Ability and Stability...

     While I was at Children's Ministries Institute (CMI), I was very pleased to be in a 4-day class schedule with Dr. Robert Rohm, President of Personality Insights, Inc. Rohm is an expert when it comes to learning how to get along with people, even those kind of people who really get on your nerves :P It also turns out that he is a great motivational speaker, and he's channeled that gift into an weekly email that combines his life experience, God-given motivational speaking, and personality insights into one totally awesome thing to look forward to every Monday morning when I check my email.

     While I find each one of his email helpful, the one that he sent out this week was particularly encouraging. I find it totally amazing how God can link together random things to "speak" to those who are trying to listen for Him, and this happens to be one thing in a puzzle of sorts, which I'll explain as we go. Dr. Rohm's email this week was about how your ability will increases as your stability increases. Basically, the more stable you are, the more able you are! The illustration he paired with this insight was one I can attest to from my own experience: setting fence posts.

     If you wish to set a fence post that will hold up the fence for a LONG time, then you have to make sure you set it right. First, you dig the hole. The hole has to be big enough to hold the post and the concrete that will stabilize it, and deep enough to provide the proper resistance to it being pushed over. Then, you have to place the fence post in the middle of the hole, pour in the concrete and hold it long enough for the concrete to set a little, that way you don't have to worry about it falling over. Then...you wait. Once the concrete has fully cured, that is to say, that it has dried and hardened completely, you have one more thing to do: shake the post...violently.

     "WHY DO YOU SHAKE THE POST!?!" you may be asking. You shake the post to make sure that its set correctly. Don't want to build the whole fence and then find out that the posts come right out, now do we? If you can shake the post and it doesn't budge, then you have a sturdy post that can hold up a fence, if not, then you have to take the post out and set it again. This setting and shaking pretty much explains my life right now. God's trained me, led me, and shown me a whole bunch...and from all that stemmed a promise, a calling, and a huge leap of faith.

     The promise is something I've written about here in the past; a promise to Karis Monroe that I would give her space and time to think about our relationship. Originally, I promised that I would wait until she finished Bible college, at which point I'd check with her and either continue or end our relationship based on her decision. But the more I think about it...the more I realize that the promise really should be that I'll wait however long it takes, and so I've set myself to that.

     The calling is one into ministry. God has gifted me with talents just as He has gifted you, and while your gifts may place somewhere in the American workforce, mine place me in a supporting and leading role within the ministry of Christ and His church. This coming June I'll be stepping into a new position where my entire job revolves around helping other people do their jobs better so that more ministry work can be done, and so that it can be done more effectively. In the future, I believe God would see me become some sort of pastor, possibly to the men of a church body, as I have a heart to see these men become what God truly wants them to be as husbands and fathers.

    The leap of faith...well that really applies to both. It takes an insane amount of faith to keep my promise to Karis, and with almost no monthly support coming in currently for my new position (it's a "I need to raise $3000 a month to work full-time" type thing :P), it takes an insane amount of faith to step out and commit to this position, which starts in just over a month. (O.O) Both are areas that God has "set" me in. And now, with things getting tight and doubt trying to creep in, I believe that God has moved on to the "shaking" step of building this fence. (Guess that makes me a fence. Who knew! :P)

     But! (If you buy two completos, it will only cost you $2! (See this for why I put that there)) If God is moving on to the shaking step, then that means He is done setting me! So if I seek Him,ask Him for strength, and DON'T MOVE then after all the shaking is done and over with I'll be a sturdy fence post! So although times may be rough, I have hope in God for what my future brings. And when it's all said and done, He'll be the one who gets all the glory, since He's the one who sets up us fence posts to begin with :P

Things on my mind...

     Have you ever had God constantly bring something to your mind? I can think of many missionaries who had God do that in their lives, and some friends who watched as God did that as well. I know God had His reasons for leading them the way He did, but I feel terrible sorry for them. I think I have the easy end of this bargain. You see, God has been bringing something up in my mind for some time now. Well, actually...it's multiple things. All of which, like my friends and fellow Christians before me, has to do with my future.

     A missionary I can think of, Mary Slessor, was given a call to preach the gospel to an African tribe. She was given the call when she was in her youth, probably no more than 15, and yet she had to wait until she was in her mid-twenties to see that call fulfilled. And this is why I think I have the easy end of things; God has only recently revealed a larger part of what He has called me to do with my life; help others live as He intended. And part of that will begin here in June, a wait of about 6 months total from reception to action.

     Along with this call into a ministry of helps, which I think will turn into a teaching position with a church of some kind, God continues to remind me of other things. One of these other things is something I have tried hard to let go of, to clear out of my mind. I guess...I had a doubt as to whether that was what God was really wanting to do, and not just what I wanted. So...I let go of it. You can only let go of something so many times and have it return before you know that it's what God wants. But...I still had (and have) my doubts, so I asked God recently if it was His idea or mine. And in a way, this is what He said: "I have been planning this from the beginning of the world. It's going to happen, just trust Me and watch."

     So...I guess I can't let that one go :P Not that I want to, but now I know it was fully God's idea and not mine, and it's much easier to hold on to now. Oh, sorry...did I start writing cryptically again? I do that from time to time. And no, this time it no different...I'm not going to tell you what I mean :P

Choices...

     I was talking with some friends today about how God gives us choices to make in our lives. Sometimes, God gives us a choice between doing what we want and what He wants. A choice between something good and something bad. Obviously, His will is for us to choose the good. Sometimes God gives us a choice between two equally good things, and allows us to pick what we would want to do. Why? Because He's a father and loves to bless His children. And other times, God gives us a choice between two things: one good, and one better. And usually, the better one is the harder one. As well, it also causes us to grow more in Christ, and that's part of why God wants us to take the best route.

     Both my friends and I have been in places where we didn't know what to choose, but we sought out God's will, and with time He revealed which way for us to take. Was it hard? Yes. Was it worth it? You better believe it was worth it! It may have been hard, but it caused each of us to grow in the way God needed us to grow, and that resulted in a bunch of things: in the long run, we were happier; God received more glory; and His love was spread to others. So, that makes it totally worth it!

     Recently (as in, this morning), I've had to make another choice. A choice where I could either take the easy road, and in essence quit on what God had for me, or I could stay. Stay and go through some of the hardest stuff I've ever been through. Does it seem like it's worth it now? No. Is it where God wants me? Yes. Will it be amazing once I get through it all? Totally.

     ...it's still hard though! But enough about what's hard. I had a choice: do what God wants, or cop out and settle for 2nd best. No way am I settling for 2nd best! If God wants me somewhere, that's where I'm going! So...the hard way it is. (Oops, mentioned hard again :P) So I've made my choice. Have you made yours? If God is calling you to something hard, DO IT! In the end, it is always worth it :D