Getting the best
If you follow the meanderings of this page you are aware of my inconsistency. In this case I knew it had been a while, but Matt Hook emailed me yesterday pointing out it had been over a month. Oops.
To be honest, there are times when I just don't have the time or feel the energy to write, at least half well. In this case, a lot of the energy loss recently came from within our organization. When you're the leader, sometimes you feel as though not only you can't please everyone, you can't please anyone. But of course those times produce good soul searching and character building, and are therefore necessary. In any case, good has come of it, and we're feeling encouraged.
The other difficulty with getting behind in telling stories about what we do here is that there are so many that happen all the time that once behind I don't know where to begin. Eventually I just have to forget about telling most of them and just move on. I'll start with one from today.
I challenged one of our former students to read Jonah again. She has definitely met God and it is clear He has a significant purpose for her, but has really never completely submitted herself to His lordship, other than for possibly one or two very brief periods. I have seldom doubted the sincerity of her heart. Her resistance comes from a past of so much hurt and brokenness that make it very difficult for her to settle down to really trust that God will take care of her. For that reason I believe God is very patient with her, and that in time she will come around. Meanwhile she has been fleeing from God's call.
In the process of reviewing Jonah myself, I stumbled across chapter 2 verse 8, during Jonah's prayer: "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." It wasn't the first time I'd been impressed by it, but reading it was one of those lightbulb moments of seeing a deep, ancient truth as though for the first time.
We started Servantworks to say to people that living like Jesus is the best there is. It's not about the call of duty and sacrifice. It's about getting the best. That verse made me think again about all the Christians I know who just like this former student, cling to other things besides Jesus Himself, and miss the best that God has for them.
I'm not about to say that Judy and I have rid ourselves of every worthless thing, but we have indeed found that giving them up does bring a lot of incredible reward and fun. Just today Judy went to visit Da in the hospital with her brand new baby girl who is under careful observation with a bad case of hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice). Da has hidden her pregnancy from her family, most of her friends and the baby's own father. When she discovered she was pregnant, she said to the tiny fetus inside her, "I hope you're ready, because we're going to have a difficult life." A social service agency referred her to us, and for the last several months Da has been a member of our own family. Today she told Judy, "I have never met a family as loving and forgiving as yours." Of course Judy and I know our own shortcomings--all the times when we are unloving and impatient with our children and others. We can only receive something like that with extreme gratitude, knowing that one way or another, in spite of our incompleteness, God does wonders in and through us when do dare to stop depending on worthless things. In this case we have one more beautiful young woman who calls us Mom and Dad. And she's an incredible cook besides. Thai food, no less.
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