Radical Revelations

This week has been very intense. My friend/mentor, Maria Daughtry came and spoke for this first week of lecture on "Hearing the Voice of God." This is a pretty intense topic and God really did a lot in my heart during this week. I feel like it was like a jump start to my faith in a really good way. I can hear the Lord's voice louder than I have been able to in a really long time. It looks like many of the students felt the same way.

Even though I normally keep this blog more on the humorous side but with this post I would like to share some of what I feel God's been teaching me lately. I hope it convicts and blesses you as much as it has done for me.

I have also been reading the book, CRAZY LOVE by Francis Chan. I highly recommend it! I feel that God's been speaking to me through this book, for sure. This week Maria prayed for all of us. The words she got for me were how I follow God but I always have to talk about all the pros and the cons and what I will need, etc. The picture she got was like I am scaling a cliff and I make it to the top just fine on my own strength. I am feeling good about myself and then God shows me a giant mountain He wants me to climb. I immediately tell Him why it's impossible and how I will need this and that. He just tells me to trust Him. For anyone who knows me well, this is totally me. I want to follow God but I get nervous and caught up in all the details and potential problems. God wants me to just say, "Yes" to him right away and trust that he will figure out all the details. Then today when I was reading Crazy Love, I was convicted about this all over again.

Francis Chan talks of the story in the 9th chapter of Luke where Jesus calls his twelve disciples together to go out and preach and heal people. He specifically tells them not to bring food, money, extra clothes, etc. He wants them to trust that He will provide all they need. I can totally picture myself as one of Jesus' disciples. I would be the one saying, "But Jesus, wouldn't it be easier to minister to people if I could just bring extra deodorant and a change of clothes?" "Wouldn't bringing my computer be nice so we could communicate with people back home?" I need to have the kind of faith that the disciples had to simply follow Jesus and trust that He will provide all I need.

Another part of the book that totally convicted me was based on 2 Corinthians 8:13-15. "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

This passage totally convicted me! Everyone on our base raises support for their living expenses and staff fees. No one gets paid and all must rely on friends, family, churches and sometimes strangers for money to live on here. People do this to varying degrees of success. Some people have $1000 + in committed monthly support and others have less than $100. I think the prevailing attitude around here is that it is your right to live at the highest standard of living you can on your support. If you get a lot, you can spend a lot on clothes, coffee, etc. This is not all bad. But I think sometimes those of us who are a little more financially stable (and I mean a little bit), can forget the principle of sacrificial giving to those around us who we may eat with, minister with, or share a room with. I was getting pretty content with my giving. I tithe the support I get and then the rest goes to monthly expenses. I feel God calling me to give more sacrificially to my fellow missionaries. So what if it means I can't buy that frappaccino at Starbucks? What's more important, my comfort or the very basic needs of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?