that this is truly where He wants me to be.

So here is my encouragement to you. If you are running from something that God is calling you to do, don't worry, He'll get you there anyway. You running just makes it a more difficult journey. Trust me, I've been there.