So check this out...

This morning I woke up in India. Crazy, eh? I'm going to start this off by saying that God is absolutely amazing. Just in the week of training camp He taught me so much about myself and the world around me. It was a week full of ups and downs, but a week that I am so thankful for.

There have been a few things that God has really pointed out to me this past week and a half or so.

First off, God has shown me that I need to be a little less skeptical and just open to trying new things and to allowing Him to use me in a way I didn't think possible. I need to be more aware of if and how I'm limiting God. I can't put God in a box. God is bigger than anything I can think up, and I need to live that truth out in my life. Because if I don't, and I choose to limit God....then what kind of servant am I being?

God is also showing me that I'm beautiful. Mayhaps that's a weird thing to say? But it's true. God is showing me that I matter to Him, and that I am created in His image. The image of God is reflected in me. That's a thought that has been present in my thoughts lately. God's beauty is reflected in me, and I need to live that out. I need to have a confidence in who I am in Christ, and how He views me as opposed to how the world views me.

 "Satan does not tempt us to do wrong things; he tempts us in order to make us lose what God has put into us by regeneration, the possibility of being of value to God." (Oswald Chambers)

Another thing that God is really hitting me with is this: My job is NOT to make people accept Christ...my job is to love Jesus and to live out that love in every detail of  my life, which in return will make me a witness to the world of the love of Jesus and of His saving grace. This is something I have known for awhile now, but just these past few days He has really hit me with that truth. The majority of my ministry here and just back at home or wherever I'm at in daily life will be non-verbal. It will be through relationships and through actions. People watch me. People see what I do. People see how I live. I can't just shove that to the back of my mind. I need to be aware of it, and live out every area of my life in line with Jesus. I'm not perfect, and I'll fail at this at times, but that's what grace is for.

The culture is so different than anything I've seen, but I am choosing to embrace it. God has been showing me the importance of breathing it all in, and just embracing every opportunity and experience (both new and old). The smells, the sounds, the food, the lack of order, the cultural norms and values...all of it. I could choose to live in my little American bubble, but I am choosing to embrace every moment of this experience. The good and the bad. I remember on the drive to our house from the airport I had to make a conscious decision to trust my driver and trust God because it seemed like complete chaos driving through the streets of India. Order was /is non-existent. After making that decision, I had a huge cheesy smile on my face all the way back because I chose to embrace the chaos and trust Jesus.

Paul, in a letter to the Corinthians, talks about becoming a slave to everyone:

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

In order that I might save some, I am choosing to embrace what I do not want to hold on to. I am choosing to love the unlovable. I am choosing to make myself a slave, although I am free.

God is broken for these people, and He has given me His heart for them.

I am broken. I am embracing. I am breathing it all in.

"I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness, I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42:6-7

--meg