Saturday, October 15, 2011

Exotic vs Normal?

We all want to live an exotic life. We dream of traveling, seeing the world and having great adventures. Some say the grass will always be greener on the other side while others say that there's no place like home.
I have the great privilege of living what some would call an exotic life; I live in exotic countries, travel the world, have many adventures, and despite my young age I have seen more than most have seen in a lifetime. For me, this doesn't feel like an exotic life; for me it just feels like my life. For me, this is normal, mostly because it's the only one I've got.
What I consider exotic is what you consider normal. I think about moving to Georgia, to some small town, settling down and raising a family. I think about fishing on the weekends, having a career, a house, and a family. But then I remind myself that, as good as that is, it's not for me; it's not what God called me to...at least not right now.

I met a woman before I left for New Zealand who was in her late 60s; she told me that when she was 20 years old the Lord told her to go to India and she didn't, instead she got caught up in another kind of life. With tears in her eyes she told me that she has regretted not obeying God everyday of her life since. Over 40 years of regret!

Why live in regrets? Why not love the life the Lord's given you?

Monday, October 10, 2011

Waiting...

2Peter 3:9 -"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you..."

Why should He wait- why not act at once? Because something in us hinders. We cannot enter into spiritual blessings till we are made capable of them by faith...God has the right time for help...He never gives the wrong medicine. His waiting is full of work to fit us to receive His grace. It is not a mere passive standing by, till the fit conditions are seen in us; but He is exalted while He waits. He Who prepares a place for us is preparing us for the place. He who has grace which He is ready to give us here, is making us ready for His grace. The measure of all God's work in us is to form a character fit to possess His highest gifts...the waiting desire to which He responds is directed to something better and greater than any gifts from Him, even to Himself, for it is they who wait for Him...who are blessed. The blessedness of such waiting, how it calms the heart, brings into constant touch with God, detaches from the fever and fret which kill, opens our eyes to mark the meanings of our life's history and makes the divine gifts infinitely more precious when they do come...
- Alexander Maclaren's sermon God's Waiting & Man's